YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

THE LIFE

OF
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON,
LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND,
AND
CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD :
IN WHICH IS INCLUDED,
A CONTINUATION
OP HIS
HISTORY OF THE GRAND REBELLION.

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.

NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME CAREFULLY PRINTED FROM THE
ORIGINAL MS. PRESERVED IN THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

OXFORD:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
M.DCCC.LVII.

PEEFACE TO THE FIEST EDITION.

IHE reader can desire no better recommendation of
the History now published, than to be assured that it is
the genuine Work of the great earl of Clarendon. The
Work itself bears plain characteristics of its Author.
The same dignity of sentiment and style which dis
tinguishes the History of the Rebellion, and all other
the works of this noble Writer, breathes through the
whole of this performance.
The reason why this History has lain so long concealed
will appear from the title of ita, which shews that his
lordship intended it only for the information of his
children. But the late lord Hyde, judging that so faith
ful and authentic an account of this interesting period of
our history would be an useful and acceptable present to
the public, and bearing a grateful remembrance of this
place of his education, left by his will this, and the other
remains of his great grandfather, in the hands of trustees,
to be printed at our press, and directed that the profits
arising from the sale should be employed towards the
establishing a Riding-school in the University. But lord
Hyde dying before his father, the then earl of Clarendon,
the property of these papers never became vested in him*
and consequently this bequest was void. However, the
noble heiresses of the earl of Clarendon, out of their
regard to the public, and to this seat of learning, have
been pleased to fulfil the kind intentions of lord Hyde,
a See Continuation, p. 267 of this volume, par. 1.
a2

iv PREFACE TO
and adopt a scheme recommended both by him and his
great grandfather15. To this end they have sent to the
University this History, to be printed at our press, on
condition that the profits arising from the publication or
sale of this Work be applied as a beginning for a fund
for supporting a Manege, or Academy for Riding, and
other useful exercises, in Oxford.
The Work here offered to the public consists of two
parts. The second, which is the most important and
interesting part of the Work, is the History of the Earl
of Clarendon's Life, from the year 1660 to 1667, from
the restoration to the time of his banishment, and in
cludes in it the most memorable transactions of those
times. It may be therefore considered in two views. It
is a second part of Lord Clarendon's Life ; and is also a
Continuation of his former History, entitled, The History
of the Rebellion, from the year 1660, where that ends, to
the year 1667. This is carefully printed, without any
material variations, from a manuscript, all of lord Cla
rendon's own hand-writing, excepting some few pages in
the hand of his amanuensis, which are only transcripts
from two papers ; the one, a letter from the Chancellor
to the King on the subject of his Majesty's declared dis
pleasure ; the other, a paper containing his reasons for
withdrawing himself, which he left behind him to be
presented to the House of Peers.
To this our noble benefactresses have thought fit to
prefix, as a first part, the History of the Earl of Claren
don's Life, from his birth, to the year 1660, extracted
from another manuscript of Lord Clarendon's own hand
writing. This other manuscript is entitled by his Lordship,
The History of his own Life, and contains likewise the
substance of the History of the Rebellion. However, it
is not the manuscript from whence that History was
printed, but appears rather to be the rough draught from
b See his Dialogue on Education, p. 325, &c.

THE FIRST EDITION. v
whence that History, or, however, great part of it, was
afterwards compiled. For although he tells us* towards
the close of this Work, that he wrote the first four books
of the History of the Rebellion in the island of Jersey,
(many years before the date of this History of his Life,)
yet he likewise informs us, that he did not proceed to
complete that History till after his banishment. It is there
fore supposed by the family, (and the supposition seems to
carry with it great probability,) that, seeing an unjust and
cruel persecution prevail against him, he was induced at
that time to extend the original plan of his Work, by
introducing the particular History of his own Life, from
his earliest days down to the time of his disgrace, as the
most effectual means of vindicating his character, wickedly
traduced by his enemies, and artfully misrepresented to a
master, whom he had long and faithfully served, whose
countenance and favour being transferred to the authors
and abettors of his ruin, might probably, in the eyes of
the world, give too much colour to their aspersions. But
afterwards, on more mature thoughts, his great benevo
lence and public spirit prevailed on him to drop the de
fence of his own private character, and resume his original
plan of the History of the Rebellion. However, his noble
descendants, willing to do justice to the memory of their
great grandfather, and thinking it might be also of service
to the public to deliver his exemplary life as complete as
they could authentically collect it, have caused such parts
of this manuscript, as related to the Earl of Clarendon's
private life, to be extracted ; and according to their direc
tions it is printed. The directions are as follows :
" The life of Lord Chancellor Clarendon from his Birth to the
Restoration of the Royal Family is extracted from a large manu
script in his own hand-writing, in which is contained what has
already been printed in the History of the Rebellion ; and there
fore care has been taken to transcribe only what has never yet

vi PREFACE.
been published : but as those passages are often intermixed with
the History already printed, it has been found necessary to pre
serve connection by giving abstracts0 of some parts of the printed
history, with references to the pages, where the reader may be
satisfied more at large. And, as great pains have been taken to
put this first part in the order it now stands, it is desired that
in this first edition it may be printed exactly after the copy to
be sent.
" The original manuscript of the Continuation of Lord Chan
cellor Clarendon's Life from 1660 to 1667 inclusive is very in
correct, many words being omitted, that must necessarily be
supplied : but it is desired that no other alterations may be
made, except in the orthography, or where literal or gramma
tical errors require it, or where little inaccuracies may have
escaped the attention of the author. The work must be printed
entire, as it now stands, no part of it left out, not an abstract,
nor a reference omitted."
These directions have been punctually observed. The
second part is printed from his lordship's manuscript en
tire, without any omission or variation, except as above ;
and with regard to the first part, the extract sent to us
has been carefully compared with the original manuscript
itself, and found to agree : so that the whole here offered
to the public is the genuine work of the Lord Chancellor
Clarendon. And both these valuable original manuscripts
are given to the University by our noble benefactresses,
to be deposited in the public library.
c The passages here referred to are now printed in Italics.

The present edition of the Life and Continuation is printed
on the plan adopted in the impression of the History of the
Rebellion published in 1849, the particulars of which are stated
in p. iv. of the Advertisement to that edition.

THE LIFE

OF

EDWAED EAEL OF CLAEENDON;
FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE RESTORATION OF THE ROYAL
FAMILY IN THE YEAR 1660.

PART I.

Montpelier, July 23, 1668.
-CLE was born in Diokm in the county of Wilts, six
miles from Salisbury, in the house of his father, who was
Henry Hyde, the third son of Laurence Hyde, of West-
Hatch, esquire ; which Laurence was the younger son of
Robert Hyde of Norbury in the county of Chester, esquire ;
which estate of Norbury had continued in that family,
and descended from father to son from before the Con
quest, and continues to this day in Edward Hyde, who is
possessed thereof: the other estate of Hyde having some
ages since fallen into that of Norbury, by a marriage, and
continues still in that house.
2 Laurence, being, as was said, the younger son of Robert
Hyde of Norbury, and the custom of that county of Ches
ter being to make small provisions for the younger sons
of the best families, was, by the care and providence of
his mother, well educated, and when his age was fit for
it, was placed as a clerk in one of the auditor's offices of
the exchequer, where he gained great experience, and was
CLARENDON, LITE, VOL. I. B

2 Some account of Mr. Hyde's family :
employed in the affairs and business of sir John Thynne,
who, under the protection and service of the duke of So
merset, had in a short time raised a very great estate, and
was the first of that name who was known, and left the
house of Longleat to his heir, with other lands to a great
value. Laurence Hyde continued not above a year (or
very little more) in that relation, and never gained any
thing by it; but shortly after married Anne, the relict
and widow of Matthew Calthurst, esquire, of Claverton
near Bath in the county of Somerset, by whom he had a
fair fortune : and by her had four sons and four daughters,
that is to say, Robert, Laurence, Henry, and Nicholas;
Joanna, married to Edward Younge of Durnford near
Salisbury, esquire; Alice, married to John St. Loe of
Kingston in the county of Wilts, esquire ; Anne, married
to Thomas Baynard of Wanstrow in the county of So
merset, esquire ; and Susanna, married to sir George Fuy
of Kyneton in the county of Wilts, knight : and these
four sons and four daughters lived all above forty years
after the death of their father.
3 Laurence, shortly after his marriage with Anne, pur
chased the manor of West-Hatch, where he died, and
several other lands ; and having taken care to' breed his
sons at the University of Oxford, and inns of court, leav
ing his wife, the mother of all his children, possessed of
the greatest part of his estate, presuming that she would
be careful and kind to all their children, upon that ac
count left the bulk of his estate to Robert his eldest son,
who married Anne the daughter of  Castilian of
Benham in the county of Berks, esquire, who had many
children, and lived to the age of eighty, and left his
estate, a little impaired by the marriage of many daugh
ters, to his son. To Laurence his second son (who was
afterwards sir Laurence, and attorney general to queen
Anne, and a lawyer of great name and practice) he left
the impropriate rectory of Dinton, after the life of Anne

I. 2-

' — 4 of his father. (1608.) 3
his mother, charged with an annuity of forty pounds per
annum to his third son Henry for his life; and he charged
some other part of his estate with an annuity of thirty
pounds per annum to his youngest son Nicholas, for his
life, relying upon the goodness of his wife, who was left
very rich, as well by his donation, as from her husband
Calthurst, that she would provide for the better support
of the younger children ; two of which raised their for
tunes by the law, Laurence, as was said before, being
attorney general to the queen, and Nicholas, the youngest
son, living to be lord chief justice of the king's bench, and
dying in that office ; both of them leaving behind them
many sons and daughters.
4 Henry, the third son, being of the Middle Temple at
his father's death, and being thought to be most in the
favour of his mother, and being ready to be called to the
bar, though he had studied the law very well, and was a
very good scholar, having proceeded master of arts in Ox
ford, had yet no mind to the practice of the law, but had
long had an inclination to travel beyond the seas, which
in that strict time of queen Elizabeth was not usual, ex
cept to merchants, and such gentlemen who resolved to
be soldiers ; and at last prevailed with his mother to give
him leave to go to the Spa for his health, from whence he
followed his former inclinations, and passing through Ger
many, he went into Italy, and from Florence he went to
Syena, and thence to Rome : which was not only strictly
inhibited to all the queen's subjects, but was very danger
ous to all the English nation who did not profess them
selves Roman catholics ; to which profession he was very
averse, in regard of the great animosity Sixtus Quintus
(who was then pope) had to the person of queen Eliza
beth : yet cardinal Allen, who was the last English car
dinal, being then in Rome, he received so much protection
from him, that during the time he stayed there, which
was some months, he received no trouble, though many
b 2

4 Of Mr. Hyde's father. I- 4-
English priests murmured very much, and said, " that my
lord cardinal was much to be blamed for protecting such
men, who came to Rome, and so seeing the ecclesiastical
persons of that nation, discovered them afterwards when
they came into England, and so they were put to death."
S After he was returned into England his mother was
very glad, and persuaded him very earnestly to marry,
offering him in that case, that whereas she had the rec
tory of Dinton in jointure for her life, upon which he had
only an annuity of forty pounds per annum, for his life*
the remainder being to come to Laurence the second
brother and his heirs for ever, she would immediately
resign her term to him, for his better support, and would
likewise purchase of Laurence the said rectory for the
life of Henry, and such a wife as he should marry ; upon
which encouragement, and depending still upon his mo
ther's future bounty, about the thirtieth year of his age,
he married Mary, one of the daughters and heirs of Ed
ward Langford of Trowbridge in the county of Wilts,
esquire, by whom in present, and after her mother, he
had a good fortune, in the account of that age. From
that time, he lived a private life at Dinton aforesaid, with
great cheerfulness and content, and with a general repu
tation throughout the whole country ; being a person of
great knowledge and reputation, and of so great esteem
for integrity, that most persons near him referred all
matters of contention and difference which did arise
amongst them to his determination ; by which, that part
of the country lived in more peace and quietness than
many of their neighbours. During the time of queen
Elizabeth he served as a burgess for some neighbour
boroughs in many parliaments; but from the death of
queen Elizabeth, he never was in London, though he
lived above thirty years after ; and his wife, who was
married to him above forty years, never was in London
in her life ; the wisdom and frugality of that time being

Birth of Mr. Hyde. (1609.) 5
such, that few gentlemen made journeys to London, or
any other expensive journeys, but upon important busi
ness, and their wives never ; by which providence they
enjoyed and improved their estates in the country, and
kept good hospitality in their houses, brought up their
children well, and were beloved by their neighbours ; and
in this rank, and with this reputation, this gentleman
lived till he was seventy years of age; his younger brother
the chief justice dying some years before him, and his two
elder brothers outliving him. The great affection between
the four brothers, and towards their sisters, of whom all
enjoyed plenty and contentedness, was very notorious
throughout the country, and of credit to them all.
6 Henry Hyde, the third son of Laurence, by his inter
marriage with Mary Langford, had four sons and five
daughters, and being by the kindness and bounty of his
mother, who lived long, and till he had seven or eight
children, possessed of such an estate as made his condition
easy to him, lived still in the country, as was said before.
Laurence his eldest son died young; Henry his second
son lived till he was twenty-six or twenty-seven years of
age ; Edward his third son was he who came afterwards
to be earl of Clarendon, and lord high chancellor of
England ; Nicholas died young ; Henry and Edward were
both in the university of Oxford together ; Henry being
master of arts the act before his younger brother Edward
came to the university, who was then but thirteen years
of age, and designed by his father to the clergy.
7 Edward Hyde, being the third son of his father, was
born at Dinton upon the eighteenth day of February in
the year 1608, being the fifth year of king James ; and
was always bred in his father's house under the care of a
schoolmaster, to whom his father had given the vicarage
of that parish, who, having been always a schoolmaster,
(though but of very indifferent parts,) had bred many good
scholars, and this person of whom we now speak, prin-

6 Mr. Hyde is sent to Oxford: !• 1~
cipally by the care and conversation of his father, (who
was an excellent scholar, and took pleasure in conferring
with him, and contributed much more to his education
than the school did,) was thought fit to be sent to
the university soon after he was thirteen years of age ;
and being a younger son of a younger brother, was to
expect a small patrimony from his father, but to make
his own fortune by his own industry; and in order
to that, was sent by his father to Oxford at that time,
being about Magdalen election time, in expectation that
he should have been chosen demy of Magdalen college,
the election being to be at that time, for which he was
recommended by a special letter from king James to
Dr. Langton then president of that college ; but upon ,
pretence that the letter came too late, though the election
was not then begun, he was not chosen, and so remained
in Magdalen hall (where he was before admitted) under
the tuition of Mr. John Oliver, a fellow of that college,
who had been junior of the act a month before, and a
scholar of eminency, who was his tutor.
8 The year following, the president of the college having
received reprehension from the lord Conway then secre
tary of state, for giving no more respect to the king's
letter, he was chosen the next election in the first place,
but that whole year passed without any avoidance of a
demy's place, which was never known before in any man's
memory, and that year king James died, and shortly after,
Henry his elder brother, and thereupon his father having
now no other son, changed his former inclination, and
resolved to send his son Edward to the inns of court : he
was then entered in the Middle Temple by his uncle
Nicholas Hyde, who was then treasurer of that society,
and afterwards lord chief justice of the king's bench; but
by reason of the great plague then at London in the first
year of king Charles, and the parliament being then ad
journed to Oxford, whither the plague was likewise then

-Q. he enters the Middle Temple. (1625.) 7
brought by sir James Hussy, one of the masters of the
chancery, who died in New college the first night after
his arrival at Oxford, and shortly after Dr. Chaloner, prin
cipal of Alban hall, who had supped that night with sir
James Hussy, he did not go to the Middle Temple till
the Michaelmas term after the term at Reading, but re
mained partly at his father's house, and partly at the uni
versity, where he took the degree of bachelor of arts, and
fthen left it, rather with the opinion of a young man of \
parts and pregnancy of wit, than that he had improved it j
much by industry, the discipline of that time being not so i
strict as it hath been since, and as it ought to.be) and
the custom of drinking being too much introduced and
practised, his elder brother having being too much cor-|
rupted in that kind, and so having at his first coming
given him some liberty, at least some example towards';
that license, insomuch as he was often heard to say, "that !j
it was a very good fortune to him that his father so soon \
removed him from the university," though he always re- j
served a high esteem of it.
9 Before the beginning of Michaelmas term (which was
in the year 1625) the city being then clear from the
plague, he went from Marlborough after the quarter
sessions with his uncle Nicholas Hyde, who was afterwards
chief justice, to London, and arrived there about ten of
the clock in the morning, the eve of the term, and dined
that day in the Middle Temple hall, being then between
sixteen and seventeen years of age. In the evening he
went to prayers to the Temple church, and was there
seized upon by a fit of an ague very violently, which
proved a quartan, and brought him in a short time so
weak, that his friends much feared a consumption, so
that his uncle thought fit shortly after Alhollandtide to
send him into the country to Pirton in North Wiltshire,
whither his father had removed himself from Dinton;
choosing rather to live upon his own land, the which he

8 Mr. Hyde sets out
had purchased many years before, and to rent Dinton,
which was but a lease for lives, to a tenant. He came,
home to his father's house very weak, his ague continuing
so violently upon him (though it sometimes changed its
course from a quartan to a tertian, and then to a quoti
dian, and on new year's day he had two hot fits and two
cold fits) until Whitsunday following, that all men thought
him to be in a consumption ; it then left him, and he
grew quickly strong-again. In this time of his sickness
his uncle was made chief justice : it was Michaelmas
following before he returned to the Middle Temple, hav
ing by his want of health lost a full year of study ; and
when he returned, it was without great application to the
study of the law for some years, it being then a time
when the town was full of soldiers, the king having then
a war both with Spain and France, and the business of
the Isle of Ree shortly followed ; and he had gotten into
the acquaintance of many of those officers, which took up
too much of his time for one year : but as the war was
quickly ended, so he had the good fortune quickly to
make a full retreat from that company, and from any
conversation with any of them, and without any hurt or
prejudice from their conversation; insomuch as he used
often to say, " that since it pleased God to preserve him
whilst he did keep that company, (in which he wonderfully
escaped from being involved in many inconveniences,) and
to withdraw him so soon from it, he was not sorry that he
had some experience in the conversation of such men, and
of the license of those times," which was very exorbitant :
yet when he did indulge himself that liberty, it was with
out any signal debauchery, and not without some hours
every day, at least every night, spent amongst his books ;
yet he would not deny that more than to be able to answer
his uncle, who almost every night put a case to him in
law, he could not bring himself to an industrious pursuit
of the law study, but rather loved polite learning and

I.9-

-io. on the Norfolk circuit. (1628.) 9
history, in which, especially in the Roman, he had been
always conversant.
10 In the year 1628 his father gave him leave to ride the
circuit in the summer with his uncle the chief justice,
who then rode the Norfolk circuit ; and indeed desired
it, both that he might see those counties, and especially
that he might be out of London in that season when the
small pox raged very furiously, and many persons, some
whereof were very familiar with him, died of that disease
in the Middle Temple itself. It was about the middle
of July when that circuit began, and Cambridge was the
first place the judges begun at ; Mr. justice Harvey (one
of the judges of the common pleas) was in commission
with the chief justice : they both came into Cambridge
on the Saturday night, and the next day Mr. Edward
Hyde fell sick, which was imputed only to his journey the
day before in very hot weather ; but he continued so ill
the day or two following, that it was apprehended that
he might have the small pox ; whereupon he was re
moved out of Trinity college, where the judges were
lodged, and where he had a chamber, to the Sun inn, over
against the college gate, the judges being to go out of
town the next day ; but before they went, the small pox
appeared ; whereupon his uncle put him under the care
of Mr. Crane an eminent apothecary, who had been bred
up under Dr. Butler, and was in much greater practice
than any physician in the university ; and left with him
Laurence St. Loe one of his servants, who was likewise
his nephew, to assist and comfort him. It pleased God
to preserve him from that devouring disease, which was
spread all over him very furiously, and had so far pre
vailed over him, that for some hours both his friends and
physician consulted of nothing but of the place and man
ner of his burial ; but as I said, by God's goodness he
escaped that sickness, and within few days more than
a month after his first indisposition he passed in moderate

10 Character of sir Nicholas Hyde. L ii
journeys to his father's house at Pirton, where he arrived
a day or two before Bartholomew day.
i He was often wont to say, that he was reading to his
father in Camden's Annals, and that particular place, in
which it is said, "Johannes Feltonus, qui bullam pontificiam
vakis palatii episcopi Londinensis affixerat jam deprehen-
sus, cumfugere nollet, factum confessus quod tamen crimen
agnoscere noluit," &c. when a person of the neighbourhood
knocked at the door, and being called in, told his father
that a post was then passed through the village to
Charleton, the house of the earl of Berkshire to inform
the earl of Berkshire that the duke of Buckingham was
killed the day before (being the 24th of August, Bartho
lomew day, in the year 1628) by one John Feltona, which
dismal accident happening in the court, made a great
change in the state, produced a sudden disbanding of all
armies, and a due observation of and obedience to the
laws ; so that there being no more mutations in view
(which usually affect the spirits of young men, at least
hold them some time at gaze) Mr. Hyde returned again
to his studies at the Middle Temple, having it still in his
resolution to dedicate himself to the profession of the law,
without declining the politer learning, to which his humour
and his conversation kept him always very indulgent; and
to lay some obligation upon himself to be fixed to that
course of life, he inclined to a proposition of marriage,
which, having no other passion in it than an appetite to a
convenient estate, succeeded not, yet produced new ac
quaintance, and continued the same inclinations.
2 About this time his uncle sir Nicholas Hyde, lord chief
justice of the king's bench, died of a malignant fever,
gotten from the infection of some gaol in his summer
circuit. He was a man of excellent learning for that
a For the particulars of the duke of Buckingham's death, and of the
alterations it produced at court and in puhlic affairs, vid. Hist, of the
Rehellion, vol. i. p. 37, &c. ed. 1849.

—13- Mr. Hyde's marriage: death of his wife. (1629.) 11
province he was to govern, of unsuspected and unble-
tnished integrity, of an exemplar gravity and austerity,
which was necessary for the manners of that time, cor
rupted by the marching of armies, and by the license after
the disbanding them ; and though upon his promotion
some years before, from a private practiser of the law to
the supreme judicatory in it, by the power and recom
mendation of the great favourite, of whose council he had
been, he was exposed to much envy and some prejudice ;
yet his behaviour was so grateful to all the judges, who
had an entire confidence in him, his service so useful to
the king in his government, his justice and sincerity so
conspicuous throughout the kingdom, that the death of
no judge had in any time been more lamented.
13 The loss of so beneficial an encouragement and sup
port in that profession did not at all discourage his nephew
in his purpose ; rather added new resolution to him ; and
to call home all straggling and wandering appetites, which
naturally produce irresolution and inconstancy in the mind,
with his father's consent and approbation he married a
young lady very fair and beautiful, the claughter__ojLsir
I George Ayliffe, a gentleman of a good name and fortune
\ in the county of Wilts, where his own expectations lay,
and by her mother (a St. John) nearly allied to many
noble families in England. He enjoyed this comfort"
and composure of mind aT very short time, for within less
than six months after he was married, being upon the
way from London towards his father's house, she fell sick
at Reading, and being removed to a friend's house near
that town, the small pox discovered themselves, and (she
being with child) forced her to miscarry; and she died
within two days. He bore her loss with so great passion
and confusion of spirit, that it shook all the frame of his
resolutions, and nothing but his entire duty and reverence
to his father kept him from giving over all thoughts of
books, and transporting himself beyond the seas to enjoy

12 Mr. Hyde's introduction L x3~
his own melancholy ; nor could any persuasion or impor
tunity from his friends prevail with him in some years to
think of another marriage. There was an ill accident in
the court befell a lady of a family nearly allied to his wife,
whose memory was very dear to him, and there always
continued a firm friendship in him to all her alliance,
which likewise ever manifested an equal affection to him ;
amongst those was William viscount Grandison, a young
man of extraordinary hope, between whom and the other
there was an entire confidence. The injury was of that
nature, that the young lord thought of nothing but re
pairing it his own way; but those imaginations were
quickly at an end, by the king's rigorous and just pro
ceeding against the persons offending, in committing
them both to the Tower, and declaring that " since he
was satisfied that there was a promise of marriage in the
case, the gentleman should make good his promise by
marrying the lady ; or be kept in prison, and for ever
banished from all pretence or relation to the court," where
he had a very great credit and interest. This declaration
by the king made the nearest friends of the lady pursue
the design of this reparation more solicitously, in which
they had all access to the king, who continued still in
his declared judgment in the matter. In this pursuit
Mr. Hyde's passionate affection to the family embarked
him, and they were all as willing to be guided by his
conduct ; the business was to be followed by frequent
instances at court, and conferences with those who had
most power and opportunity to confirm the king in the
sense he had entertained ; and those conferences were
wholly managed by him, who thereby had all admission
to the persons of alliance to the lady, and so concerned in
the dishonour, which was a great body of lords and ladies
of principal relations in court, with whom in a short time
he was of great credit and esteem ; of which the marquis
of Hamilton was one, who having married an excellent

— 14- to the marquis of Hamilton. (1629.) 13
lady* cousin-german to the injured person, seemed the
most concerned and most zealous for her vindication, and
who had at that time the most credit of any man about
the court, and who upon that occasion entered into a
familiarity with him, and made as great professions of
kindness to him as could pass to a person at that distance
from him, which continued till the end and conclusion of
that affair, when the marquis believed that Mr. Hyde had
discovered some want of sincerity in him in that prosecu
tion, which he pretended so much to assert.
14 The mention of this particular little story, in itself of
no seeming consequence, is not inserted here only as it
made some alterations, and accidentally introduced him
into another way of conversation than he had formerly
been accustomed to, and which in truth by the acquaint
ance, by the friends and enemies he then made, had an
influence upon the whole course of his life afterwards;
but that it made such impressions upon the whole court, by
dividing the lords and ladies both in their wishes and ap
pearances, that much of that faction grew out of it, which
survived the memory of the original ; and from this occa
sion (to shew us from how small springs great rivers may
arise) the women, who till then had not appeared con
cerned in public affairs, began to have some part in all
business; and having shewn themselves warm upon this
amour, as their passions or affections carried them, and
thereby entered into new affections, and formed new
interests ; the activity in their spirits remained still
vigorous when the object which first inspired it was
vanished and put in oblivion. Nor were the very minis
ters of state vacant upon this occasion ; they who for their
own sakes, or, as they pretended, for the king's dignity,
and honour of the court, desired the ruin of the gentle
man, pressed the magnitude of the crime, in bringing so
great a scandal upon the king's family, which would hinder
persons of honour from sending their children to the court;

14 Mr. Hyde's second marriage. I. 14-
and that there could be no reparation without the marriage*
which they therefore only insisted upon, because they be
lieved he would prefer banishment before it ; others who
had friendship for him and believed that he had an interest
in the court, which might accommodate himself and them
if this breach were closed any way, therefore if the king's
severity could not be prevailed upon, wished it concluded
by the marriage ; which neither himself nor they upon
whom he most depended would ever be brought to con
sent to ; so that all the jealousies and animosities in the
court or state came to play their own prizes in the widen
ing or accommodating this contention. In the conclusion,
on a sudden, contrary to the expectation of any man of
either party, the gentleman was immediately sent out of
the kingdom, under the formality of a temporary and
short banishment, and the lady commended to her friends,
to be taken care of till her delivery ; and from that time
never word more spoken of the business, nor shall their
names ever come upon the stage by any record of mine.
It was only observed, that at this time there was a great
change in the friendships of the court, and in those of the
marquis of Hamilton, who came now into the queen's
confidence, towards whom he had always been in great
jealousy; and another lady more appeared in view, who
had for the most part before continued behind the curtain;
and who in few years after came to a very unhappy and
untimely end.
15 Now after a widowhood of near three years, Mr. Hyde
was inclined again to marry, which he knew would be
the most grateful thing to his father (for whom he had
always an infinite reverence) he could do : and though he
needed no other motive to it, he would often say, that
though he was now called to the bar, and entered into
the profession of the law, he was not so confident of him
self that he should not start aside if his father should die,
who was then near seventy years of age, having long en-

Health of Mr. Hyde's father. (1632.) 15
tertained thoughts of travels, but that he thought it neces
sary to lay some obligation upon himself, which would
suppress and restrain all those appetites ; and thereupon
resolved to marry, and so, being about the age of twenty-
four years, in the year of our Lord 1632, he married the
daughter of sir Thomas Aylesbury, baronet, master of
wniiesLs lu Lhe king1 ; by whorn~h~e~had many children of
both sexes, with whom he lived very comfortably in the
most uncomfortable times, and very joyfully in those
times when matter of joy was administered, for the space
of five or six aritHillirty years j/ what befell him after her
death will be recounted in its place. From the time of
his marriage he laid aside all other thoughts but of his
profession, to the which he betook himself very seriously ;
but in the very entrance into it he met with a great mor
tification: some months after he was married, he went
with his wife to wait upon his father and mother at his
house at Pirton, to make them sharers in that satisfaction
which they had so long desired to see, and in which they
took great delight.
16 His father had long suffered under an indisposition (even
before the time his son could remember) which gave him
rather frequent pains than sickness ; and gave him cause
to be terrified with the expectation of the stone, without
being exercised with the present sense of it : but from
the time he was sixty years of age it increased very much,
and four or five years before his death, with circumstances
scarce heard of before, and the causes whereof are not yet
understood by any physician : he was very often, both in
the day and the night, forced to make water, seldom in
any quantity, because he could not retain it long enough ;
and in the close of that work, without any sharp pain in
those parts, he was still and constantly seized on by so
sharp a pain in the left arm for half a quarter of an hour,
or near so much, that the torment made him as pale
(whereas he was otherwise of a very sanguine complexion)

16 Mr. Hyde's father removes to Salisbury ; I. 16-
as if he were dead ; and he used to say, " that he had
passed the pangs of death, and he should die in one of
those fits." As soon as it was over, which was quickly,
he was the cheerfullest man living ; eat well such things
as he could fancy, walked, slept, digested, conversed with
such a promptness and vivacity upon all arguments (for he
was omnifariam doctus) as hath been seldom known in a
man of his age : but he had the image of death so con
stantly before him in those continual torments, that for
many years before his death he always parted with his
son as to see him no more ; and at parting still shewed
him his will, discoursing very particularly and very cheer
fully of all things he would have performed after his
death.
17 He had for some time before resolved to leave the
country, and to spend the remainder of his time in Salis
bury, where he had caused a house to be provided for him,
both for the neighbourhood of the cathedral church, where
he could perform his devotions every day, and for the
conversation of many of his family who lived there, and
not far from it ; and especially that he might be buried
there, where many of his family and friends lay ; and he
obliged his son to accompany him thither before his return
to London ; and he came to Salisbury on the Friday be
fore Michaelmas day in the year 1632, and lodged in his
own house that night. The next day he was so wholly
taken up in receiving visits from his many friends, being
a person wonderfully reverenced in those parts, that he
walked very little out of his house. The next morning,
being Sunday, he rose very early, and went to two or three
churches ; and when he returned, which was by eight of
the clock, he told his wife and his son, " that he had been
to look out a place to be buried in, but found none against
which he had not some exception, the cathedral only ex
cepted : where he had made a choice of a place near a
kinsman of his own name, and had shewed it to the sexton,

t— 17. where he dies suddenly. (1632.) 17
whom he had sent for to that purpose ; and wished them
to see him buried there ;" and this with as much com-
posedness of mind as if it had made no impression of
mind ; then went to the cathedral to sermon, and spent
the whole day in as cheerful conversation with his friends,
(saving only the frequent interruptions his infirmity gave
him once in two or three hours, sometimes more, some
times less,) as the man in the most confirmed health could
do. Monday was Michaelmas day, when in the morning
he went to visit his brother sir Laurence Hyde, who was
then making a journey in the service of the king, and
from him went to the church to a sermon, where he found
himself a little pressed as he used to be, and therefore
thought fit to make what haste he could to his house, and
was no sooner come thither into a lower room, than having
made water, and the pain in his arm seizing upon him, he
fell down dead, without the least motion of any limb.
The suddenness of it made it apprehended to be an apo
plexy ; but there being nothing like convulsions, or the
least distortion or alteration in the visage, it is not like to
be from that cause ; nor could the physicians make any
reasonable guess from whence that mortal blow proceeded.
He wanted about six weeks of attaining the age of seventy,
and was the greatest instance of the felicity of a country
life that was seen in that age ; having enjoyed a com
petent, and to him a plentiful fortune, a. very great repu
tation of piety and virtue, and his death being attended
with universal lamentation. It cannot be expressed with
what agony his son bore this loss, having, as he was used to
say, " not only lost the best father, but the best friend and
the best companion he ever had or could have ;" and he
was never so well pleased, as when he had fit occasions
given him to mention his father, whom he did in truth
believe to be the wisest man he had ever known ; and he
was often heard to say, in the time when his condition
was at highest, " that though God Almighty had been
CLARENDON, LIFE, VOL. I. C

18 The treasurer's office given to commissioners: *¦< *°
very propitious to him, in raising him to great honours
and preferments, he did not value any honour he had so
much as the being the son of such a father and mother,
for whose sakes principally he thought God had conferred
those blessings upon him."
> There fell out at this time, or thereabouts, a great al
teration in the court and state, by the death of the earl of
Portland, lord high treasurer of England b. The king from
the death of the duke of Buckingham had not only been
very reserved in his bounty, but so frugal in his own ex
pense, that he had retrenched much of what had formerly
issued out for his household, in so much as every year some
what had been paid of his debts. He resolved now to govern
his treasury by commission, and to take a constant account
of it ; and thereby to discover what had been of late done
amiss. The commissioners he appointed were, the lord
archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Laud, (formerly bishop of
London,) the lord keeper Coventry, and other principal
officers of state, who, together with the lord Cottington,
(who was chancellor of the exchequer, and by his office of
the quorum in that commission,) were to supply the office of
treasurer in all particulars. The archbishop of Canterbury,
who till now had only intended the good government of
the church, without intermeddling in secular affairs, other
wise than when the discipline of the church was con
cerned, in which he was very strict, both in the high com
mission, and in all other places, where he sat as a privy
counsellor, well foreseeing, as he made manifest upon
several occasions, the growth of the schismatics, and that
if they were not with rigour suppressed, they would put
the whole kingdom into a flame, which shortly after fell
out to be too confessed a truth ; though for the present
his providence only served to increase the number of his
enemies, who had from that his zeal contracted all the
b The character of the earl is inserted in the History, vol. i. p. 66, &c.
ed. 1849.

-19- of whom archbishop Laud is one. (1635.) 19
malice against him that can be imagined, and which he,
out of the conscience of his duty, and the purity of his
intentions, and his knowledge of the king's full approba
tion of his vigilance and ardour, too much undervalued ;
I say, as soon as he was made commissioner of the treasury,
he thought himself obliged to take all the pains he could
to understand that employment, and the nature of the
revenue, and to find out all possible ways for the improve
ment thereof, and for the present managery of the ex
pense. Many were of opinion that he was the more
solicitous in that disquisition, and the more inquisitive
into what had been done, that he might make some dis
covery of past actions, which might reflect upon the
memory of the late treasurer, the earl of Portland, and
call his wisdom and integrity in question, who had been
so far from being his friend, that he had always laboured
to do him all the mischief he could ; and it was no small
grief of heart to him, and much occasion of his ill humour,
to find that the archbishop had too much credit with the
king, to be shaken by him : and the archbishop was not
in his affections behindhand with him, looking always
upon him as a Roman catholic, though he dissembled it
by going to church ; and as the great countenancer and
support of that religion ; all his family being of that pro
fession, and very few resorting to it, or having any credit
with him but such. It is very true, the archbishop had
no great regard for his memory, or for his friends, and
was willing enough to make any discovery of his mis
carriages, and to inform his majesty of them, who he be
lieved had too good an opinion of him and his integrity.
19 The truth is, the archbishop had laid down one princi
ple to himself, which he believed would much advance
the king's service, and was without doubt very prudent ;
that the king's duties being provided for, and cheerfully
paid, the merchants should receive all the countenance
and protection from the king that they could expect, and
c 2

20 Mr. Harvey complains to Laud I. J9-
not be liable to the vexation particular men gave them
for their private advantage ; ' being forward enough to re
ceive propositions which tended to the king's profit, but
careful that what accrued of burden to the subject should
redound entirely to the benefit of the crown, and not
enrich projectors at the charge of the people : and there
is reason to believe that if this measure had been well
observed, much of that murmur had been prevented,
which contributed to that jealousy and discontent which
soon after brake out. This vigilance and inclination in
the archbishop opened a door to the admission of any
merchants or others to him, who gave him information of
this kind ; and who being ready to pay any thing to the
king, desired only to be protected from private oppres
sions. The archbishop used to spend as much time as he
could get at his country house at Croydon ; and then his
mind being unbent from business, he delighted in the
conversation of his neighbours, and treated them with
great urbanity.
20 There was a merchant of the greatest reputation,
(Daniel Harvey.) who, having a country house within a
few miles from Croydon, and understanding the whole
business of trade more exactly than most men, was always
very welcome to the archbishop, who used to ask him
many questions upon such matters as he desired to be in
formed in: and received much satisfaction from him. Upon
an accidental discourse between them, what encourage
ment merchants ought to receive, who brought a great
trade into the kingdom, and paid thereupon great sums of
money to the king, Mr. Harvey mentioned the discourage
ments they had received in the late times, by the rigour
of the earl of Portland, in matters that related nothing
to the king's service, but to the profit of private men ;
and thereupon remembered a particular, that, after the
dissolution of the parliament upon the mutinous behaviour
of the house of commons, in the fourth year of the king,

#2a of the earl of Portland. (1635.) 21
and the combination amongst many merchants to pay no
more customs or impositions to the king, because they
had not been granted in parliament, which produced those
suits and decrees in the exchequer, which are generally
understood, and a general distractiou in trade ; many
merchants of the greatest wealth and reputation resolved
to continue the trade ; and in a short time reduced it
into so good order, and by their advice and example dis
posed others to make a punctual entry of their goods, and
to pay their duties to the king, that the trade seemed to
be restored to the nation, and the customs to rise above
the value they had ever yielded to the crown : which was
no sooner brought to pass, than the earl of Portland (who
endeavoured to persuade the king that this great work
was entirely compassed by his wisdom, interest, and dex
terity) disobliged the merchants in a very sensible degree,
in requiring them to unlade their ships at the custom
house quay, and at no other quay or wharf, upon pretence
that thereby the king would have his customs well paid,
of which otherwise he would be in danger to be cozened;
and alleged an order that had been formerly made in the
court of the exchequer, that fine goods which were port
able, (as silks and fine linens,) and might easily be stolen,
should always be landed at the custom-house quay. The
merchants looked upon this constraint and restraint as a
great oppression, and applied themselves to him for re
paration and redress : they undertook to make it evident
to him, that it was merely a matter which concerned the
private benefit of the particular wharfingers, and [not] in
the least degree the king's profit ; that the custom-house
quay was of great value to the owner of it, who had a
very great rent for it, but that it yielded the king nothing,
nor would in fifty years or thereabouts, there being a
lease yet to come for that term ; that the mention of fine
goods, and the order of the exchequer, was not applicable
to the question ; that they disputed not the landing of

22 Mr. Harvey's complaint to Laud, !• 30-
fine goods, but that the pretence was to compel them to
bring their grossest, and their merchandise of the greatest
bulk to that quay, whereas they had been always free to
ship or unship such goods at what wharf they would
choose for their conveniences ; there being the sworn
waiters of the custom-house attending in the one, as well
as the other ; that the restraining them to one wharf, and
obliging all the ships to be brought thither, must prove
much to their prejudice, and make them depend upon the
good-will of the wharfinger for their despatch ; who in
truth, let his desire be never so good, could not be able
to perform the service, without obliging them to wait very
long, and thereby to lose their markets. All this discourse,
how reasonable soever, made no impression upon the
treasurer, but he dismissed them with his usual rough
ness, and reproached them that they desired all occasions
to cozen the king of his customs ; which they looked upon
as an ill reward for the service they had done, and a great
discouragement to trade. The archbishop heard this dis
course with great trouble and indignation, and being then
interrupted by the coming of persons of quality, told him,
he would some other time run over all these particulars
again, and that he should recollect himself for other in
stances of that strange nature.
i The next time the archbishop returned to Croydon,
which he usually did once in the week during the sum
mer, and stayed a day or two, impatient to understand
more of the matter, he sent for Mr. Harvey, and told him,
" that his last discourse had given him much cause of
sorrow, in finding how the king had been used, and that
he knew his nature so well, that he could confidently say,
that he never knew of that kind of proceeding, and that
he wondered that the merchants had not then petitioned
the king to hear the matter himself." He answered,
" that they had left no way unattempted for their ease,
having no fear of displeasing the treasurer ; that they had

1 — 22. to whom he mentions Mr. Hyde. (1635.) 23
caused a petition to be drawn by their council, which was
signed by all the principal merchants in the city, wherein
(to obviate the calumny concerning refusing to pay, or
stealing customs) they declared, that they were all very
willing to pay all duties to his majesty, and would never
refuse the same, (which was a declaration would have
been much valued a year or two before, and ought to
have been so then,) only desired to be left at liberty to
ship and land their goods as they had been accustomed
to; that they had given this petition to a secretary of
state to present it to the king, who referred it to the con
sideration of the treasurer ; and thereupon they pursued
it no further, knowing how he stood resolved, and the
cause of it, which troubled them most, viz. that that cus
tom-house quay did, though not in his own name, in truth
belong to sir Abraham Dawes, one of the farmers of the
customs, and the only minion of the lord treasurer, all
the other farmers being offended with the order, which
they saw would offend the merchants." The archbishop
asked " where that petition was ; that he thought it still
of that moment, that he would be glad to see it." He
answered, " he knew not where it was ; but he believed
it to remain in the hands of Mr. Hyde, who had drawn it,
and was of council with the merchants throughout the
whole proceedings ; and was so warm in it, that he had
exceedingly provoked the lord treasurer, who would have
ruined him if he could." He asked who that Mr. Hyde
was, and where he was : the other said, " he was a young
lawyer of the Middle Temple, who was not afraid of being
of council with them, when all men of name durst not
appear for them ; and that he was confident that he,
having been always present at all debates, remembered
many circumstances in the business which the other had
forgotten ; that he was generally known ; and had lately
married the daughter of sir Thomas Aylesbury."
22 Within a few days after, the archbishop meeting sir

24 Mr. Hyde attends archbishop Laud, !• 22-
Thomas Aylesbury at court, asked him whether he had
married his daughter to one Mr. Hyde, a lawyer, and
where he was : he answered, he had done so, and that he
lived in his house, when he was not at his chamber in the
Middle Temple. The archbishop desired him to send
him to him, for he heard well of him ; and the next
morning I attended him, and found him walking alone
in his garden at Lambeth : he received him civilly accord
ing to his manner, without much ceremony; and presently
asked him, whether he had not been of council with some
merchants in such a business, and where that petition now
was : he answered him, not knowing why he asked, " that
he had been about two years past of council with some
merchants about such an affair, in which the earl of Port
land had been much incensed against him; that he re
membered he had drawn such a petition, which was signed
by all the considerable merchants of London, but that
there was little progress made thereupon, by reason of
the asperity of the treasurer." He asked still for the
petition that was so signed ; he told him, he thought he
had it himself, if he had it not, he was confident he could
find who had it : he desired him, that he would find it
out, and bring it to him, and any other papers concerning
that affair, or the business of the customs. He said, " the
king had, contrary to his desire, made him one of the
commissioners of the treasury ; that he understood no
thing of that province, but was willing to take any pains
which might enable him to do his master service, which
made him inquisitive into the customs, the principal
branch of the revenue; that his neighbour Daniel Harvey
had spoken much good of him to him ; and informed him
of that complaint of the merchants, which he thought had
much reason in it, but it was like other acts of the earl of
Portland ; that he would be willing to receive any infor
mation from him, and that he should be welcome when
he came to him." He told him, in short, (which he heard

from whom he receives encouragement. (1635.) 25
would please him best,) two or three passages that hap
pened in that transaction ; and some huffing expressions
which fell from the treasurer, when upon his urging that
the farmers would not hold their farm, if he did not
strictly hold the merchants to custom-house quay, he told
him, " that if the farmers were weary of their bargain, he
would help the king to forty thousand pounds a year
above the rent they paid, and that they should be paid
all the money they had advanced within one week ;" upon
which the earl indeed had let himself out into an inde
cent rage, using many threats to him : which he found
was not ingrateful to the archbishop, upon whom he at
tended within a day or two again, and delivered him the
petition and many other useful papers, which pleased him
abundantly ; and he required him to see him often.
33 By this accident Mr. Hyde came first to be known to
the archbishop, who ever afterwards used him very kindly,
and spoke well of him upon all occasions, and took par
ticular notice of him when he came of council in any
causes depending at the council board, as he did fre
quently ; and desired his service in many occasions, and
particularly in the raising monies for the building St.
Paul's church, in which he made a journey or two into
Wiltshire with good success ; which the archbishop still
acknowledged in a more obliging way than he was ac
customed to ; insomuch as it was so much taken notice
of, that Mr. Hyde (who well knew how to cultivate those
advantages) was used with more countenance by all the
judges in Westminster hall, and the eminent practisers,
than was usually given to men of his years ; so that he
grew every day in practice, of which he had as much as
he desired ; and having a competent estate of his own,
he enjoyed a very pleasant and a plentiful life, living very
generously, and much above the rank of those lawyers
whose business was only to be rich; and was generally
beloved and esteemed by most persons of condition and

26 Mr. Hyde's method of I- 23-
great reputation. Though he pursued his profession with
great diligence and intentness of mind, and upon the
matter wholly betook himself to business, yet he made
not himself a slave to it, but kept both his friends at
court and about the town, by his frequent application
and constant conversation : in order to which, he always
gave himself at dinner to those who used to meet to
gether at that hour, and in such places as was mutually
agreed between them ; where they enjoyed themselves
with wonderful delight and public reputation, for the
innocence, and sharpness, and learning of their conversa
tion. For he would never suffer himself to be deprived
of some hours (which commonly he borrowed from the
night) to refresh himself with polite learning, in which he
still made some progress. The afternoons he entirely
dedicated to the business of his profession, taking in
structions and the like ; and very rarely supped, except
he was called out by some of his friends, who spared him
the more, because he always complied with those sum
mons ; otherwise he never supped for many years, (before
the troubles brought in that custom,) both for the gain
ing that time for himself, and that he might rise early in
the morning according to his custom, and which he would
say, he could never do when he supped. The vacations
he gave wholly to his study and conversation, never going
out of London in those seasons, except for two months
in the summer, which he spent at his own house in the
country, with great cheerfulness amongst his friends, who
then resorted to him in good numbers.
24 He never did ride any country circuits with the judges,
which he often repented afterwards, saying, that besides
the knowing the gentry, and people, and manners of
England, (which is best attained that way,) there is a
very good and necessary part of the learning in the law
which is not so easily got any other way, as in riding
those circuits; which as it seems to have much of

' — 25. spending his time. (1635.) 27
drudgery, so is accompanied with much pleasure as well
as profit ; and it may be, the long lives of men of that
profession (for the lawyers usually live to more years than
any other profession) may very reasonably be imputed to
the exercise they give themselves by their circuits, as well
as to their other acts of temperance and sobriety. And
as he had denied himself that satisfaction, purely to have
that time to himself for other delight, so he did resolve,
if the confusion of the time had not surprised him, for
three or four years (longer he did not intend) to have
improved himself by the experience of those journeys.
25 He was often heard to say, that, " next the immediate
blessing and providence of God Almighty, which had pre
served him throughout the whole course of his life, (less
strict than it ought to have been,) from many dangers and
disadvantages, in which many other young men were lost ;
he owed all the little he knew, and the little good that
was in him, to the friendships and conversation he had
still been used to, of the most excellent men in their
several kinds that lived in that age ; by whose learning,
and information, and instruction, he formed his studies,
and mended his understanding ; and by whose gentleness
and sweetness of behaviour, and justice, and virtue, and
example, he formed his manners, subdued that pride,
and suppressed that heat and passion he was naturally
inclined to be transported with." And he never took
more pleasure in any thing, than in frequently mentioning
and naming those persons, who were then his friends, or
of his most familiar conversation, and in remembering
their particular virtues and faculties; and used often to
say, "that he never was so proud, or thought himself so
good a man, as when he was the worst man in the com- \
pany;" all his friends and companions being in their
quality, in their fortunes, at least in their faculties and
endowments of mind, very much his superiors: and he
always charged his children to follow his example in that

28 Mr. Hyde's chief acquaintances: !• 25-
point, in making their friendships and conversation ; pro
testing, that in the whole course of his life he never knew
one man, of what condition soever, arrive to any degree of
reputation in the world, who made choice or delighted in
the company or conversation of those, who in their quali
ties were inferior, or in their parts not much superior to
them.
26 Whilst he was only a student of the law, and stood at
gaze, and irresolute what course of life to take, his chief
acquaintance were Ben Johnson, John Selden, Charles
Cotton, John Vaughan, sir Kenelm Digby, Thomas May,
and Thomas Carew, and some others of eminent faculties
in their several ways. Ben Johnson's name can never be
forgotten, having by his very good learning, and the se
verity of his nature and manners, very much reformed
the stage; and indeed the English poetry itself. His
natural advantages were, judgment to order and govern
fancy, rather than excess of fancy, his productions being
slow and upon deliberation, yet then abounding with
great wit and fancy, and will live accordingly ; and surely
as he did exceedingly exalt the English language in
eloquence, propriety, and masculine expressions, so he
was the best judge of, and fittest to prescribe rules to
poetry and poets, of any man, who had lived with, or
before him, or since : if Mr. Cowley had not made a
flight beyond all men, with that modesty yet, to ascribe
much of this to the example and learning of Ben Johnson.
His conversation was very good, and with the men of most
note; and he had for many years an extraordinary kind
ness for Mr. Hyde, till he found he betook himself to
business, which he believed ought never to be preferred
before his company. He lived to be very old, and till the
palsy made a deep impression upon his body and his
mind.
27 Mr. Selden was a person whom no character can flatter,
or transmit in any expressions equal to his merit and

-28.

of Ben Johnson and Mr. Selden. (1635.)

29

virtue. He was of so stupendous learning in all kinds and
in all languages, (as may appear in his excellent and tran
scendent writings,) that a man would have thought he
had been entirely conversant amongst books, and had
never spent an hour but in reading and writing ; yet his
humanity, courtesy, and affability was such, that he would
have been thought to have been bred in the best courts, but
that his good nature, charity, and delight in doing good,
and in communicating all he knew, exceeded that breed
ing. His style in all his writings seems harsh and some
times obscure ; which is not wholly to be imputed to the
abstruse subjects of which he commonly treated, out of
the paths trod by other men ; but to a little undervaluing
the beauty of a style, and too much propensity to the
language of antiquity: hut in his conversation he was the
most clear disiymrsm^arirl hnd thn hpiftf, faculty of-Wftking-
hard things easy, and presenting them to the understand

ing pryrjojyga
wont to sav-that he valued himsplf upon nntriinrr ..jnnrfi
than lipnnWying had Mr Rpldon's fl.pqna.ii-i tap ppi from-the
time bewas very_jojiag-t-and held it with great delight
as long as^tliey were suffered to continue together in
London ; and he was very much troubled always when
he heard him blamed, censured, and reproached, for stay
ing in London, and in the parliament, after they were in
rebellion, and in the worst times, which his age obliged
him to do ; and how wicked soever the actions were
which were every day done, he was confident he had not
given his consent to them; but would have hindered
them if he could with his own safety, to which he was
always enough indulgent. If he had some infirmities
with other men, they were weighed down with wonderful
and prodigious abilities and excellencies in the other
scale.
i Charles Cotton was a gentleman born to a competent
fortune, and so qualified in his person and education, that

30 OfMr.Cotton,Mr.Vaughan, I. 28-
for many years he continued the greatest ornament of the
town, in the esteem of those who had been best bred.
His natural parts were very great, his wit flowing in all
the parts of conversation ; the superstructure of learn
ing not raised to a considerable height ; but having
passed some years in Cambridge, and then in France, and
conversing always with learned men, his expressions were
ever proper and significant, and gave great lustre to his
discourse upon any argument ; so that he was thought by
those who were not intimate with him, to have been much
better acquainted with books than he was. He had all
those qualities which in youth raise men to the reputation
of being fine gentlemen ; such a pleasantness and gayety
of humour, such a sweetness and gentleness of nature, and
such a civility and delightfulness in conversation, that no
man in the court, or out of it, appeared a more accom
plished person ; all these extraordinary qualifications being
supported by as extraordinary a clearness of courage and
fearlessness of spirit, of which he gave too often manifes
tation. Some unhappy suits in law, and waste of his for
tune in those suits, made some impression upon his mind ;
which being improved by domestic afflictions, and those
indulgences to himself which naturally attend those afflic
tions, rendered his age less reverenced than his youth had
been; and gave his best friends cause to have wished that
he had not lived so long.
29 John Vaughan was then a student of the law in the
Inner Temple, but at that time indulged more to the
politer learning ; and was in truth a man of great parts
of nature, and very well adorned by arts and books, and
so much cherished by Mr. Selden, that he grew to be of
entire trust and friendship with him, and to that owed the
best part of his reputation: for he was of so magisterial
and supercilious a humour, so proud and insolent a be
haviour, that all Mr. Selden's instructions, and authority,
and example, could not file off that roughness of his

— 31- and sir Kenelm Digby. (1635.) 31
nature, so as to make him very grateful. He looked most
into those parts of the law which disposed him to least
reverence to the crown, and most to popular authority ;
yet without inclination to any change in government ;
and therefore, before the beginning of the civil war, and
when he clearly discerned the approaches to it in parlia
ment, (of which he was a member,) he withdrew himself
into the fastnesses of his own country, North Wales, where
he enjoyed a secure, and as near an innocent life, as the
iniquity of that time would permit ; and when the king
returned, he appeared under the character of a man who
had preserved his loyalty entire, and was esteemed ac
cordingly by all that party.
30 His friend Mr. Hyde, who was then become lord high
chancellor of England, renewed his old kindness and
friendship towards him, and was desirous to gratify him
all the ways he could, and earnestly pressed him to put
on his gown again, and take upon him the office of a
judge ; but he excused himself upon his long discontinu
ance, (having not worn his gown, and wholly discontinued
the profession from the year 1640, full twenty years,) and
upon his age, and expressly refused to receive any promo
tion ; but continued all the professions of respect and
gratitude imaginable to the chancellor, till it was in his
power to manifest the contrary, to his prejudice, which he
did with circumstances very uncommendable.
31 Sir Kenelm Digby was a person very eminent and no
torious throughout the whole course of his life, from his
cradle to his grave ; of an ancient family and noble
extraction ; and inherited a fair and plentiful fortune,
notwithstanding the attainder of his father. He was a man
of a very extraordinary person and presence, which drew
the eyes of all men upon him, which were more fixed by
a wonderful graceful behaviour, a flowing courtesy and
civility, and such a volubility of language, as surprised and
delighted ; and though in another man it might have ap-

32 Of Mr. May. 1-3'-
peared to have somewhat of affectation, it was marvellous
graceful in him, and seemed natural to his size, and mould
of his person, to the gravity of his motion, and the tune
of his voice and delivery. He had a fair reputation in
arms, of which he gave an early testimony in his youth,
in some encounters in Spain and Italy, and afterwards in an
action in the Mediterranean sea, where he had the com
mand of a squadron of ships of war, set out at his own
charge under the king's commission ; with which, upon an
injury received, or apprehended from the Venetians, he
encountered their whole fleet, killed many of their men,
and sunk one of their galleasses ; which in that drowsy
and unactive time was looked upon with a general esti
mation, though the crown disavowed it. In a word, he
had all the advantages that nature, and art, and an ex
cellent education could give him ; which, with a great
confidence and presentness of mind, buoyed him up
against all those prejudices and disadvantages, (which
the attainder and execution of his father, for a crime of
the highest nature ; his own marriage with a lady, though
of an extraordinary beauty, of as extraordinary a fame ;
his changing and rechanging his religion ; and some
personal vices and licenses in his life,) which would have
suppressed and sunk any other man, but never clouded
or eclipsed him, from appearing in the best places, and
the best company, and with the best estimation and
satisfaction.
32 Thomas May was the eldest son of his father, a knight,
and born to a fortune, if his father had not spent it ; so
that he had only an annuity left him, not proportionable
to a liberal education : yet since his fortune could not
raise his mind, he brought his mind down to his fortune,
by a great modesty and humility in his nature, which was
not affected, but very well became an imperfection in his
speech, which was a great mortification to him, and kept
him from entering upon any discourse but in the company

— ^ Of Mr. Carew. (1635.) 33
of his very friends. His parts of nature and art were very
good, as appears by his translation of Lucan, (none of the
easiest work of that kind,) and more by his supplement
to Lucan, which being entirely his own, for the learning,
the wit, and the language, may be well looked upon as
one of the best dramatic poems in the English language.
He writ some other commendable pieces, of the reign of
some of our kings. He was cherished by many persons
of honour, and very acceptable in all places ; yet, (to shew
that pride and envy have their influences upon the narrow
est minds, and which have the greatest semblance of
humility,) though he had received much countenance, and
a very considerable donative from the king, upon his
majesty's refusing to give him a small pension, which he
had designed and promised to another very ingenious
person, whose qualities he thought inferior to his own,
he fell from his duty, and all his former friends, and
prostituted himself to the vile office of celebrating the
infamous acts of those who were in rebellion against the
king ; which he did so meanly, that he seemed to all men
to have lost his wits when he left his honesty ; and so
shortly after died miserable and neglected, and deserves
to be forgotten.
33 Thomas Carew was a younger brother of a good family,
and of excellent parts, and had spent many years of his
youth in France and Italy ; and returning from travel,
followed the court ; which the modesty of that time dis
posed men to do some time, before they pretended to be
of it ; and he was very much esteemed by the most
eminent persons in the court, and well looked upon by
the king himself, some years before he could obtain to be
sewer to the king ; and when the king conferred that
honour upon him, it was not without the regret even of
the whole Scotch nation, which united themselves in
recommending another gentleman to the place: of so great
CLABENDON, LIFE, VOL. I. D

34 Of Mr. Hyde's more intimate friends : I. 33-
value were those relations held in that age, when majesty
was beheld with the reverence it ought to be. He was
a person of a pleasant and facetious wit, and made many
poems, (especially in the amorous way,) which for the
sharpness of the fancy, and the elegancy of the language
in which that fancy was spread, were at least equal, if not
superior to any of that time : but his glory was, that after
fifty years of his life, spent with less severity or exactness
than it ought to have been, he died with the greatest re
morse for that license, and with the greatest manifestation
of Christianity that his best friends could desire.
34 Among these persons Mr. Hyde's usual time of conver
sation was spent, till he grew more retired to his more
serious studies, and never discontinued his acquaintance
with any of them, though he spent less time in their
company ; only upon Mr. Selden he looked with so much
affection and reverence, that he always thought himself
best when he was with him : but/ he had then another
con^rncTi6n an3 communioalionthat he took so much
delight in, that he embraced it in the time of his greatest
business and practice, and would suffer no other pretence
or obligation to withdraw him from that familiarity and
^friendship/ and took frequent occasions to mention their
names with great pleasure ; being often heard to say,
" that if he had any thing good in him, in his humour, or
in his manners, he owed it to the example, and the in
formation he had received in, and from that company,
with most of whom he had an entire friendship." And
they were in truth, in their several qualifications, men of
more than ordinary eminence, before they attained the
great preferments many of them lived to enjoy. The
persons were, sir Lucius Carey, eldest son to the lord
viscount Falkland, lord deputy of Ireland ; sir Francis
Wenman of Oxfordshire ; Sidney Godolphin of Godolphin
in Cornwall ; Edmund Waller of Beaconsfield ; Dr. Gil-

J — $• Of Sir Lucius Carey. (1635.) 35
bert Sheldon ; Dr. George Morley ; Dr. John Earles ;
Mr. John Hales of Eton ; and Mr. William Chilling-,
worth.
35 With sir Lucius Carey he had a most entire friendship
without reserve, from his age of twenty years to the hour
of his death, near twenty years after : upon which there
will be occasion to enlarge when we come to speak of
that time, and often before, and therefore we shall say no
more of him in this place, than to shew his condition and
qualifications, which were the first ingredients into that
friendship, which was afterwards cultivated and improved
by a constant conversation and familiarity, and by many
accidents which contributed thereto. He had the ad
vantage of a noble extraction, and of being born his
father's eldest son, when there was a greater fortune in
prospect to be inherited, (besides what he might reason
ably expect by his mother,) than came afterwards to his
possession. His education was equal to his birth, at least
in the care, if not in the climate ; for his father being
deputy of Ireland, before he was of age fit to be sent
abroad, his breeding was in the court, and in the univer
sity of Dublin ; but under the care, vigilance, and direc
tion of such governors and tutors, that he learned all
those exercises and languages, better than most men do
in more celebrated places ; insomuch as when he came
into England, which was when he was about the age of
eighteen years, he was not only master of the Latin
tongue, and had read all the poets, and other of the best
authors with notable judgment for that age, but he un
derstood, and spake, and writ French, as if he had spent
many years in France.
36 He had another advantage, which was a great orna
ment to the rest, that was, a good, a plentiful estate, of
which he had the early possession. His mother was the
sole daughter and heir of the lord chief baron Tanfield,
who having given a fair portion with his daughter in mar-
p 2

;3G Of Sir Lucius Carey. L.36-
riage, had kept himself free to dispose of his land, and
his other estate, in such manner as he should think fit;
and he settled it in such manner upon his grandson sir
Lucius Carey, without taking notice of his father, or
mother, that upon his grandmother's death, which fell
out about the time that he was nineteen years of age, all
the land, with two very excellent houses excellently well
furnished, (worth above 2000/. per annum,) in a most
pleasant country, and the two most pleasant places in
that country, with a very plentiful personal estate, fell
into his hands and possession, and to his entire disposal.
37 With these advantages, he had one great disadvantage
(which in the first entrance into the world is attended
with too much prejudice) in his person and presence,
which was in no degree attractive or promising. His
stature was low, and smaller than most men ; his motion
not graceful; and his aspect so far from inviting, that it
had somewhat in it of simplicity ; and his voice the worst
of the three, and so untuned, that instead of reconciling,
it offended the ear, so that nobody would have expected
music from that tongue ; and sure no man was less be
holden to nature for its recommendation into the world :
but then no man sooner or more disappointed this general
and customary prejudice ; that little person and small
stature was quickly found to contain a great heart, a
courage so keen, and a nature so fearless, that no compo
sition of the strongest limbs, and most harmonious and
proportioned presence and strength, ever more disposed
any man to the greatest enterprise ; it being his greatest
weakness to be too solicitous for such adventures : and
that untuned tongue and voice easily discovered itself to
be supplied and governed by a mind and understanding
so excellent, that the wit and weight of all he said carried
another kind of lustre and admiration in it, and even
another kind of acceptation from the persons present,
than any ornament of delivery could reasonably promise

-38. Of Sir Lucius Carey. (1635.) 37
itself, or is usually attended with ; and his disposition and
nature was so gentle and obliging, so much delighted in
courtesy, kindness, and generosity, that all mankind could
not but admire and love him.
38 In a" short time after he bad possession of the estate
his grandfather had left him, and before he was of age,
he committed a fault against his father, in marrying a
young lady, whom he passionately loved, without any
considerable portion, which exceedingly offended him ;
and disappointed all his reasonable hopes and expectation
of redeeming and repairing his own broken fortune, and
desperate hopes in court, by some advantageous marriage
of his son ; about which he had then some probable
treaty. Sir Lucius Carey was very conscious to himself
of his offence and transgression, and the consequence of
it, which though he could not repent, having married a
lady of a most extraordinary wit and judgment, and of
the most signal virtue and exemplary life, that the age
produced, and who brought him many hopeful children,
in which he took great delight ; yet he confessed it, with
the most sincere and dutiful applications to his father for
his pardon that could be made ; and in order to the pre
judice he had brought upon his fortune, by bringing no
portion to him, he offered to repair it, by resigning his
whole estate to his disposal, and to rely wholly upon his
kindness for his own maintenance and support ; and to
that purpose, he had caused conveyances to be drawn by
council, which he brought ready engrossed to his father,
and was willing to seal and execute them, that they
might be valid : but his father's passion and indignation
so far transported him, (though he was a gentleman of
excellent parts,) that he refused any reconciliation, and
rejected all the offers that were made him of the estate ;
so that, his son remained still in the possession of his
estate against his will ; for which he found great reason
afterwards to rejoice: but he was for the present so much

38 Of Sir Lucius Carey. M8"
afflicted with his father's displeasure, that he transported
himself and his wife into Holland, resolving to buy some
military command, and to spend the remainder of his life
in that profession : but being disappointed in the treaty
he expected, and finding no opportunity to accommodate
himself with such a command, he returned again into
England ; resolving to retire to a country life, and to his
books ; that since he was not like to improve himself in
arms, he might advance in letters.
39 In this resolution he was so severe, (as he was always
naturally very intent upon what he was inclined to,) that
he declared, he would not see London in many years,
which was the place he loved of all the world ; and that
in his studies, he would first apply himself to the Greek,
and pursue it without intermission, till he should attain to
the full understanding of that tongue : and it is hardly to
be credited, what industry he used, and what success
attended that industry : for though his father's death, by
an unhappy accident, made his repair to London abso
lutely necessary in fewer years than he had proposed for
his absence, yet he had first made himself master of the
Greek tongue, (in the Latin he was very well versed
before,) and had read not only all the Greek historians,
but Homer likewise, and such of the poets as were worthy
to be perused.
4° Though his father's death brought no other convenience
to him, but a title to redeem an estate, mortgaged for as
much as it was worth, and for which he was compelled to
sell a finer seat of his own ; yet it imposed a burden upon
him, of the title of a viscount, and an increase of expense,
in which he was not in his nature too provident or re
strained ; having naturally ;such a generosity and bounty
in him, that he seemed to have his estate in trust for all
worthy persons who stood in want of supplies and encou
ragement, as Ben Johnson, and many others of that time,
whose fortunes required, and whose spirits made them

-41- Of Sir Lucius Carey. (1635.) 39
superior to, ordinary obligations; which yet they were
contented to receive from him, because his bounties were
so generously distributed, and so much without vanity
and ostentation, that, except from those few persons from
whom he sometimes received the characters of fit objects
for his benefits, or whom he intrusted, for the more secret
deriving them to them, he did all he could, that the
persons themselves who received them should not know
from what fountain they flowed ; and when that could
not be concealed, he sustained any acknowledgment from
the persons obliged with so much trouble and bashful-
ness, that they might well perceive, that he was even
ashamed of the little he had given, and to receive so large
a recompense for it.
41 As soon as he had finished all those transactions, which
the death of his father had made necessary to be done, he
retired again to his country life, and to his severe course
of study, which was very delightful to him, as soon as he
was engaged in it : but he was wont to say, that he never
found reluctancy in any thing he resolved to do, but in his
quitting London, and departing from the conversation of
those he enjoyed there ; which was in some degree pre
served and continued by frequent letters, and often visits,
which were made by his friends from thence, whilst he
continued wedded to the country; and which were so
grateful to him, that during their stay with him, he looked
upon no book, except their very conversation made an
appeal to some book; and truly bis whole conversation
was one continued convivium philosopliicum, or convivium
theoloqicum, enlivened and refreshed with all the fasejjous^
ness of wit, and good humour, and pleasantness of dis-
course, which made the gravity of the argument "itself
(whatever it was) very delectable. His house where he
usually resided, (Tew, or JBurford, in Oxfordshire,) being
within ten or twelve miles of the university, looked like
the university itself, by the company that was always

40 J Of Sir Lucius Carey. L41,
found there. There were Dr. Sheldon, Dr. Morley, Dr.
Hafr/mond, Dr. Earles, Mr. Chillingworth, and indeed all
men of eminent parts and faculties in Oxford, besides
those who resorted thither from London ; who all found
their lodgings there, as ready as in the colleges ; nor did
the lord of the house know of their coming or going, nor
who were in his house, till he came to dinner, or supper,
where all still met ; otherwise, there was no troublesome
ceremony or constraint, to forbid men to come to the
house, or to make them weary of staying there ; so that
many came thither to study in a better air, finding all the
books they could desire in his library, and all the persons
together, whose company they could wish, and not find in
any other society. Here Mr. Chillingworth w7rote, and
formed, and modelled, his excellent book against the
learned Jesuit Mr. Nott, after frequent debates upon the
most important particulars; in many of which, he suffered
himself to be overruled by the judgment of his friends,
though in others he still adhered to his own fancy, which
was sceptical enough, even in the highest points.
42 In this happy and delightful conversation and restraint,
he remained in the country many years ; and until he had
made so prodigious a progress in learning, that there were
very few classic authors in the Greek or Latin tongue
that he had not read with great exactness. He had read
all the Greek and Latin fathers; all the most allowed
and authentic ecclesiastical writers ; and all the councils,
with wonderful care and observation ; for in religion he
thought too careful and too curious an inquiry could not
be made, amongst those, whose purity was not questioned,
and whose authority was constantly and confidently urged,
by men who were furthest from being of one mind
amongst themselves : and for the mutual support of their
several opinions, in which they most contradicted each
other; and in all those controversies, he had so dispas-
\ sioned a consideration, such a candour in his nature, and

-43* Of sir Lucius Carey. (1635.) 41
, so profound a charity in his conscience, that in those
-points, in which he was in his own judgment most clear,
he never thought, the worse, or in any degree declined
the familiarity, of those who were of another mind ; which,
without question, is an excellent temper for the propaga
tion and advancement of Christianity, With these great
advantages of industry, he had a memory retentive of all
that he had ever read, and an understanding and judg
ment to apply it seasonably and appositely, with the most
•dexterity and address, and the least pedantry and affecta
tion, that ever man, who knew so much, was possessed
with, of what quality soever. It is not a trivial evidence
of his learning, his wit, and his candour, that may be
found in that discourse of his, against the infallibility of
the church of Rome, published since his death, and from
a copy under his own hand, though not prepared and
digested by him for the press, and to which he would
'have given some castigations.
43 But all his parts, abilities, and faculties, by art and
industry, were not to be valued, or mentioned, in com
parison of his most accomplished mind and manners : his
gentleness and affability was so transcendent and obliging,
that it drew reverence, and some kind of compliance,
from the roughest, and most unpolished, and stubborn
constitutions ; and made them of another temper in de
bate, in his presence, than they were in other places. He
was in his nature so severe a lover of justice, and so pre
cise a lover of truth, that he was superior to all possible
temptations for the violation of either ; indeed so rigid an
exacter of perfection, in all those things which seemed
but to border upon either of them, and by the common
practice of men were not thought to border upon either,
that many who knew him very well, and loved and ad
mired his virtue, (as all who did know him must love and
admire it,) did believe that he was of a temper and com
position fitter to live in republica PlaUmis, than in face

42 Of sir Francis Wenmun. I- 43-
Romuli: but this rigidness was only exercised towards
himself; towards his friend's infirmities no man was more
indulgent. In his conversation, which was the most
cheerful and pleasant that can be imagined, though he
was young, (for all I have yet spoken of him doth not
exceed his age of twenty-five or twenty-six years : what
progress he made afterwards will be mentioned in its
proper season in this discourse,) and of great gayety in
his humour, with a flowing delightfulness of language, he
had so chaste a tongue and ear, that there was never
known a profane or loose word to fall from him, nor in
truth in his company ; the integrity and cleanliness of
the wit of that time not exercising itself in that license
before persons for whom they had any esteem.
44 Sir Francis Wenman would not look upon himself under
any other character than that of a country gentleman,
though no man of his quality in England was more es
teemed in court. He was of a noble extraction, and of
an ancient family in Oxfordshire, where he was possessed
of a competent estate ; but his reputation of wisdom and
integrity gave him an interest and credit in that country
much above his fortune ; and no man had more esteem in
it or power over it. He was a neighbour to the lord
Falkland, and in so entire friendship and confidence with
him, that he had great authority in the society of all his
friends and acquaintance. He was a man of great sharp
ness of understanding, and of a piercing judgment ; no
man better understood the affections and temper of the
kingdom, or indeed the nature of the nation, or discerned
further the consequence of counsels, and with what suc
cess they were like to be attended. He was a very good
Latin scholar, but his ratiocination was above his learn
ing ; and the sharpness of his wit incomparable. He was
equal to the greatest trust and employment, if he had
been ambitious of it, or solicitous for it ; but his want of
health produced a kind of laziness of mind, which dis-

•45- Of Mr. Sidney Godolphin. (1635.) 43
inclined him to business, and he died a little before the
general troubles of the kingdom, which he foresaw with
wonderful reluctancy, and when many wise men were
weary of living so long.
45 Sidney Godolphin was a younger brother of Godolphin,
but by the provision left by his father, and by the death
of a younger brother, liberally supplied for a very good
education, and for a cheerful subsistence, in any course of
life he proposed to himself. There was never so great a
mind and spirit contained in so little room ; so large an
understanding and so unrestrained a fancy in so very small
a body ; so that the lord Falkland used to say merrily,
that he thought it was a great ingredient into his friend
ship for Mr. Godolphin, that he was pleased to be found
in his company, where he was the properer man ; and it
may be, the very remarkableness of his little person made
the sharpness of his wit, and the composed quickness of
his judgment and understanding, the more notorious and
notable. He had spent some years in France, and in
the Low Countries ; and accompanied the earl of Leices
ter in his ambassage into Denmark, before he resolved to
be quiet, and attend some promotion in the court ; where
his excellent disposition and manners, and extraordinary
qualifications, made him very acceptable. Though every
body loved his company very well, yet he loved very
much to be alone, being in his constitution inclined some
what to melancholy, and to retirement amongst his books ;
and was so far from being active, that he was contented
to be reproached by his friends with laziness ; and was of
so nice and tender a composition, that a little rain or wind
would disorder him, and divert him from any short
journey he had most willingly proposed to himself; inso
much as, when he rid abroad with those in whose com
pany he most delighted, if the wind chanced to be in his
face, he would (after a little pleasant murmuring) suddenly
turn his horse, and go home. Yet the civil war no sooner

44 Of sir Edmund Waller. L 45-i
began, (the first- approaches towards which he discovered
as soon as any man, by the proceedings in parliament,
where he was a member, and opposed with great indigna
tion,) than he put himself into the first troops which were
raised in the west for the king ; and bore the uneasiness
and fatigue of winter marches with an exemplar courage
and alacrity ; until by too brave a pursuit of the enemy,
into an obscure village in Devonshire, he was shot with a
musket ; with which (without saying any word more,
than, Oh God ! I am hurt) he fell dead from his horse ;
to the excessive grief of his friends, who were all that
knew him ; and the irreparable damage of the public.
46 Edmund Waller was born to a very fair estate, by the
parsimony or frugality of a wise father and mother ; and
he thought it so commendable an advantage, that he re
solved to improve it with his utmost care, upon which in
his nature he was too much intent ; and in order to that,
he was so much reserved and retired, that he was scarce
ever heard of, till by his address and dexterity he had
gotten a very rich wife in the city, against all the recom
mendation, and countenance, and authority of the court,
which was thoroughly engaged on the behalf of Mr. Crofts;
and which used to be successful, in that age, against any
opposition. He had the good fortune to have an alliance
and friendship with Dr. Morley, who had assisted, and in
structed him in the reading many good books, to which
his natural parts and promptitude inclined him ; especially
, the poets : and at the age when other men used to give
J over writing verses, (for he was near thirty years of, age
when he first engaged himself in that exercise, at least
that he was known to do so,) he surprised the town with
two or three pieces of that kind ; as if a tenth muse had
been newly born, to cherish drooping poetry. The doctor
at that time brought him into that company which was
most celebrated for good conversation ; where he was
received, and esteemed, with great applause and respect;

-448- Of Dr. Sheldon. (1635.) 45
He was a very pleasant discourser, in earnest and in jest,
and therefore very grateful to all kind of company, where
he was not the less esteemed for being very rich.
47 He had been even nursed in parliaments, where he sat
when he was in his infancy ; and so when they were
resumed again, (after a long intermission and interdiction,)
he appeared in those assemblies with great advantage,
having a graceful way of speaking ; and by thinking
much upon several arguments, (which his temper and
complexion, that had much of melancholic, inclined him
to,) he seemed often to speak upon the sudden, when the
occasion had only administered the opportunity of saying
what he had thoroughly considered, which gave a great
lustre to all he said ; which yet was rather of delight than
weight. There needs no more be said to extol the excel
lence and power of his wit, and pleasantness of his con
versation, than that it was of magnitude enough to cover
a world of very great faults ; that is, so to cover them,
-that they were not taken notice of to his reproach ; viz.
a narrowness in his nature to the lowest degree ; an
abjectness, and want of courage to support him in any
virtuous undertaking ; an insinuation and servile flattery
to the height the vainest and most imperious nature could
be contented with ; that it preserved and won his life
from those who were most resolved to take it. and in an
occasion in which he ought to have been ambitious to
have lost it ; and then preserved him again, from the
reproach and contempt that was due to him for so pre
serving it, and for vindicating it at such a price ; that it
had power to reconcile him to those whom he had most
offended and provoked ; and continued to his age with
that rare felicity, that his company was acceptable, where
his spirit was odious ; and he was at least pitied, where
he was most detested.
48 Of Doctor Sheldon, there needs no more be said in this
•place, (there being frequent occasions to mention him

46 Of Dr. Morley. T"
hereafter in the prosecution of this discourse,) than that
his learning, and gravity, and prudence, had in that time
raised him to such a reputation, when he was chaplain in
the house to the lord keeper Coventry, (who exceedingly
esteemed him, and used his service not only in all matters
relating to the church, but in many other businesses of
importance, and in which that great and good lord was
nearly concerned,) and when he was afterwards warden of
All Souls' college in Oxford, that he then was looked upon
as very equal to any preferment the church could [yield]
or hath since yielded unto him ; and sir Francis Wenman
would often say, when the doctor resorted to the conver
sation at the lord Falkland's house, as he frequently did,
that " Dr. Sheldon was born and bred to be archbishop
of Canterbury."
49 Doctor Morley (of whom more must likewise be said in
its place) was a gentleman of very eminent parts in all
polite learning ; of great wit, and readiness, and subtilty
in disputation ; and of remarkable temper and prudence
in conversation, which rendered him most grateful in all
the best company. He was then chaplain in the house,
and to the family, of the lord and lady Carnarvon, which
needed a wise and a wary director. From some academic
contests he had been engaged in, during bis living in
Christ Church in Oxford, where he was always of the first
eminency, he had, by the natural faction and animosity of
those disputes, fallen under the reproach of holding some
opinions which were not then grateful to those church
men who had the greatest power in ecclesiastical promo
tions ; and some sharp answers and replies he used to
make in accidental discourses, and which in truth were
made for mirth and pleasantness' sake, (as he was of the
highest facetiousness,) were reported, and spread abroad
to his prejudice : as being once asked by a grave country
gentleman, (who was desirous to be instructed what their
tenets and opinions were,) "what the Arminians held," he

--5 1. Of Dr. Earles. (1635.) 47
pleasantly answered, that they held ail the best bishoprics
and deaneries in England; which was quickly reported
abroad, as Mr. Morley's definition of the Arminian tenets.
5° Such and the like harmless and jocular sayings, upon
many accidental occasions, had wrought upon the archbi
shop of Canterbury, Laud, (who lived to change his mind,
and to have a just esteem of him,) to entertain some pre
judice towards him ; and the respect which was paid him
by many eminent persons, as John Hampden, Arthur
Goodwin, and others, who were not thought friends to the
prosperity the church was in, made others apprehend that
he was not enough zealous for it. But that disaffection
and virulency (which few men had then owned and dis
covered) no sooner appeared, in those and other men, but
Dr. Morley made haste as publicly to oppose them, both
in private and in public ; which had the more effect to
the benefit of the church, by his being a person above all
possible reproach, and known and valued by more persons
of honour than most of the clergy were, and being not
only without the envy of any preferment, but under the
advantage of a discountenanced person. And as he was
afterwards the late king's chaplain, and much regarded
by him, and as long about him as any of his chaplains
were permitted to attend him ; so presently after his
murder he left the kingdom, and remained in banishment
till his majesty's happy return.
Si Doctor Earles was at that time chaplain in the house
to the earl of Pembroke, lord chamberlain of his majesty's
household, and had a lodging in the court under that re
lation. He was a person very notable for his elegance in
the Greek and Latin tongues ; and being fellow of Merton
college in Oxford, and having been proctor of the univer
sity, and some very witty and sharp discourses being pub
lished in print without his consent, though known to be
his, he grew suddenly into a very general esteem with all
men ; being a man of great piety and devotion ; a most

48 Of Mr. Hales. ^- 5l~
eloquent and powerful preacher ; and of a conversation
so pleasant and delightful, so very innocent and so very
facetious, that no man's company was more desired and
more loved. No man was more negligent in his dress,
, and habit, and mien ; no man more wary and cultivated
in his behaviour and discourse ; insomuch as he had the
greater advantage when he was known, by promising so
little before he was known. He was an excellent poet,
both iu Latin, Greek, and English, as appears by many
pieces yet abroad; though he suppressed many more
himself, especially of English, incomparably good, out
of an austerity to those sallies of his youth.. He was
very dear to the lord Falkland, with whom he spent as
much time as he could make his own ; and as that lord
would impute the speedy progress he made in the Greek
tongue, to the information and assistance he had from
Mr. Earles, so Mr. Earles would frequently profess, that
he had got more useful learning by his conversation at
Tew, (the lord Falkland's house,) than he had at Oxford.
In the first settling of the prince's family, he was made
one of his chaplains ; and attended on him when he was
forced to leave the kingdom, and therefore we shall often
have occasion to mention him hereafter. He was amongst
the few excellent men who never had nor ever could have
an enemy, but such a one who was an enemy to all learn
ing and virtue, and therefore would never make himself
known.
52 Mr. John Hales had been Greek professor in the uni
versity of Oxford ; and had borne all the labour of that
excellent edition and impression of St. Chrysostom's
Works, set out by sir Harry Savile; who was then
warden of Merton college, when the other was fellow
of that house. He was chaplain in the house with sir
Dudley Carleton, ambassador at the Hague in Holland,
at the time when the synod of Dort was held, and so had
liberty to be present at the consultations in that assem-

"53- Of Mr. Hales. (1635.) 49
bly; and hath left the best memorial behind him, of the
ignorance, and passion, and animosity, and injustice of
that convention ; of which he often made very pleasant
relations ; though at that time it received too much
countenance from England. Being a person of the ,
greatest eminency for learning, and other abilities, from
which he might have promised himself any preferment in
the church, he withdrew himself from all pursuits of that
kind into a private fellowship in the college of Eton,
where his friend sir Harry Savile was provost ; where he
lived amongst his books, and the most separated from the
world of any man then living : though he was not in the
least degree inclined to melancholy, but, on the contrary, of
a very open and pleasant conversation ; and therefore was
very well pleased with the resort of his friends to him,
who were such as he had chosen, and in whose company
he delighted, and for whose sake he would sometimes,
once in a year, resort to London, only to enjoy their
cheerful conversation.
53 He would never take any cure of souls ; and was so
great a contemner of money, that he was wont to say,
that his fellowship, and the bursar's place, (which, for the
good of the college, he held many years,) was worth him
fifty pounds a year more than he could spend ; and yet,
besides his being very charitable to all poor people, even
to liberality, he had made a greater and better collection
of books, than were to be found in any other private
library that I have seen ; as he had sure read more, and
carried more about him in his excellent memory, than any
man I ever knew, my lord Falkland only excepted, who
I think sided him. He had, whether from his natural
temper and constitution, or from his long retirement
from all crowds, or from his profound judgment and (
discerning spirit, contracted some opinions which were
not received, nor by him published, except in private
discourses; and then rather upon occasion of dispute,
CLAEBNDON LIFE, VOL. I. E

50 Of Mr. Hales. L 53"
than of positive opinion : and he would often say, his -
opinions he was sure did him no harm, but he was far
from being confident that they might not do others harm
who entertained them, and might entertain other results
from them than he did ; and therefore he was very re
served in communicating what he thought himself in
those points, in which he differed from what was re-
L ceived.
54 Nothing troubled him more than the brawls which
¦--¦ "tj^ grown from religion ; and he therefore exceedingly
detested the tyranny of the church of Rome ; more for
their imposing uncharitably upon the consciences of other
men, than for the errors in their own opinions : and would
often say, that he would renounce the religion of the
church of England to-morrow, if it obliged him to believe
that any other Christians should be damned ; and that
nobody would conclude another man to be damned, who
did not wish him so. No man more strict and severe to
himself; to other men so charitable as to their opinions,
that he thought that other men were more in fault for
their carriage towards them, than the men themselves
were who erred ; and he thought that pride and passion,
more than conscience, were the cause of all separation
from each other's communion ; and he frequently said,
that that only kept the world from agreeing upon such a
liturgy, as might bring them into one communion ; all
doctrinal points, upon which men differed in their opin
ions, being to have no place in any liturgy. Upon an
occasional discourse with a friend, of the frequent and
uncharitable reproaches of heretic and schismatic, too
lightly thrown at each other, amongst men who differ
in their judgment, he writ a little discourse of schism,
contained in less than two sheets of paper ; which being
transmitted from friend to friend in writing, was at last,
without any malice, brought to the view of the arch
bishop of Canterbury, Dr, Laud, who was a very rigid

—55- Of Mr. Hales. (1635.) 51
surveyor of all things which never so little bordered
upon schism; and thought the church could not be too
vigilant against, and jealous of, such incursions.
55 He sent for Mr. Hales, whom, when they had both
lived in the university of Oxford, he had known well ;
and told him, that he had in truth believed him to be
long since dead ; and chid him very kindly for having
never come to him, having been of his old acquaintance :
then asked him, whether he had lately written a short
discourse of schism, and whether he was of that opinion
which that discourse implied. He told him that he had,
for the satisfaction of a private friend, (who was not of his
mind,) a year or two before, writ such a small tract, with
out any imagination that it would be communicated ; and
that he believed it did not contain any thing that was not
agreeable to the judgment of the primitive fathers: upon
which, the archbishop debated with him upon some ex
pressions of Irenseus, and the most ancient fathers ; and
concluded with saying, that the time was very apt to set
new doctrines on foot, o'f which the wits of the age were
too susceptible ; and that there could not be too much
care taken to preserve the peace and unity of the church ;
and from thence asked him of his condition, and whether
he wanted any thing : and the other answering, that he
had enough, and wanted or desired no addition, so dis
missed him with great courtesy ; and shortly after sent
for him again, when there was a prebendary of Windsor
fallen, and told him, the king had given him the prefer
ment, because it lay so convenient to his fellowship of
Eton ; which (though indeed the most convenient prefer
ment that could be thought of for him) the archbishop
could not without great difficulty persuade him to accept,
and he did accept it rather to please him than himself;
because he really believed he had enough before. He
was one of the least men in the kingdom ; and one of the
greatest scholars in Europe,
e 2

52 Of Mr. Chillingworth. L 56~
56 Mr. Chillingworth was of a stature little superior to
Mr. Hales, (and it was an age in which there were many
great and wonderful men of that size,) and a man of so
great a subtilty of understanding, and so rare a temper in
debate, that, as it was impossible to provoke him into any
passion, so it was very difficult to keep a man's self from
being a little discomposed by his sharpness and quickness
of argument, and instances, in which he had a rare facility,
and a great advantage over all the men I ever knew. He
had spent all his younger time in disputation, and had
arrived to so great a mastery, as he was inferior to no man
in those skirmishes : but he had, with his notable perfec
tion in this exercise, contracted such an irresolution and
habit of doubting, that by degrees he grew confident of
! nothing, and a sceptic, at least, in the greatest mysteries
of faith.
57 This made him, from first wavering in religion, and in
dulging to scruples, to reconcile himself too soon and too
easily to the church of Rome ; and carrying still his own
inquisitiveness about him, without any resignation to their
authority, (which is the only temper can make that church
sure of its proselytes,) having made a journey to St. Omer's,
purely to perfect his conversion by the conversation of
those who had the greatest name, he found as little satis
faction there ; and returned with as much haste from
them ; with a belief, that an entire exemption from error
was neither inherent in nor necessary to any church :
which occasioned that war, which was carried on by the
Jesuits with so great asperity and reproaches against him,
and in which he defended himself by such an admirable
eloquence of language, and clear and incomparable power
of reason, that he not only made them appear unequal
adversaries, but carried the war into their own quarters ;
and made the pope's infallibility to be as much shaken,
and declined by their own doctors, (and as great an
acrimony amongst themselves upon that subject,) and to

-59- Of Mr. Chillingworth. (1635.) 53
be at least as much doubted, as in the schools of the re
formed or protestant; and forced them since to defend
and maintain those unhappy controversies in religion, with
arms and weapons of another nature than were used or
known in the church of Rome when Bellarmine died ;
and which probably will in time undermine the very
foundation that supports it.
58 Such a levity, and propensity to change, is commonly
attended with great infirmities in, and no less reproach
and prejudice to the person ; but the sincerity of his heart
was so conspicuous, and without the least temptation of
any corrupt end ; and the innocence and candour of his
nature so evident, and without any perverseness ; that all
who knew him clearly discerned, that all those restless
motions and fluctuations proceeded only from the warmth
and jealousy of his own thoughts, in a too nice inquisition
for truth. Neither the books of the adversary, nor any of
their persons, though he was acquainted with the best of
both, had ever made great impression upon him ; all his
doubts grew out of himself, when he assisted his scruples
with all the strength of his own reason, and was then too
hard for himself; but finding as little quiet and repose in
those victories, he quickly recovered, by a new appeal to
his own judgment; so that he was, in truth, upon the
matter, in all his sallies and retreats, his own convert ;
though he was not so totally divested of all thoughts of
this world, but that when he was ready for it, he admitted
some great and considerable churchmen to be sharers
with him in his public conversion.
59 Whilst he was in perplexity, or rather some passionate
disinclination to the religion he had been educated in, he
had the misfortune to have much acquaintance with one
Mr. Lugar, a minister of that church ; a man of a com
petency of learning in those points most controverted with
the Romanists, but of no acute parts of wit or judgment ;
and Wrought so far upon him, by weakening and enervat-

54 Of Mr. Chillingworth. I- 59"
ing those arguments, by which he found he was governed,
(as he had all the logic, and all the rhetoric, that was
necessary to persuade very powerfully men of the greatest
talents,) that the poor man, not able to live long in doubt,
too hastily deserted his own church, and betook himself
to the Roman : nor could all the arguments and reasons
of Mr. Chillingworth make him pause in the expedition
he was using, or reduce him from that church after he
had given himself to it ; but he had always a great
animosity against him, for having (as he said) unkindly
betrayed him, and carried him into another religion,
and there left him. So unfit are some constitutions to be
troubled with doubts after they are once fixed.
60 He did really believe all war to be unlawful ; and did
not think that the parliament (whose proceedings he per
fectly abhorred) did in truth intend to involve the nation
in a civil war, till after the battle of Edge-hill ; and then
he thought any expedient or stratagem that was like to
put a speedy end to it, to be the most commendable : and
so having too, mathematically conceived an engine, that
should move so lightly as to be a breastwork in all en
counters and assaults in the field, he carried it, to make
the experiment, into that part of his majesty's army, which
was only in that winter season in the field, under the
command of the lord Hopton, in Hampshire, upon the
borders of Sussex ; where he was shut up in the castle
of Arundel ; which was forced, after a short, sharp siege,
to yield for want of victual ; and poor Mr. Chillingworth
with it, falling into the rebels' hands ; and being most
barbarously treated by them, especially by that clergy
which followed them; and being broken with sickness,
contracted by the ill accommodation, and want of meat
and fire during the siege, which was in a terrible season
of frost and snow, he died shortly after in prison. He
was a man of excellent parts, and of a cheerful disposi
tion ; void of all kind of vice, and endued with many

-62. Of Mr. Hyde's professional friends. (1635.) 55
notable virtues ; of a very public heart, and an indefatig
able desire to do good ; his only unhappiness proceeded
from his sleeping too little, and thinking too much ; which
sometimes threw him into violent fevers.
61 This was Mr. Hyde's company and conversation, to
which he dedicated his vacant times, and all that time
which he could make vacant, from the business of his
profession ; which he indulged with no more passion than
was necessary to keep up the reputation of a man that
had no purpose to be idle ; which indeed he perfectly
abhorred : and he took always occasion to celebrate the
time he had spent in that conversation with great satis
faction and delight. Nor was he less fortunate in the
acquaintance and friendships which he made with the
persons in his profession ; who were all eminent men, or
of the most hopeful parts ; who being all much superior
to him in age and experience, and entirely devoted to
their profession, were yet well pleased with the gayety of
his humour, and inoffensive and winning behaviour ; and
this good inclination of theirs was improved by the interest
they saw he had in persons of the best quality, to whom
he was very acceptable, and his condition of living, which
was with more splendour than young lawyers were ac
customed to.
62 Those persons were, Mr. Lane, who was then attorney
to the prince of Wales, and afterwards lord chief baron of
the exchequer, and lastly, upon the death of the lord
Littleton, was made keeper of the great seal, who died in
banishment, and of whom we shall say more hereafter ;
Mr. Geoffrey Palmer, afterwards attorney general, who
will likewise have another part in this story ; Mr. John
Maynard ; and Bulstrode Whitlock ; all men of eminent
parts, and great learning out of their professions ; and in
their professions, of signal reputation : and though the
two last did afterwards bow their knees to Baal, and so
swerved from their allegiance, it was with less rancour

56 Mr. Hyde reconciles the archbishop 1- °2~
and malice than other men : they never led, but followed ;
and were rather carried away with the torrent, than swam
with the stream; and failed through those infirmities
which less than a general defection and a prosperous
rebellion could never have discovered. With these, and
very few other persons of other societies, and of more
than ordinary parts in the profession, he conversed. In
business and in practice, with the rest of the profession,
he had at most a formal acquaintance, and little fami
liarity ; very seldom using, when his practice was at
highest, so much as to eat in the hall, without which no
man ever got the reputation of a good student : but he
ever gave his time of eating to his friends ; and was wont
pleasantly to say, "that he repaired himself with very
good company at dinner, for the ill company he had kept
in the morning ;" and made himself amends for the time •
he lost with his friends, by declining suppers, and with a
part of that time which wras allowed for sleep : but he
grew every day more intent on business and more engaged
in practice, so that he could not assign so much time as
he had used to do to his beloved conversation.
63 The countenance he received from the archbishop of
Canterbury, who took all occasion to mention him as a
person he had kindness for ; the favour of the lord
Coventry, manifested as often as he came before him;
the reception he found with the lord privy seal, the earl
of Manchester, who had raised the court of requests to as
much business as the chancery itself was possessed of, and
where he was looked upon as a favourite ; the familiarity
used towards him by the earl of Pembroke, who was lord
chamberlain of the king's house, and a greater man in the
country than the court; by the earl of Holland, and
many other lords and ladies, and other persons of interest
in the court, made him looked upon by the judges in
Westminster hall with much condescension ; and they,
who before he put on his gown looked upon him as one

-65. and the earl of Hertford. (1635.) 57
who designed some other course of life, (for though he
had been always very punctual in the performance of all
those public exercises the profession obliged him to, both
before and after he was called to the bar ; yet in all
other * respects he lived as if he thought himself above
that course of life,) now when they no sooner saw him
put on his gown, but that he was suddenly in practice,
and taken notice of particularly in all courts of justice
with unusual countenance, thought he would make what
progress he desired in that profession.
64 As he had those many friends in court, so he was not
less acceptable to many great persons in the country, who
least regarded the court, and were least esteemed by it ;
and he had that rare felicity, that even they who did not
love many of those upon whom he most depended were
yet very well pleased with him and with his company.
The earl of Hertford and the earl of Essex, whose interests
and friendships were then the same, and who were looked
upon with reverence by all who had not reverence for the
court ; and even by all in the court who were not satisfied
there,' (which was^ and always will be, a great people,)
were very kind to him, and ready to trust him in any thing
that was most secret : and though he could1 not dispose
the archbishop or the earl of Essex to any correspondence
or good intelligence with each other, which he exceed
ingly laboured to do, and found an equal aversion in both
towards each other; yet he succeeded to his wish in
bringing the archbishop and the earl of Hertford to a
very good acquaintance and inclination to each other ;
which they both often acknowledged kindly to him, and
with which the earl of Essex was as much unsatisfied.
65 The person whose life this discourse is to recollect (and
who had so great an affection and reverence for the
memory of that prelate, that he never spake of him with
out extraordinary esteem, and believed him to be a man
of the most exemplar virtue and piety of any of that age)

58 Mr. Hyde freely expostulates L 65—
was wont to say, the greatest want the archbishop had
was of a true friend, who would seasonably have told him
of his infirmities, and what people spake of him ; and he
said, he knew well that such a friend would have been
very acceptable to him ; and upon that occasion he used
to mention a story of himself: that when he was a young
practiser of the law, being in some favour with him, (as
is mentioned before,) he went to visit him in the begin
ning of a Michaelmas term, shortly after his return from
the country, where he had spent a month or two of the
summer.
66 He found the archbishop early walking in the garden ;
who received him according to his custom very graciously ;
and continuing his walk, asked him, " What good news
in the country ?" to which he answered, " There was none
good ; the people were universally discontented ; and
(which troubled him most) that every [one] spoke extreme
ill of his grace, as the cause of all that was amiss." He
replied, " that he was sorry for it ; he knew he did not
deserve it ; and that he must not give over serving the
king and the church, to please the people, who otherwise
would not speak well of him." Mr. Hyde told him, " he
thought he need not lessen his zeal for either ; and that it
grieved him to find persons of the best condition, and who
loved both king and church, exceedingly indevoted to him ;
complaining of his manner of treating them, when they
had occasion to resort to him, it may be, for his direc
tions." And then named him two persons of the most
interest and credit in Wiltshire, who had that summer
attended the council board in some affairs which con
cerned the king and the county : that all the lords present
used them with great courtesy, knowing well their quality
and reputation ; but that he alone spake very sharply to
them, and without any thing of grace, at which they were
much troubled ; and one of them, supposing that some
body had done him ill offices, went the next morning to

¦677- with the archbishop. (1635.) 59
Lambeth, to present his service to him, and to discover, if
he could, what misrepresentation had been made of him :
that after he had attended very long, he was admitted to
speak with his grace, who scarce hearing him, sharply an
swered him, that "he had no leisure for compliments;"
and so turned away ; which put the other gentleman
much out of countenance : and that this kind of behaviour
of his was the discourse of all companies of persons of
quality ; every man continuing any such story with another
like it, very much to his disadvantage, and to the trouble
of those who were very just to him.
67 He heard the relation very patiently and attentively,
and discoursed over every particular with all imaginable
condescension ; and said, with evident shew of trouble,
that " he was very unfortunate to be so ill understood ;
that he meant very well ; that he remembered the time
when those two persons were with the council ; that upon
any deliberations, when any thing was resolved, or to be
said to any body, the council enjoined him to deliver their
resolutions ; which he did always according to the best of
his understanding : but by the imperfection he had by
nature, which he said often troubled him, he might deliver
it in such a tune, and with a sharpness of voice, that made
men believe he was angry, when there was no such thing ;
that when those gentlemen were there, and he had de
livered what he was to say, they made some stay, and
spake with some of the lords, which not being according
to order, he thought he gave them some reprehension ;
they having at that time very much other business to do :
that he did well remember that one of them (who was a
person of honour) came afterwards to him at a time he
was shut up about an affair of importance, which required
his full thoughts ; but that as soon as he heard of the
other's being without, he sent for him, himself going into
the next room, and received him very kindly, as he
thought ; and supposing that he came about business,

60 Mr . Hyde and the archbishop. I. 67—
asked him what his business was ; and the other answer
ing, that he had no business, but continuing his address
with some ceremony, he had indeed said, that he had not
time for compliments : but he did not think that he went
out of the room in that manner : and concluded, that it
was not possible for him, in the many occupations he had,
to spend any time in unnecessary compliments ; and that
if his integrity and uprightness, which never should be
liable to reproach, could not be strong enough to preserve
him, he must submit to God's good pleasure."
68 He was well contented to hear Mr. Hyde reply very
freely upon the subject, who said, " he observed by what
his grace himself had related, that the gentlemen had too
much reason for the report they made ; and he did not
wonder that they had been much troubled at his carriage
towards them ; that he did exceedingly wish that he
would more reserve his passion towards all persons, how
faulty soever ; and that he would treat persons of honour
and quality and interest in their country with more
courtesy and condescension ; especially when they came
to visit him, and make offer of their service." He said,
smiling, that " he could only undertake for his heart ;
that he had very good meaning ; for his tongue, he could
not undertake that he would not sometimes speak more
hastily and sharply than he should do, (which oftentimes
he was sorry for, and reprehended himself for,) and in
a tune which might be liable to misinterpretation with
them who were not very well acquainted with him, and
so knew that it was an infirmity, which his nature and
education had so rooted in him, that it was in vain to
contend with it." For the state and distance he kept
with men, he said, "he thought it was not more than was
suitable to the place and degree he held in the church
and state ; or so much as others had assumed to them
selves who had sat in his place ; and thereupon he told
him some behaviour and carriage of his predecessor, Abbot,

-Jo. Increasing prosperity of Mr. Hyde. (1635.) 61
(who he said was not better born than himself,) towards
the greatest nobility of the kingdom, which he thought
was very insolent and inexcusable ;" and was indeed very
ridiculous.
69 After this bold enterprise, that gentleman ever found
himself more graciously received by him, and treated with
more familiarity ; upon which he always concluded, that
if the archbishop had had any true friend, who would, in
proper seasons, have dealt frankly with him in the most
important matters, and wherein the errors were like to be
most penal, he would not only have received it very well,
but have profited himself by it. But it is the misfortune
of most persons of that education, (how worthy soever,)
that they have rarely friendships with men above their
own condition ; and that their ascent being commonly
sudden, from low to high, they have afterwards rather
dependants than friends, and are still deceived by keep
ing somewhat in reserve to themselves, even from those
with whom they seem most openly to communicate ; and
which is worse, receive for the most part their informa
tions and advertisements from clergymen who understand
the least, and take the worst measure of human affairs of
all mankind that can write and read.
7° Under this universal acquaintance and general accepta
tion, Mr. Hyde led for many years as cheerful and pleasant
a life as any man did enjoy, as long as the kingdom took
any pleasure in itself. His practice grew every day as
much as he wished, and would have been much more, if
he had wished it ; by which, he not only supported his
expense, greater much than men of his rank and pretences
used to make, but increased his estate by some con
venient purchases of land adjoining to his other ; and he
grew so much in love with business and practice, that he
gave up his whole heart to it ; resolving, by a course of
severe study, to recover the time he had lost upon less
profitable learning; and to intend nothing else, but to

62 Mr. Hyde's reflections on I- 7°-^
reap all those benefits to which that profession could
carry him, and to the pursuing whereof he had so many
and so unusual encouragements; and towards which it
was not the least, that God had blessed him with an ex
cellent wife, who perfectly resigned herself to him; and
who then had brought him, before any troubles in the
kingdom, three sons and a daughter, which he then and
ever looked upon as his greatest blessing and consola
tion.
7i Because we shall have little cause hereafter to mention
any other particulars in the calm part of his life, whilst he
followed the study and practice of the law, it will not in this
place appear a very impertinent digression to say, that he
was in that very time when fortune seemed to smile and to
intend well towards him, and often afterwards, throughout
the whole course of his life, wont to say, that " when he
reflected upon himself and his past actions, even from the
time of his first coming to the Middle Temple, he had so
much more cause to be terrified upon the reflection, than
the man had who viewed Rochester bridge in the morning
that it was broken, and which he had galloped over in the
night ; that he had passed over more precipices than the
other had done, for many nights and days, and some years
together ; from which uothing but the immediate hand of
God could have preserved him." For though it is very
true, the persons before mentioned were the only men, in
whose company, in those seasons of his life, he took
delight ; yet he frequently found himself in the conver
sation of worse, and indeed of all manner of men ; and it
being in the time when the war was entered into against
the two crowns, and the expeditions made to, and un-
prosperous returns from Cadiz and the Isle of Rhe\ the
town was full of soldiers, and of young gentlemen who
intended to be soldiers, or as like them as they could ;
great license used of all kinds, in clothes, in diet, in
gaming; and all kinds of expenses equally carried on,

-73. the younger part of his life. (1635.) 63
by men who had fortunes of their own to support it, and
by others, who, having nothing of their own, cared not
what they spent, whilst they could find credit: so that
there was never an age, in which, in so short a time, so
many young gentlemen, who had not experience in the
world, or some good tutelar angel to protect them, were
insensibly and suddenly overwhelmed in that sea of wine,
and women, and quarrels, and gaming, which almost over
spread the whole kingdom, and the nobility and gentry
thereof. And when he had, by God's immediate blessing,
disentangled himself from these labyrinths, (his nature
and inclination disposing him rather to pass through those
dissolute quarters, than to make any stay in them,) and was
enough composed against any extravagant excursions ; he
was still conversant with a rank of men (how worthy
soever) above his quality, and engaged in an expense
above his fortune, if the extraordinary accidents of his
life had not supplied him for those excesses ; so that it
brought no prejudice upon him, except in the censure of
severe men, who thought him a person of more license
than in truth he was, and who, in a short time, were very
fully reconciled to him.
72 He had without doubt great infirmities ; which by a
providential mercy were seasonably restrained from grow
ing into vices, at least into any that were habitual. / He
had ambition enough to keep him from being satisfied
with7 his own condition, and to raise his spirit to great
designs of raising himself, but not to transport him to
endeavour it by any crooked and indirect means/ He
was never suspected to flatter the greatest man, or in the
least degree to dissemble his own opinions or thoughts,
how ingrateful soever it often proved ; and even an
affected defect in, and contempt of, those two useful
qualities, cost him dear afterwards. He indulged his
palate very much, and took even some delight in eating
and drinking well, but without any approach to luxury ;

64 Mr. Hyde's character of 'himself. 1-72-
and, in truth, rather discoursed like an epicure than was
one, having spent much time in the eating hours with
the earl of Dorset, the lord Conway, and the lord Lumley,
men who excelled in gratifying their appetites. He had
a fancy sharp and luxuriant ; but so carefully cultivated
and strictly guarded, that he never was heard to speak a
loose or a profane word ; which he imputed to the chastity
of the persons where his conversation usually was, where
that rank sort of wit was religiously detested : and a little
discountenance would quickly root those unsavoury weeds
out of all discourses, where persons of honour are pre
sent.
73 He was in his nature inclined to pride and passion,
and to a tiumour between wrangling and disputing very
troublesome, which good company in a short tltne so much
reformed and mastered, that no man was more affable and
courteous to all kind of persons ; and they who knew the
great infirmity of his whole family, which abounded in
passion, used to say, he had much extinguished the un-
ruliness of that fire. That which supported and rendered
him generally acceptable was his generosity, (for he had
too much a contempt for money,) and the opinion men
had of the goodness and justice of his nature, which was
transcendent in him, in a wonderful tenderness and
delight in obliging. His integrity was ever without
blemish, and believed to be above temptation. He was
firm and unshakable in his friendships ; and, though he
had great candour towards others in the differences of
religion, he was zealously and deliberately fixed in the
principles both of the doctrine and discipline of the
church : yet he used to say to his nearest friends, in that
time, when he expected another kind of calm for the
remainder of his life, " though he had some glimmering
light of, and inclination to, virtue in his nature, that the
whole progress of his life had been full of desperate
hazards ; and that only the merciful hand of God Almighty

—75- General state of Europe. (1639.) 65
had prevented his being both an unfortunate and a vicious
man :" and he still said, that " God had vouchsafed that
signal goodness to him, for the piety and exemplar virtue
of his father and mother ;" whose memory he had always
in singular veneration : and he was pleased with what
his nearest ally and bosom friend, sergeant Hyde, (who
was afterwards chief justice of the king's bench,) used at
that time to say of him, that his cousin had passed his
time very luckily, and with notable success, and was like
to be very happy in the world ; but he would never advise
any of his friends to walk in the same paths, or to tread
in his steps.
74 It was about the year 1639, when he was little more
than thirty years of age, and when England enjoyed the
greatest measure of felicity that it had ever known ; the
two crowns of France and Spain worrying each other, by
their mutual incursions and invasions of each other, whilst
they had both a civil war in their own bowels ; the former,
by frequent rebellions from their own factions and animo
sities, the latter, by the defection of Portugal ; and both
laboured more to ransack and burn each other's dominions,
than to extinguish their own fire. All Germany weltering
in its own blood, and contributing to each other's destruc
tion, that the poor crown of Sweden might grow great
out of their ruins, and at their charge : Denmark and
Poland being adventurers in the same destructive enter
prises. Holland and the United Provinces wearied and
tired with their long and chargeable war, how prosperous
soever they were in it ; and beginning to be more afraid
Of France their ally, than of Spain their enemy. Italy
every year infested by the arms of Spain and France,
which divided the princes thereof into the several fac
tions.
75 Of all the princes of Europe, the king of England alone
seemed to be seated upon that pleasant promontory, that
might safely view the tragic sufferings of all his neigh-
CLABBNTJON LIFE, VOL. I. 3?

66 Mr. Hyde chosen for Wotton-Basset : L 75"
hours about him, without any other concernment than
what arose from his own princely heart and Christian
compassion, to see such desolation wrought by the pride
and passion and ambition of private persons, supported.
by princes who knew not what themselves would hav^.
His three kingdoms flourishing in entire peace and uni
versal plenty, in danger of nothing but their own surfeits ;
and his dominions every day enlarged, by sending out
colonies upon large and fruitful plantations; his strong
fleets commanding all seas; and the numerous shipping
of the nation bringing the trade of the world into his
ports ; nor could it with unquestionable security be carried
any whither else ; and all these blessings enjoyed under a
prince of the greatest clemency and justice, and of the
greatest piety and devotion, and the most indulgent tp
his subjects, and most solicitous for their happiness and
prosperity. Ofortunati nimium, bona si sua norint.
I6 In this blessed conjuncture, when no other prince
thought he wanted any thing to compass what he most
desired to be possessed of, but the affection and friendship
of the king of England, a small, scarce discernible cloud
arose in the north, which was shortly after attended with
such a storm, that never gave over raging till it had
shaken, and even rooted up, the greatest and tallest
cedars of the three nations; blasted all its beauty and
fruitfulness ; brought its strength to decay, and its glory
to reproach, and almost to desolation ; by such a career
and deluge of wickedness and rebellion, as by not being
enough foreseen, or in truth suspected, could not be pre
vented.
77 Upon the rebellion in Scotland, in the year 1640, the
king called a parliament ; which met, according to sum
mons, upon the third of April. Mr. Hyde was chosen to
serve for two places ; for the borough of Wotton-Basset,
in the county of Wilts ; and for the borough of Shaftes-

— 79- his first speech in the house. (1640.) 67
bury, in the county of Dorset ; but made choice to serve
for his neighbours of the former place : and so a new writ
issued for the choice of another burgess for Shaftesbury.
78 The next day after Mr. Pym had recapitulated the
whole series of the grievances and miscarriages which
had been in the state, Mr. Hyde told the house, that
" that worthy gentleman had omitted one grievance, more
heavy than (as he thought) many of the others ; which
was, the earl marshal's court : a court newly erected,
without colour or shadow of law, which took upon it
to fine and imprison the king's subjects, and to give great
damages for matters which the law gave no damages for."
He repeated a pleasant story of a citizen, who, being
rudely treated for more than his fare came to, by a
waterman, who, pressing him, still shewed his crest, or
badge upon his coat, the citizen bade him be gone with
his goose ; whereas it was, in truth, a swan, the crest of an
earl, whose servant the waterman was : whereupon the
citizen was called into the marshal's court, and, after a
long and chargeable attendance, was,ybj" the opprobrious
dishonouring the earl's crest, by calling the swan a goose,
fined and imprisoned, till he had paid considerable da
mages to the lord, or at least to the waterman ; which
really undid the citizen.
79 He told them another story as ridiculous, of a gentle
man, who, owing his tailor a long time a good sum of
money for clothes, and his tailor coming one day to his
chamber, with more than ordinary importunity for his
debt, and not receiving any good answer, threatened to
arrest him ; upon which the gentleman, enraged, gave
him very ill words, called him base fellow, and laid his
hands upon him to thrust him out of his chamber : in this
struggle, and under this provocation, oppression, and re
proach, the poor tailor chanced to say, that he was as
good, a man as the other ; for which words he was called
into the marshal's court ; and for his peace, was content
F 2

68 Mr. Hyde endeavours to prevent the I- 79—"
to be satisfied his debt, out of his owu ill manners ; being
compelled to release all his other demands in lieu of da
mages. The case was known to many, and detested by
all.
80 He told them, that " there was an appendant to that
court, which he called the pageantry of it, the heralds ;
who were as grievous to the gentry as the court was to
the people." He said, "that sure the knights of that
house, when they received that honour from the king,
though they might think themselves obliged to live at a
higher rate, yet they believed that they might die as good
cheap as other men ;" he told them, " they could not, it
would cost them ten pounds more ; and yet a gentleman
could not die for nothing." The heralds had procured
such an order from the earl marshal, to force all persons
to pay at their funerals such several sums, according to
their several degrees. He concluded with a desire, that
when the wisdom of that house provided remedies against
the other grievances, it would likewise secure the subject
against this exorbitance. This representation was very
acceptable to the house, both in respect of the matter,
which was odious enough, and in regard of the person
that usurped that monstrous jurisdiction, who was in no
degree grateful to them ; upon whom the speaker had
not made the least reflection, the modesty of that time
not permitting the mention of great men with any re
proach, until their offences were first examined and
proved : and this being the first part he had acted upon
that stage, brought him much applause ; and he was ever
afterwards heard with great benignity.
81 Upon the warm debate in the house of commons, con
cerning the giving the king money, Mr. Hyde observed by
the several discourses of many of the court, who were of near
admission to the king and queen, and like to make proba
ble guesses, that they believed the king would be so much
displeased at the proceedings of the house, that he would

-82. dissolution of the parliament. (1640.) 69
dissolve them ; which he believed would prove the most
fatal resolution could be taken. As soon as the house was
up, he went over to Lambeth, to the archbishop ; whom
he found walking in his garden, having received a full ac
count of all that had passed, from persons who had made
more haste from the house. He appeared sad, and full of
thoughts ; and calling the other to him, seemed willing to
hear what he would say. He told him, " that he would not
trouble him with the relation of any thing that had passed,
of which he presumed he had received a good account :
that his business was only to inform him of his own fears
and apprehensions, and the observations he had made
upon the discourses of some considerable men of the
court, as if the king might be wrought upon, because
there had not been that expedition used as he expected,
speedily to dissolve the parliament : that he came only to
beseech him to use all his credit to prevent such a despe
rate counsel, which would produce great mischief to the
king and to the church : that he was confident the house
was as well constituted and disposed, as ever house of
commons was or would be : that the number of the dis
affected to church or state was very small; and though
they might obstruct for some time the quick resolving
upon what was fit, they would never be able to pervert
their good inclinations and desires to serve the king."
82 The archbishop heard him very patiently, and said, he
believed the king would be very angry at the way of their
proceedings ; for that, in this conjuncture, the delaying
and denying to do what he desired was the same thing,
and therefore he believed it probable that he would dis
solve them, without which he could not enter upon other
counsels : that, for his own part, he was resolved to deliver
no opinion ; but as he would not persuade the dissolution,
which might be attended by consequences he could not
foresee, so he had not so good an opinion of their affections

70 Mr. Hyde is again returned to parUammt. L 83-^
to the king or the church, as to persuade their longer
sitting, if the king were inclined to dissolve them.
83 The temper and constitution of both houses of parlia
ment, which the king was forced to call shortly after, was
very different from the last : and they discovered not more
prejudice against any man than against Mr. Hyde ; who
was again returned to serve there, and whom they were
sorry to find amongst them ; as a man they knew well to
have great affection for the archbishop, and of unalterable
det^ionto the government of the church ; and therefore
they first laboured to find some defect in his election, and
then to irreconcile those towards him who they found
had any esteem or kindness for him : but not finding the
success in either answerable to their expectation, they
lived fairly towards him, and endeavoured, by several
applications, to gain credit with him ; who returned
them their own civilities ; having had very particular
acquaintance with many of them, whom he as much en
deavoured to preserve from being prevailed upon.
84 Within few days after their meeting, he renewed the
motion he had made in the last parliament, against the
marshal's court, (though he knew the earl marshal had
gotten himself much into their favour, by his application,
and some promises he had made them at the meeting at
York ; and principally by his declared aversion and pre
judice to the earl of Strafford,) and told them what ex
travagant proceedings there had been in that court since
the dissolution of the last parliament ; and that more
damages had been given there, by the sole judgment of
the lord marshal, for contumelious and reproachful words,
of which the law took no notice, in two days, than had
been given by all the juries, in all the courts in West
minster hall, in the whole term, and the days for trial
after it was ended. Upon which he got a committee to
be named, of which himself sat in the chair ; and found

Suppression of the earl marshal's court. (1640.) 71
that the first precedent they had in all their records for
that form of proceeding which they had used, and for
giving Of damages for words, was but in the year 1633 ;
and the very entrance upon this inquisition put an end to
that upstart court, which never presumed to sit after
wards ; and so that grievance was thoroughly abolished.
And, to manifest how great an impression the alarums of
this kind made upon the highest and the proudest natures,
the very next Sunday after this motion was made in the
house of commons, the earl marshal seeing Mr. Hyde in
the closet at Whitehall during the time of the sermon,
he came with great courtesy to him, thanked him for
having treated his person so civilly, when upon so just
reason he had found fault with some of his actions : said,
he believed he had been in the wrong ; but that he had
been misled by the advice of sir Harry Martin and other
Civilians, who were held men of great learning, and who
assured him that those proceedings were just and lawful.
He said, they had gained well by it, but should mislead
him no more : and concluded with great professions of
kindness and esteem, and offered him all offices in his
power ; when, in his heart, he did him the honour to
detest and hate him perfectly ; as he professed to all
whom he trusted.
85 The memorials and extracts are so large and particular
Of all these proceedings in the notes and papers of the
person whose life is the end of this discourse, that even
unawares many things are inserted not so immediately
applicable to his own person ; which possibly may here
after, in some other method, be communicated to the
world ; and therefore we shall again resort only to such
particulars as more immediately relate to him. His credit
grew every day in the house, in spite of all the endeavours
which were used to lessen it : and it being evident that
he had no dependence upon the court, and insisted wholly
upon maintaining what the law had established, very

72 Mr. Hyde gives himself 1- 85— ,;
many wise men, and of estate and reputation in the king
dom, (who observed well the crooked and ambitious de
signs of those who desired to be thought to care only for
the good of their country,) adhered to him; and were
willing to take advice from him, how to prevent those
miseries which were like to be brought upon the king
dom : so that they, who had cut out all the work from
the beginning, and seldom met with any notable contra
diction, found themselves now frequently disappointed,
and different resolutions taken to what they had pro
posed ; which they imputed to his activity.
86 He was very much in the business of the house ; the
greatest chairman in the committees of the greatest
moment ; and very diligent in attending the service both
in the house and at committees : for he had from the
beginning of the parliament laid aside his gown and prac
tice, and wholly given himself up to the public business ;
which he saw so much concerned the peace and very
being of the kingdom. He was in the chair in that com
mittee which considered of the illegality of the court of
York : and the other, that examined the miscarriages of
the judges, in the case of ship-money, and in other cases
of judicatory, in their several courts ; and prepared
charges thereupon against them. He was in the chair
against the marshal's court : in that committee which was
against the court of York, which was prosecuted with
great passion, and took up many weeks debate : in that
which concerned the jurisdiction of the lord president
and council of the marches of Wales ; which likewise
held a long time, and was prosecuted with great bitter
ness and animosity : in which the inhabitants of the four
neighbour counties of Salop, Worcester, Hereford, and
Gloucester, and consequently the knights and burgesses
which served for the same, were passionately concerned
to absolve themselves from the burden of that jurisdic
tion ; and all the officers of that court and council, where-

wholly to public business. (1640.) 73
of some were very great men, and held offices of great
value, laboured with equal passion and concernment to
support and maintain what was in practice and possession ;
and their friends appeared accordingly.
87 He was in the chair in many committees made upon
private complaints ; insomuch as he was seldom in the
afternoon free from that service in the committees, as he
was never absent in mornings from the house : and he
was often heard to mention one private committee, in
which he was put accidentally into the chair, upon an
enclosure which had been made of great wastes, belong
ing to some [of] the queen's manors, without the consent
of the tenants, the benefit whereof had been given by the
queen to a servant of near trust ; who forthwith sold the
lands enclosed to the earl of Manchester, lord privy seal >
who, together with his son Mandevile, were now most
concerned to maintain the enclosure ; against which, as
well the inhabitants of other manors, who claimed com
mon in those wastes, as the queen's tenants of the
same, made loud complaints, as a great oppression, car
ried upon them with a very high hand, and supported by
power.
88 The committee sat in the queen's court, and Oliver
Cromwell, being one of them, appeared much concerned
to countenance the petitioners, who were numerous, to
gether with their witnesses ; the lord Mandevile being
likewise present as a party, and, by the direction of the
committee, sitting covered. Cromwell (who had never
before been heard to speak in the house of commons)
ordered the witnesses and petitioners in the method of
the proceeding, and seconded and enlarged upon what
they said with great passion ; and the witnesses and per
sons concerned, who were a very rude kind of people,
interrupted the council and witnesses on the other side
with great clamour, when they said any thing that did
not please them ; so that Mr. Hyde (whose office it was

74 Cause of Cromwell's enmity to Mr. Hyde. I. 8#-
to oblige men of all sorts to keep order) was compelled tti
use some sharp repfoofs and some threats to reduce them
to such a temper, that the business might be quietly
heard. Cromwell in great fury reproached the chairman
for being partial, and that he discountenanced the wit
nesses by threatening them : the other appealed to the
committee, which justified him, and declared that he
behaved himself as he ought to do ; which more inflamed
him, who was already too much angry. When upon any
mention of matter of fact, or the proceeding before and
at the enclosure, the lord Mandevile desired to be heard,
and With great modesty related what had been done, or
explained what had been said, Mr. Cromwell did answer
and reply upon him with so much indecency and rude
ness, and in language so contrary and offensive, that every
man would have thought, that as their natures and their
manners were as opposite as it is possible, so their interest
cOuld never have been the same. In the end, his whole
carriage was so tempestuous, and his behaviour so in
solent, that the chairman found himself obliged to repre
hend him ; and to tell him, if he proceeded in the same
manner, he would presently adjourn the committee, and
the next morning complain to the house of him ; which
he never forgave; and took all occasions afterwards to
pursue him with the utmost malice and revenge, to his
death.
89 When Mr. Hyde sat in the chair, in the grand com
mittee Of the house for the extirpation of episcopacy, alt
that party made great court to him ; and the house keep
ing those disorderly hours, and seldom rising till after four
Of the clock in the afternoon, they frequently importuned
him to dine with them at Mr. Pym's lodging, which was
at sir Richard Manly's house, in a little court behind
Westminster hall; where he, and Mr. Hambden, sir
Arthur Haslerig, and two or three more, upon a stock
kept a table, where they transacted much business, and

—91. Mr. Hyde's conversation with Fiennes and Martin. (1641.) 75
invited thither those of whose conversion they had any
hope.
90 One day after dinner, Nathaniel Fiennes, who that day
likewise dined there, asked Mr. Hyde whether he would
ride into the fields, and take a little air, it being a fine
evening : which the other consenting to, they sent for
their horses, and riding together in the fields between
Westminster and Chelsea, Mr. Fiennes asked him what it
was that inclined him to adhere so passionately to the
church, which could not possibly be supported. He
answered, that he could have no other obligation than
that of his conscience, and his reason, that could move
with him; for he had no relation or dependence upon
any churchmen that could dispose him to it ; that he
could not conceive how religion could be preserved with
out bishops, nor how the government of the state could
well subsist, if the government of the church were altered ;
and asked him what government they meant to introduce
in its place. To which he answered, that there would be
time enough to think of that ; but assured him, and
wished him to remember what he said, that if the king
resolved to defend the bishops, it would cost the kingdom
much blood, and would be the occasion of as sharp a war
as had ever been in England : for that there was so great
a number of good men who resolved to lose their lives
before they would ever submit to that government.
Which was the first positive declaration he had ever
heard from any particular man of that party, very few of
them having at that time that resolution, much less avow
ing it ; and if they had, the kingdom was in no degree at
that time infected with that poison, how much soever it
was spread afterwards.
91 Within two days after this discourse from Mr. Fiennes,
Mr. Hyde, walking between the parliament house and
Westminster, in the churchyard, met with Harry Martin,
with whom he lived very familiarly; and speaking to-

T fr
76 Mr. Hyde is sent for by the Eng. ±- 9'i
gether about the proceedings of the houses, Martin told
him, that he would undo himself by his adhering to the
court ; to which he replied, that he had no relation to the
court, and was only concerned to maintain the govern
ment and preserve the law : and then told him, he could
not conceive what he proposed to himself, for he did not
think him to be of the opinion or nature with those men
who governed the house ; and asked him, what he thought
of such and such men : and he very frankly answered,
that he thought them knaves ; and that when they had
done as much as they intended to do, they should be used
as they had used others. The other pressed him then to
say what he desired ; to which, after a little pause, he
very roundly answered, " I do not think one man wise
enough to govern us all :" which was the first word he had
ever heard any man speak to that purpose ; and would
without doubt, if it had been then communicated or at
tempted, been the most abhorred by the whole nation, of
any design that could be mentioned ; and yet it appears
it had even so early entered into the hearts of some de
sperate persons, that gentleman being at that time pos
sessed of a very great fortune, and having great credit in
his country.
92 Whilst things were thus depending, one morning, when
there was a conference with the lords, and so the house
adjourned, Mr. Hyde being walking in the house, Mr.
Peircy, brother to the earl of Northumberland, being a
member of the house, came to him, and told him that the
king would speak with him, and would have him that
afternoon to come to him. He answered, he believed it
was some mistake, for that he had not the honour to be
known to the king ; and that there was another of the
same name, of the house. Mr. Peircy assured him he was
the man ; and so it was agreed, that at such an hour in
the evening he should call on him at his chamber ; which
he did, and was by him conducted into the gallery, and

"944- His majesty' s discourse with him. (1641.) 77
so into the square room, where he stayed till the other
went to the king ; who in a very short time came thither,
attended only by Mr. Peircy, who, as soon as Mr. Hyde
had kissed his majesty's hand, withdrew.
93 The king told him, " that he heard from all hands how
much he was beholden to him; and that when all his
servants in the house of commons either neglected his
service, or could not appear usefully in it, he took all
occasions to do him service ; for which he thought fit to
give him his own thanks, and to assure him that he would
remember it to his advantage." He took notice of his
affection to the church, for which, he said, " he thanked
him more than for all the rest ;" which the other acknow
ledged with the duty that became him, and said, he was
very happy that his majesty was pleased with what he did ;
but if he had commanded him to have withdrawn his
affection and reverence for the church, he would not have
obeyed him ;" which his majesty said made him love him
the better. Then he discoursed of the passion of the
house, and of the bill then brought in against episcopacy ;
and asked him, "whether he thought they would be able
to carry it;" to which he answered, "he believed they
could not, at least that it would be very long first."
" Nay, (replied the king,) if you will look to it, that they
do not carry it before I go for Scotland, which will be at
such a time, when the armies shall be disbanded, I will
undertake for the church after that time :" " Why then,
(said the other,) by the grace of God, it will not be in
much danger:" with which the king was well pleased;
and dismissed him with very gracious expressions. And
this was the first introduction of him to the king's taking
notice of him.
94 Afterwards, in that summer, during the time of his
majesty's stay in Scotland, Mr. Secretary Nicholas (who
then kept the signet, though he was not sworn secretary
till the king's return) being very sick, sent to him, to

78 Conclusion of the first part. 1. 95,
desire to speak with him ; whereupon he went to him to
his house in King's-street, and found him in his bed :
and the business was wholly to shew him a letter from
the king to him, in which he writ to him, that he under
stood, by several hands, that he was very much beholden
to Mr. Hyde for the great zeal he shewed to his service ;
and therefore commanded him to speak with him, and to
let him know the sense he had of it ; and that when he
returned, he would let him know it himself.
95 Having now taken a view of him from his birth, and
through his whole youth, and first entrance into the
business of the world, in which he had great success and
prosperity, (and if the calm, in which he was born, and
lasted so long, had continned, no man could with more
probability have promised himself better fortune in the
profession to which he had dedicated himself;) and hav
ing now brought him to be known to the king ; and the
tempest, that from the present foul weather shortly after
broke out, driving him from further applying himself to,
or prosecuting that profession ; and the parliament making
some short recess during the king's being in Scotland ; we
will here conclude the first part of his life, and enter
upon the second ; which will contain a more important
part, and in which we will mention no particulars of that
active time, but such in which he had a signal part;
leaving the rest to the history of those great and mon
strous actions.
Montpelier, March 27, 1669.

THE LIFE

OF

EDWARD EAEL OF CLAEENDON;
FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE RESTORATION OF
THE ROYAL FAMILY IN THE YEAR 1660.

PAET II.

AS soon as the remonstrance, so much mentioned be
fore, was printed, Mr. Hyde, only to give vent to his own
indignation, and without the least purpose of communi
cating it, or that any use should be made of it, had drawn
such a full answer to it, as the subject would have enabled
any man to have done who had thought of it : and the
lord Digby, who had much conversation and friendship
with him, coming accidentally and suddenly into the room,
where he was alone amongst his books and papers ; con
ferring together of the extravagant proceedings of the
parliament, he, upon the familiarity that was between
them, and upon the argument that was then between
them, read the answer to him which he had prepared to
the remonstrance ; with which he seemed much pleased,
and desired him, that he would permit it to be made use
of by the king, and that he might shew it to his majesty ;
who found it absolutely necessary to publish some answer
in his own name to that remonstrance, which had so much
poisoned the hearts of the people ; and that his majesty
was endeavouring to procure such an answer to be drawn.
The other expressly and positively refused to give it him,

80 Mr. Hyde draws up an answer H.
or that any use should be made of it ; and reproached
him for proposing a thing to him which might prove
ruinous to him, if the house should have the least ima
gination that he exercised himself in such offices; with
which answer he seemed satisfied, and departed : no other
person having seen it but the lord Falkland, from whom
nothing was ever concealed.
2 Within few days after, the lord Digby, with whom the
king advised in the business of the parliament without
reserve, came again to him; and, after some apologies,
told him freely, that very many had been with the king,
desiring him that he would take care that some answer
might be published to that remonstrance, which had al
ready done much harm, and would do much more if it were
not answered ; and that the king had spoken to him ; upon
which he had confessed that he had seen an answer that
pleased him very well, but could not prevail with the
author of it to suffer it to be made use of; and told him
who it was : whereupon the king seemed to wonder very
much, that a person, who had appeared so publicly in de
fence of his service, should be so wary of assisting him in
private : and after many expressions of grace towards that
gentleman, his majesty had commanded him to come in
his name to him ; and to conjure him to send that paper
to him ; and to give him his royal word, that no person
living should know that he had the least hand in it ; so
that no danger should accrue to him thereby.
3 Mr. Hyde, though he was very unsatisfied with what
the lord Digby had done, (whose affection to him he did
not in any degree make question of, but did not like his
over activity, to which his restless fancy always disposed
him ; and as he doubted not that himself had given the
occasion to the king to send those commands, so he had
likewise enlarged those commands, as he believed, in such
a manner as he thought might most oblige him,) yet, upon
the real consideration that it might do the king much

—4. to the parliament's remonstrance. (1641.) 81
service, he did, without delay, deliver the papers; insist
ing upon the promise of secrecy, and, likewise, that his
majesty would not publish without first communicating it
to his council, and as done with their advice. And to
that purpose he affixed that title to it, before he delivered
the papers out of his hands ; believing, that as it would be
more for the king's service to carry such an authority in
the front of it, as "The king's answer with the advice of
his council;" so it could not be refused by them, and yet
might engage them in some displeasure with the house of
commons, which probably might be offended at it. The
king was very punctual in doing what was desired, and
caused it to be read at a full council, where many of the
lords commended it very much, and none spake against
it ; and so it was published and printed ; and it was very
apparent to all men, that the king's service was very much
advanced by it ; and it was not more evident to any than
to the house of commons, who knew not how to make
any expostulation upon it, it being in the king's own
name, and published with the advice of his privy-council :
so that all they could do was, to endeavour to discover
who was the penner of it ; to which discovery they were
most intent by all their secret friends in court, who found
means to discover most other secrets to them, but in this
could do them no service.
4 As soon as the lord Falkland and sir John Colepepper
were called to the privy council, the king sent for Mr.
Hyde to him, who had not seen his majesty from the
time he had been presented by Mr. Peircy. He com
manded the lord Digby to bring him when it was night
to the queen's back stairs ; and as soon as he was there,
both king and queen came into the room ; and when he
had kissed their hands, and the lord Digby was withdrawn,
the king told him, "he was much beholden to him for
many good services, and that now he had preferred two
of his friends, it was time to give him some testimony of
CLABENDON LIFE, VOL. I. G

82 Mr. Hyde is intrusted with II.
his favour ; and therefore he had sent to him to tell him
that he intended to make him his solicitor general, in the
place of him who had served him so ill." Mr. Hyde
suddenly answered, " God forbid !" With which the king
seeming surprised, said, " Why God forbid ?" The other
replied, " It was in no degree fit at this time that he
* should remove the other ; and if he were removed, him
self was in no degree fit for it." The queen said "he ought
not to suffer for his modesty : she had heard men, who
could judge well, say, that he was as fit for it as the
other." Mr. Hyde said, " that was an argument that
gentleman thought the other not fit for it, not that he
believed him fit; which in truth, he said, he was not.
That it might be, that when the place was actually void,
the king might have filled it better with another man
than with Mr. Saint-John, whose parts were not above
many others, and his affections were below most men's :
but now that he was invested in that office, it was not a
good conjuncture to remove him ; and when it should be,
' he did humbly advise his majesty to make choice of the
ablest man of the profession, whose affections were clear,
by whom he might indeed have great benefit ; whereas
himself was young, and without any of that learning or
experience which might make him capable of that great
trust." The queen saying again this was his modesty, he
replied, " Madam^jaLhen you know me better, you will not
find me so modest a manJbttLthati hopp hy ynnjjyrajpst.y's
favour, in due time, to be made a better man tkanJ am at
present : but, if you believe that I know any thing of the
disposition of the present time, Or" Of What may conduce
to the king's service, I pray believe, that though the soli
citor will never do much service, he will be able to do much
more mischief if he be removed." The king at the same
time resolved to remove another officer, who did disserve
him notoriously, and to prefer Mr. Hyde to that place ;
with which their gracious intention both their majesties

-6. the king's affairs in parliament. ( 1 642.) \ 83
acquainted him : but he positively refused it ; and as
sured both their majesties, that he should be able to do
much more service in the condition he was in.
5 Before the king left Whitehall, he renewed his com
mands to the three persons mentioned before, the lord
viscount Falkland, sir John Colepepper, and Mr. Hyde,
to meet constantly together, and consult upon his affairs,
and conduct them the best way they could in the parlia
ment, and to give him constant advice what he was to
do, without which, he declared again very solemnly, he
would make no step in the parliament. Two of them
were obliged by their offices and relations, and the other
by his duty and inclination, to give him all satisfaction ;
notwithstanding the discouragement they had so lately
received, and which had made a deep impression upon
them. And so they met every night late together, and
communicated their observations and intelligence of the
day ; and so agreed what was to be done or attempted
the next ; there being very many persons of condition and
interest in the house who would follow their advice, and
assist in any thing they desired. And because Mr. Hyde
had larger accommodation in the house where he lived in
Westminster than either of the other had, the meetings
at night were for the most part with him ; and after their
deliberation together, what was to be put in writing was
always committed to Mr. Hyde ; and when the king had
left the town, he writ as freely to the king as either of
the other did ; and sometimes, when they would be ex
cused, he went to him in great secret.
6 He had been from the beginning very unbeloved by all
the governing party ; and though they took some pains
at first to win him, yet their hope of that was quickly
desperate ; and from the night of the protestation, he was
as much in their detestation as any man ; and the more,
that they could take no advantage against him : and
though they had a better opinion of his discretion than
G 2

84 Of the temper and principles II.
to believe he had any share in the advice of the late pro
ceedings, yet they were very willing that others should
believe it ; and made all the infusions they could to that
purpose amongst those who took their opinions from
them ; towards which his known friendship with the lord
Digby was an argument very prevalent: and then his
opposing the votes upon their privilege had inflamed them
beyond their temper; insomuch as Mr. Hampden told
him one day, that the trouble that had lately befallen
them had been attended with that benefit, that they knew
who were their friends : and the other offering to speak
upon the point of privilege, and how monstrous a thing it
was to make a vote so contrary to the known law; he
replied very snappishly, " that he well knew he had a
mind they should be all in prison;" and so departed
without staying for an answer. Then they imputed to
him the disposing the lord Falkland to serve the court,
and the court to receive his service ; and from the time
that he and Colepepper were called to the council, they
equally were enraged against both ; and now, when they
had discovered the place of the nightly meetings, that a
secretary of state and a chancellor of the exchequer
every day went to the lodging of a private person, who
ought to attend them, they believed it a condescension
that had some other foundation than mere civility; yet
they could not discover any thing against them which
they thought fit to offer in public.
7 It is not amiss in this place to say somewhat of those
three persons, who had from that time so great a part in
the business that was upon the stage, and did in a short
time raise the reputation of the king, and of his cause, to
a very great degree ; and who, though they were well
united in the opposition of all the ill designs against the
crown, and concurred in the public service with necessary
and mutual civilities towards each other, yet their princi
ples and constitutions were very different ; and the lord

of lord Falkland. (1642.) \ 85
Falkland and Mr. Hyde (between whom, as is said before,
the friendship was most entire) had never had the least
acquaintance with sir John Colepepper before the parlia
ment ; and finding themselves often of one opinion, grew
into some conversation ; and being after united in the
king's trust, they rarely conferred but in the agitation of
business ; their natures being in nothing alike.
8 The lord Falkland, though he was a man of a cheerful
conversation, was of a severe nature, and a lover of virtue ;
yet he had great esteem for all men of great parts, though
they applied them to ill purposes. He was so great an
enemy to all dissimulation, that he chose sometimes the
other extreme when it was not requisite. He had not
the court in great reverence, and had a presaging spirit
that the king would fall into great misfortune : and often
said to his friend, that he chose to serve the king, because
honesty obliged him to it ; but that he foresaw his own
ruin by doing it. He had a better opinion of the church
of England, and the religion of it, than of any other
church and religion ; and had extraordinary kindness for
very many churchmen ; and if he could have helped or
prevented it, there should have been no attempts against
it. But he had in his own judgment such a latitude in
opinion, that he did not believe any part of the order or
government of it to be so essentially necessary to religion,
but that it might be parted with, and altered, for a notable
public benefit or convenience ; and that the crown itself
ought to gratify the people, in yielding to many things ;
and to part with some power, rather than to run the
hazards which would attend the refusal. But he was
swayed in this by a belief that the king would in the end
be prevailed with to yield to what was pressed ; and this
opinion wrought too much upon too many.
9 Albeit he had the greatest compliance with the weak
ness, and even the humour of other men, when there
could be no suspicion of flattery ; and the greatest address

86 , Of sir John Colepepper. IL 9
to inform and reform them : yet towards the king, who
many times obstinately adhered to many conclusions
which did not naturally result from good premises, and
did love to argue many things to which he would not
so positively adhere, he did not practise that condescen
sion; but contradicted him with more bluntness, and
by sharp sentences ; and in some particulars (as of the
church) to which the king was in conscience most de
voted : and of this his majesty often complained ; and
cared less to confer with him in private, and was less
persuaded by him, than his affairs, and the other's great
parts and wisdom, would have required : though he had
not a better opinion of any man's sincerity or fidelity
towards him.
3 Sir John Colepepper had spent some years of his youth
in foreign parts, and especially in armies ; where he had
seen good service, and very well observed it ; and might
have made a very good officer if he had intended it. He
was of a rough nature, a hot head, and of great courage ;
which had engaged him in many quarrels and duels;
wherein he still behaved himself very signally. He had
in a very good season, and after a small waste of his for
tune, retired from that course of life, and married, and
betook himself to a country life ; and studied the business
of the country, and the concernments of it, in which he
was very well versed ; and being a man of sharpness of
parts, and volubility of language, he was frequently made
choice of to appear at the council-board, in those matters
which related to the country : in the managing whereof,
his abilities were well taken notice of. His estate was
very moderate, and his usual expense exceeded it not ;
not being delighted with delicacies of any nature, or
indeed ever acquainted with them. He had infirmities
which sometimes made a noise; but his parts and abilities
made him very acceptable to his neighbours, and to those
who were most considerable in their estates, and most

— 12.

Of 'sir John Colepepper. (1642.) \ 87
popular ; so that with very little opposition, he had been
chosen to be knight of that great county Kent, for the
parliament ; where he quickly made himself to be taken
notice of. He was proud and ambitious, and very much
disposed to improve his fortune ; which he knew well
how to do, by industry and thrift, without stooping to
any corrupt ways, to which he was not inclined.
n He did not love the persons of many of those who were
the violent managersj and less their designs ; and there
fore he no sooner knew that he was well spoken of at
court, but he exposed himself to the invitation, and
heartily embraced that interest : and when he came
thither, he might very well be thought a man of no very
good breeding ; having never sacrificed to the muses, or
conversed in any polite company. He was warm and
positive in debates, and of present fancy to object and
find fault with what was proposed ; and indeed would
take any argument in pieces, and expose it excellently to
a full view ; and leave nothing to chance or accident,
without making it foreseen ; but after that, knew not so
well what to judge and determine ; and was so irresolute,
and had a fancy so perpetually working, that, after a con
clusion made, he would the next day, in the execution of
it, and sometimes after, raise new doubts, and make new
objections ; which always occasioned trouble, and some
times produced inconvenience.
12 In matters of religion he was, in his judgment, very
indifferent; but more inclined to what was established,
to avoid the accidents which commonly attend a change,
without any motives from his conscience ; which yet he
kept to himself; and was well content to have it believed
that the activity proceeded from thence. He had, with
all this uncourtliness (for sure no man less appeared a
courtier) and ungracefulness in his mien and motion, a
wonderful insinuation and address into the acceptation
and confidence of the king and queen ; and flattery being

88 Of Mr. Hyde. H. 12-
a weed not so natural to the air and soil of the country
where he had wholly lived, he was believed to speak with
all plainness and sincerity ; when no man more complied
with those infirmities they both had, and by that com
pliance prevailed often over them.
13 He had a very tragical way in expressing himself, to
raise the fears and apprehensions of those who were natu
rally apprehensive of dangers ; and by this means he pre
vailed marvellously with the queen in those matters to
which she was most averse ; by representing things as
dismally to her as he could well do ; and on the other
hand, to the king (who was naturally very sanguine) he
was full of compliance ; cherished all his hopes and
imaginations, and raised and improved those hopes very
frequently by expedients very unagreeable to the end
proposed. He was then (as was said before) very positive
in his conclusions ; as if he did not propose a thing that
might come to pass, but what infallibly must be so :
which was a temper the king could not contend with ;
and did so much suspect himself, (which was his greatest
infirmity, and the chief ground of all his sufferings,) that
he did believe a man, of whom he thought very well, did
know every thing that he confidently insisted upon. But
his greatest advantage was, (besides his diligence in
speaking as often as he could with the king and queen,
and always with the queen upon any important counsel,)
that he had an entire confidence and friendship with Mr.
John Ashburnham, whom the king loved, and trusted
very much ; and who always imprinted that advice in the
king's mind which the other had infused ; and being a
member of the house, was always ready to report the
service he did his majesty there, as advantageously as the
business would bear.
H Mr. Hyde was, in his nature and disposition, different
from both the other; which never begot the least dis
agreement between the lord Falkland and him. He was

«"5- OfMr.Hyde. (1642.) 89
of a very cheerful and open nature, without any dissimu
lation ; and delivered his opinion of things or persons,
where it was convenient, without reserve or disguise ;
and was at least tenacious enough of his opinion, and
never departed from it out of compliance with any man.
He had a very particular devotion and passion for the
person of the king ; and did believe him the most, and
the best Christian in the world. He had a most zealous
esteem and reverence for the constitution of the govern
ment ; and believed it so equally poised, that if the least
branch of the prerogative wag torn off nr parted with,
the subject suffered by it, and that his right was impaired:
and he was as much troubled when the crown exceeded
its" just limits^tnd thought its prerogative hurt by it :
and therefore not only never consented to any diminution
of the king's authority, but always wished 'that the king
would not consent to it, with what importunity or im
petuosity soever it was desired and pressed.
J5 He had taken more pains than such men use to do, in
the examination of religion ; having always conversed
with those of different opinions with all freedom and
affection, and had very much kindness and esteem for
many, who were in no degree of his own judgment; and
upon all this, he did really believe the church of England
the most exactly formed and framed for the encourage
ment and advancement of learning and piety, and for the
preservation of peace, of any church in the world : that
the taking away any of its revenue, and applying it to
secular uses, was robbery, and notorious sacrilege; and
that the diminishing the lustre it had, and had always
had in the government, by removing the bishops out of
the" house of peers, was a violation of justice; the re
moving a landmark, and the shaking the very foundation
of government; and therefore he always opposed, upon
the impulsion of conscience, all mutations in the church ;
and did always believe, let the season or the circumstance

90 Of Mr. Hyde. II. 15-
be what it would, that any compliance was pernicious;
and that a peremptory and obstinate refusal, that might
put men in despair of what they laboured for, and take
away all hope of obtaining what they desired, would re
concile more persons to the government than the gratify
ing them in part ; which only whetted their appetite to
desire more, and their confidence in demanding it.
16 Though he was of a complexion and humour very far
from despair, yet he did believe the king would be op
pressed by that party which then governed, and that they
who followed and served him would be destroyed ; so
that it was not ambition of power or wealth, that engaged
him to embark in so very hazardous an employment, but
abstractly the consideration of his duty; and he often
used to apply those words of Cicero to himself, Mea cetas
incidit in id bellum, cujus altera pars sceleris nimium habuit,
altera felicitatis parum. It is very probable, that if his
access at that time had been as frequent to the king as
sir John Colepepper's was, or the lord Falkland's might
have been, some things might have been left undone, the
doing whereof brought much prejudice to the king ; for
all his principles were much more agreeable to his ma
jesty's own judgment, than those of either of the other ;
and what he said was of equal authority with him ; and
when any advice was given by either of the other, the
king usually asked, "whether Ned Hyde were of that
opinion;" and they always very ingenuously confessed,
that he was not : but his having no relation of service,
and so no pretence to be seen often at court, and the
great jealousy that was entertained towards him, made it
necessary to him to repair only in the dark to the king
upon emergent occasions, and leave the rest to be im
parted by the other two : and the differences in their
natures and opinions never produced any disunion be
tween them in those councils which concerned the con
duct of the king's service ; but they proceeded with great

Of Mr. Hyde. (1642.) 91
unanimity, and very manifestly much advanced the king's
business from the very low state it was in when they
were first trusted ; the other two having always much de
ference to the lord Falkland, who allayed their passions ;
to which they were both enough inclined.
17 The parliament continued its fury, and every day sent
some new expostulations to the king, and did all they could
to kindle the fire throughout the kingdom, upon the breach
of privilege. They had already passed the bill to remove
the bishops out of the house of peers, and deferred the
sending it to the king, only that it might be accompanied
with the other bill concerning the militia, which, being
passed the commons, was not like to meet with much ob
struction in the house of peers ; the late tumults, and the
committing the persons of so many bishops to the Tower,
having made many of the lords neglect coming to the
house, and disheartened many of those who did continue
their attendance : so that the king and queen were weary
of Windsor ; and her majesty's fears grew every day so
much stronger, that it was resolved, that she should her
self remove beyond the. seas ; and that then the king
should retire into the northern parts, with a resolution
that he would get Hull into his hands. But this and all
other resolutions were kept very secret ; the design upon
Hull, which would require his remove into the northern
parts, being the sole advice of sir John Colepepper, which
he owned not to his two companions, well knowing that
their opinion was, that the queen being once gone, the
king should either return to London, or remain at Hamp
ton-court, or at such a distance, and positively refuse to
consent to any other unreasonable demands. The king
sent word to the parliament, that he was obliged by the
treaty with the States upon the marriage of his daughter,
the princess Mary, to the prince of Orange, that he would
about this time send his daughter to her husband, which
he was resolved forthwith to do ; and that the queen his
wife, being indisposed in her health, and being advised

92 Of Mr. Hyde. II. 17-
that change of air would do her much good, resolved
to make use of the same opportunity, and to accom
pany her daughter to the Hague, of which he thought
fit to give them notice. The leading men were much
divided among themselves upon this message. They,
who had been formerly engaged in treaties of preferment,
were not willing to give over all hopes of reassuming that
matter, which they could never think could be done, if her
majesty were gone beyond the seas. Others, who were well
acquainted with her constitution and her fears, believed,
if she were absent, they should no more prevail with the
king (who was naturally positive enough) to consent to
their demands; and there were some who out of pure
generosity, and a sense that all the world would believe
that she was driven away by the uncivil behaviour of the
parliament: and all these desired that she might be
persuaded to stay ; and prevailed so far, that both houses
sent a message to her to that purpose, with some more
courtly expressions than they had been of late accustomed
to ; and taking notice that her physician had declared
that her health was impaired by the trouble of her mind,
made professions of duty, and a desire to give her all con
tent, if they might know what would do it. But the rest,
who cared not whether she went or stayed, and rather
wished her away, pressed on all those proceedings in the
houses which they knew would give her most offence, and
the bill for the militia was now likewise passed both
houses, as well as that concerning the bishops, and they
sent to the king to appoint a day for the passing and
enacting them, together with some other bill for the relief
of Ireland, according to their usual method, which was to
send some necessary act, which could not be refused, when
they sent others which would be more ungrateful. Most
men did believe that the king would never give his con
sent to either of these two ; though very many had con
curred in them for no other reason, than because they
were assured he would not refuse ; and others upon con-

—i-i 8. Of sir John Colepepper. (1642.) 93
fidence that he would ; and therefore would not render
themselves obnoxious by opposing them. Upon all which
the queen continued her resolution, and hastened her
journey, that she might be out of the way, and thereby
the king might the more resolutely reject those bills*
which he intended to do ; and the houses the more
importunately pressed the despatch of the bills, as soon
as the day was appointed for the queen's beginning
her journey from Windsor towards Dover. And the
bill concerning Ireland could not be despatched too
soon for the necessity of the service ; besides that
any delay therein was presently taken notice of, and
published as a favour to that rebellion and hindering
the suppression thereof, which now grew to be an im
pudent imputation, especially upon the queen ; so that
the king thought of sending a commission to despatch
those and suspend the other, till he had further con
sidered them ; for he thought it not fit to give an abso
lute denial, till he were retired to a greater distance from
London ; but then the doing one and not the other would
be looked upon as an absolute denial by those imperious
conductors.
18 In this perplexity, when nothing was so necessary as
the most obstinate resolution, sir John Colepepper, who
was naturally inclined to expedients, and in difficult cases,
that is, cases made difficult by the perverseness of super
cilious contenders, to composition, much desired that the
king would pass that against the bishops, and absolutely
reject the other; which he did in truth believe would
satisfy so many, that those that remained unsatisfied
would not have credit enough to give any further disturb
ance ; and in his own judgment, as hath been said before,
he thought the matter of little importance ; but he knew
that argument would make no other impression upon the
king, than to the disadvantage of the arguer ; and if he
had thought himself obliged to have enacted one, he

94 Colepepper advises the kimg to II. J 8-
would have chosen to have passed that for the militia,
rather than the other : he urged therefore to the king, no
other person present, the necessity of giving the parliament
satisfaction in one of those bills ; and that there were
more who would be satisfied with that concerning the
bishops, than with the other concerning the militia ; and
therefore it would be best to gratify the major part.
Then he exposed the dreadful consequences which would
attend the yielding in the point of the militia ; as if it
would be the next day in their power to depose him ; and
all the tragical effects of granting that authority. He
seemed in no degree to undervalue the mischief of con
senting to the bill against the bishops ; yet that it would
be attended with that present benefit, that the church
would be free from further apprehension ; and that this
degradation would secure the function and the revenue ;
and that when these jealousies and misunderstandings
should be once composed, that bill would be easily re
pealed by the experience how much the government was
hurt by it ; and whilst the sword remained in the king's
own hands there would be no attempt to make further
alterations. The king asked him, whether Ned Hyde
was of that mind ; to which he answered, he was not ;
nor did wish that either of the bills should be passed;
which he thought, as the time was, could not be a reason
able judgment : the king said, " it was his ; and that he
would run the hazard."
*9 When he found he could not prevail there, he went to
the queen, and repeated all the arguments he had used to
the king, with his usual vehemence ; and added, that he
exceedingly apprehended, that, by some means or other,
upon this refusal of the king's, her majesty's journey would
be stopped, and that she would not be suffered to trans
port herself out of the kingdom ; and therefore he heartily
wished that she would so use her credit with the king, that
he might pass that act concerning the bishops, which he

I— ao. />«ss <Ae &7Z against the bishops. (1642.) 95
said Would lay such an obligation upon both houses, as
would redound to her majesty's advantage. The queen
was so terrified with the apprehension of her being hin
dered from pursuing her purpose, that she gave not over
her importunity with the king, till she had prevailed with
him ; and so that bill for removing the bishops out of the
house of peers passed by commission, when both their
majesties were upon their way, and in their journey to
Dover.
20 Nothing that is here said must reflect upon the memory
of sir John Colepepper, as if he were corrupted in his
affections to the church, or gave this advice to gratify
and please other men, or for any particular advantage to
himself, in all which he was very innocent. It is said
before, that in his judgment he looked upon the thing as
what might be conscientiously consented to ; and then
his real apprehension of danger and mischief to the king
(to whom he bore all possible fidelity) by refusing it, so
far wrought upon his warm constitution, that he did
really believe it to be his duty to be solicitous to the
vehement degree he was. But he quickly found he had
been deceived, at least in the imagination that the con
senting to that one bill would at all allay their passion.
They were, on the contrary, so far from being pleased
with it, that they immediately betook themselves to
inquire, " who the evil counsellors were, who dissuaded
his majesty from consenting to the other concerning the
militia;" which was so necessary to all their purposes:
and forthwith sent some of their messengers to the king,
whilst he stayed at Dover, to complain of such evil coun
sel, and to use all importunity that he would pass it as a
matter of absolute necessity for the peace and security of
the kingdom, and for the carrying on the service for sup
pressing the rebellion in Ireland ; with many new expres
sions "of the presumption of those malignant persons
who gave his majesty such advice," and with boldness

96 Effect of passing the bill II. 21 
enough, that the king should prefer such advice before
the wisdom of the parliament.
!I They who hated the bishops most, and were glad that
they were rid of the opposition they gave them in all
their demands, seemed not at all contented ; but enlarged
exceedingly upon the mischief in not granting the militia.
And no doubt there were many the less pleased with the
passing the other, in doubt, that they should thereby lose
the assistance of very many towards the utter extirpation
of episcopacy, and the disposal of all church lands, upon
which their hearts were set; and who would with the
more choler have concurred with them, if that bill, as
well as the other, had been rejected ; and therefore they
rather wished they had the other, which they knew would
bring all their ends to pass. They who loved the church,
and were afraid of so great an alteration in the frame and
constitution of parliament, as the utter taking away of
one of the three estates, of which the parliament is com
pounded, were infinitely provoked ; and lamented the
passing that act, as an introduction to the entire destruc
tion of the government of the church, and to the alteration
of the religion of the kingdom : and very many, who
more considered the policy than the justice and piety of
the state, did ever after believe, that by being removed
out of the parliament, the preserving them in the king
dom was not worth any notable contention. Then they
looked upon the king's condescension in this particular,
in a subject that all men knew had a wonderful influence
upon his conscience, as he often took occasion to profess,
as a manifestation that he would not be constant in re
taining and denying any thing that should be impetuously
and fiercely demanded ; which, as it exceedingly confirmed
those who were engaged in that party, so it abated the
courage of too many who had always opposed them, and
heartily detested their proceedings ; and made them more
remiss in their attendance at the house, and less solicitous

-23. against the bishops. (1642.) 97
for any thing that was done there ; who by degrees first
became a neutral party, believing they should be safe in
angering nobody: and when they afterwards found no
security in that indifferency, they adhered to those who
they saw had the best success ; and so went sharers with
them in their future attempts, according to their several
tempers and inclinations.
22 The benefit that would redound to the king from not
passing the other bill of the militia, more than avoiding
the infamy of consenting to it, was not evident to dis
cerning men ; for they foresaw, that they would quickly,
wrest it out of his hands without his consent ; and that
the reputation of the parliament was so great, that what
soever the two houses (which the people looked upon as
the parliament) should concur in, and enjoin to be done,
the people would look upon as law, and observe it ac
cordingly: so that when, by the removal of so many
voices out of the house of peers as the bishops made, who
were always firm to the crown and government, the house
of commons found a concurrence from the lords in all
they proposed, their joint determination would find obedi
ence, for the most part, from the people ; whom there
were all endeavours used to corrupt and possess, by
presently printing, and causing to be read in churches, all
their messages and petitions to the king ; that they might
see all their concernments were for the good of the king
dom, and preservation of the people.
23 When the king accompanied the queen to Dover, where
they expected a wind many days, he sent the prince,
under his new governor, the marquis of Hertford, to
Richmond ; that there might be no room for the jealousy
that the prince should be transported beyond the seas ;
"which had been infused into the minds of many ; and
would have made a great noise, if he had waited upon his
mother to Dover: but as soon as the wind appeared
hopeful for her majesty's embarkation, the king sent an
CLARENDON LUTE, VOL. I. H

98 Mr. Hyde is sent by the parliament with a message II. 23-
express to Richmond, that the prince should attend his
majesty at Greenwich the Saturday following : the mar
quis being at that time very much indisposed by a der
fluxion upon his eyes, and a catarrh. The parliament,
being presently informed, as they had spies in all places,
of this direction, and there being yet no certainty of the
queen's being embarked, was much troubled ; and resolved
to send to his majesty, by members of both houses, to
desire that the prince might not remove from Richmond,
at least till the marquis recovered health enough to be
able to attend him ; and at the same time sent an express
order to the marquis, that he should not suffer the prince
to go from thence, till he himself should be able to go
with him.
24 They appointed one lord and two commoners to carry
the message to the king, whom they believed to be still
at Dover ; and Mr. Hyde coming accidentally into the
house, when the matter was in debate, they appointed
him to be one of the messengers ; which no excuses could
free him from, for they did not intend it as a favour to
him ; so that they were obliged presently to begin their
journey ; and that night they went to Gravesend. The
next day they were fully informed of the queen's being
gone to sea, and that the king would be that night at
Canterbury ; whither the messengers made what haste
they could, and found his majesty there, with a very little
court, most of his servants having leave to go before to
London, the better to provide themselves for a further
journey. When they read their message to the king, in
the hearing whereof he shewed no satisfaction, he ap-
pointed them to attend him after he had supped, and they
should receive their answer : and accordingly, about nine
of the clock, he caused it to be read, and delivered it to
them ; taking no notice of Mr. Hyde, as if he had been
known to him. That messenger, who was a member of
the house of peers, received it from his majesty, as of

-%6. to the king at Greenwich. (1642.) 99
right he ought to do, that it might be first reported to
that house.
25 Mr. Hyde was very much troubled when he heard the
answer read ; for it had much sharpness in it, which at
that time could only provoke them : so without taking
any notice of it to his companions, he pretended to them
only to be very weary, and desirous to go to bed, and
bade them good night ; having the conveniency offered
him by the lord Grandison (his familiar friend) to lodge
with him in a house next the court : and so the other
two messengers making haste to find some lodging in an
inn, he sent the lord Grandison to the duke of Richmond,
to desire the king that he might speak with him before
he went into his bed. The king was half undressed, yet
said he would stay for him, and bade that he should make
haste to the back stairs ; and as soon as he came thither,
the duke went in to the king, who immediately came out
in his nightdress ; and the duke having before sent all
other servants from thence, retired likewise himself.
26 He told the king, that " he was sorry that his majesty
had expressed so much displeasure in his answer ; which
could produce no good, and might do hurt ; and therefore
he desired he would call for it, and alter some expresr
sions;" which his majesty was not inclined to do; en
larging himself with much sharpness upon the insolence
of the message, and of the order they had sent to the
marquis of Hertford ; and seemed to apprehend that the
prince would not be suffered to attend him at Greenwich ;
the thought whereof had caused that warmth in him. It
was now Friday night, and his majesty resolved the next
night to be at Greenwich, and to stay there all Sunday ;
and then to pursue his former resolutions : upon which,
Mr. Hyde told him, " that he hoped the prince would be
at Greenwich as soon as he, and then that point would be
cleared ; that they could not report his message to the
parliament- till Monday morning ; and that they might
H 2

100 The king's discourse to Mr. Hyde H. 26 
well attend upon his majesty again on Sunday, and receive
his pleasure ; and at that time the lord Falkland and sir
John Colepepper would be likewise present ; when his
majesty might take what resolution he pleased in that
matter ; and therefore he besought his majesty that he
would presently send a servant to the other two messen
gers, at such an inn, for the answer he had delivered to
them, of which he would further consider when he came
to Greenwich ; where he commanded them to attend him
on Sunday, and that he would despatch them soon
enough for them to be at London that night." All
which his majesty was pleased to consent to, and imme
diately sent a gentleman to them for the paper, with that
injunction ; and then sent it by the lord Grandison the
same night to Mr. Hyde, whom he had commanded to
attend him on Sunday morning, saying he had very much
to say to him.
27 When his majesty came to Greenwich, he found the
prince there with his governor, who, though indisposed in
his health, without returning any answer to the parlia
ment, brought the prince very early from Richmond to
Greenwich ; with which the king was very much pleased,
and in very good humour. And the next morning, when
Mr. Hyde came to court, (to whom his companions had
told that the king had sent for his answer to them again,
and appointed them to attend him for it at Greenwich
that afternoon ; which they had agreed together to do,)
the king being come into the privy chamber, and seeing
him there, asked him aloud, where the others who came
in the message with him were ; and said, he would expect
them in the afternoon ; and so discoursing somewhat of
the weather, that all men heard, he came near him, and,
as it were passing by, (which nobody took notice of, the
room not being full,) he bade him dine with Porter, at
the back stairs, that he might be in the privy chamber
when he rose from dinner ; and after he had dined he

¦28. at Greenwich. (1642.) 101
found him there; and at that hour most people looking
after their own dinner, his majesty did, without any body's
taking notice of it, bid him follow him into the privy
gallery ; where he was no sooner entered, than the king
locked the door with his own key, saying, " We will not
now be disturbed, for there is no man in the house now
who hath a key to this door." Then he said, " I will say
nothing of the answer, for I am sure Falkland and Cole
pepper will be here anon ; and then prepare one, and I
will not differ with you ; for now I have gotten Charles,
I care not what answer I send to them."
28 Then he spake of many particulars of the parliament
with warmth enough ; and lamented his having consented
to the bill concerning the bishops, which he said he was
prevailed upon to do for his wife's security; but he should
now be without any fear to displease them. He said, he
would lay the next night at Theobalds ; where he would
stay a day or two, that his servants might provide them
selves to attend him northward : that he should not see
him any more before he took that journey, and therefore
he required him upon all occasions to write to him, and
advertise him of such matters as were fit for him to know;
and to prepare and send him answers to such declarations
or messages as the parliament should send to him. He
said, he knew well the danger he underwent, if it were
discovered ; but his majesty assured him, and bade him be
confident of it, that no person alive, but himself and his
two friends, should know that he corresponded with his
majesty; and that he would himself transcribe every
paper in his own hand before he would shew it to any
man, and before his secretary should write it out. Mr.
Hyde told him, that he writ a very ill hand, which would
give his majesty too much trouble to transcribe himself;
and that he had so much friendship with secretary Nicho
las, that he was well contented he should be trusted : to<
which the king said, Nicholas was a very honest man, and

102 Mr. Hyde draws up the J1, 28-
he would trust him in any thing that concerned himself;
but in this particular, which would be so penal to the
other, if it should be known, it was not necessary ; for he-
would quickly learn to read the hand, if it were writ at
first with a little the more care ; and nobody should see it
but himself. And his majesty continued so firm to this
resolution, that though the declarations from the houses
shortly after grew so voluminous, that the answers fre
quently contained five or six sheets of paper very closely
writ, his majesty always transcribed them with his own
hand ; which sometimes took him up two or three days,
and a good part of the night, before he produced them to ,
the council, where they were first read ; and then he
burned the originals. And he gave himself no ease in
this particular, till Mr. Hyde left the parliament, and by
his majesty's command attended upon him at York :
which will be mentioned in its time.
29 Whilst the king held this discourse with him in the
privy gallery, many of the lords were come from Londoft:
and not finding him, the earls of Essex and Holland,- who
by their offices had keys to the gallery, opened that door,
and went in ; and seeing nobody there, walked to the
further end ; where in a turning walk the king and Mr.
Hyde were: and though they presently drew back, the
king himself, as well as Mr. Hyde, was a little discom
posed ; and said, " I am very sorry for this accident ; I
meant to have said somewhat to you of those gentlemen,
but we must not stay longer together : forget not what I
have said ; and send me presently the answer for your
message, and then attend with your companions in the
privy chamber, and I will come out and deliver it to
them:" and so he withdrew; the two earls smiling, and
saluting Mr. Hyde civilly. He quickly found the lord
Falkland and Colepepper, and they as quickly agreed
upon the answer, which the lord Falkland carried to' the
king : and his majesty approving and signing it, he came

-J1* king's answer to the parliament. (1642.) 103
out and delivered it, after he had caused it to be read, to
the messengers who attended to receive it ; and who went
that night to London ; and the next morning, at the first
sitting of the houses, reported and delivered it.
30 It was expected and believed, that as soon as the queen
was gone for Holland, the king would return to White
hall, and reside there. And many wise men were of
opinion, that if he had done so, he would have been
treated with more duty and respect ; and that he would
be able to bring his business to a fair end by very mode
rate condescensions ; for the universal prejudice and
aversion was to the queen, how unjustly and unreasonably
soever ; and to the king only as it was generally believed,
that he governed himself entirely by her dictates : and
many of those, whose countenance had most supported
the violent party, by their concurrence with them, were
grown weary of those excesses ; and as they had been
seduced, and craftily drawn further than they meant to
have gone, so they plainly discerned that there would be
further attempts made than Were agreeable to their wishes
or their interests, and therefore resolved to second them
no further.
31 The earl of Essex himself was in his nature an honest
man, and a man of honour ; and though he did not think
the king had any gracious purposes towards him, or great
confidence in him, yet he was willing to retire from that
angry company ; and did neither desire the dignity of the
king should be affronted, or the government receive an
alteration or diminution ; and did hope nothing more
than to make himself the instrument to reconcile the
parliament to the king, by some moderate and plausible
expedient. But it was no sooner known in the houses
that his majesty was gone to Theobalds, and had taken
the prince with him, with a purpose of making a progress
further northward, but they fell into all their usual heat

104 Mr. Hyde's advice to the king II. 3 1-
and debate, of their just causes of jealousy and distrust,
and the wickedness of those persons who misled him ;
and the next morning, being well informed that the king
stayed all day at Theobalds, they resolved to send a com
mittee of four lords and eight commoners to him, to put
him in mind of his violating their privileges, for which
they had yet no reparation or satisfaction ; his refusal to
settle the militia, whereby he left his kingdom and people
exposed to the violence of a foreign enemy or a domestic
insurrection ; the great jealousies and fears which pos
sessed the minds of all his subjects, which would be now
exceedingly increased by his removal in this conjuncture
from his parliament ; and thereupon concluded, that he
would return to London, or reside at such a distance that
they might easily repair to him.
32 When the persons designed for the message withdrew
to prepare themselves for their journey, the message
being read and agreed upon, Mr. Hyde went likewise out
of the house; and that the king might not be surprised
with the sight of the message before he heard of it, he
sent instantly to the lord Grandison (in whom he had
entire confidence) to speak with him ; and desired him
to cause his horse to be made ready, that he might with
all possible expedition carry a letter to the king, which
he would prepare by the time he could be ready for the
journey. He writ to the king, that such persons would
be presently with him, and the substance of the message
they would bring to him ; which in respect of the length
of it, and of many particulars in it, would require some
time to answer, which he should receive soon enough ;
and for the present, he might upon the delivery make
some short resentment of the houses' proceeding with
him; and conclude, that he would send an answer to
their message in due time. The lord Grandison came to
Theobalds when the king had newly dined, so that he

44- upon a message from the two houses. (1642.) 105
Was alone in his bedchamber ; and as soon as he had de
livered the letter, he returned to London, and met the
messengers within a mile or two of Theobalds.
33 As soon as they had delivered their message, which
one of them read, the king, with a displeased counte
nance, and in a warmer and more sprightly tone than
was natural to him, told them, " that he was amazed at
their message, and could not conceive what they would
have, nor what they meant to do : that they made a great
noise with their privileges, but forgot that he had privi
leges too, which they made no conscience to violate :
that they talked of their fears and jealousies, for which
they had not the least ground ; but if they would well
consider, they would find that they gave him cause
enough for jealousy :" and concluded, " that he would
think of their message, and send an answer to the houses
in convenient time :" without saying any thing of his
journey, when or whither he meant to go ; nor held any
further discourse with them. The manner and the mat
ter of the king's short discourse to them wonderfully
surprised the messengers, who were all persons of the
best quality in both houses, the earl of Pembroke being
the chief, and some of them were of known affections to
his majesty's service; who were wonderfully delighted
with the king's quick and sharp treatment, with which
the rest were as much troubled : and so they all returned
the same night to London.
34 The king resolved to pursue the course agreed upon
, with the queen at her departure, and would no more
I resume the consideration of staying nearer the parlia
ment ; very reasonably apprehending that he should ren
der himself liable every day to new affronts. And the
practice both houses had gotten, to send for persons by a
sergeant at arms upon any suggestions of light discourse,
or upon general and ungrounded suspicions, by which
they were compelled to give long attendance, if they were

106 Report of 'the kinfs answer II. 34-
not committed to prison, had so terrified all conditions of
men, that very few resorted to the court. And they who
did most diligently seem to attend their duty there, did
in truth perform that service, that they might with the
more ease betray their master, and gratify those who they
thought would at last bring themselves into those places
and offices upon which they were to depend. So that
he thought it most absolutely necessary to be at such a
distance from Westminster, that people might be less
apprehensive of their power : resolving likewise, that no
person who attended him, or resorted to the place where
he was, should yield any obedience to their summons
upon those general suggestions, or any applications they
should make to his majesty. And though it might have
met with better success, if he had taken the contrary
resolution, and stayed in or near Whitehall ; yet the
hazards or inconveniences which might very probably
have attended that counsel, were too much in view for
wise men to engage positively in the advice. Besides,
the concert that had been made with the queen shut out
all opposite consultations : and the king with a small
court, after two days stay at Theobalds, began his pro
gress towards Newmarket ; and sometimes resting a day
in a place, he advanced by easy journeys northward.
35 He took the prince with him, the marquis likewise
attending him ; but left the duke of York still at Rich
mond, till he came to York : and then likewise he sent
for his highness, who came thither to him: and the
morning he left Theobalds he sent his answer to the two
houses to their message they had sent to him thither.
36 When the messengers who had presented the message
to the king at Theobalds made their report to the houses
Of their reception there, and of what his majesty had said
to them, in Which they helped and assisted each other, so
that there was not only every word he said related, but
his manner of speaking and his looks described, which

to the message sent to him at Theobald's. (1642.) 107
gave them infinite trouble, and much the more, because
they saw joy and delight in the countenance of all those
who they knew were not their friends, and a kind of
dejection in many who used to concur with them ; on the
same day, or the next, they received an answer from his
majesty to their last message, which took notice of every
particular in it ; answered all the reproaches they had
cast upon him, and tile unwarrantable manner in doing
it ; enlarged upon the large concessions he had granted
upon their desires; and that all which the people could
desire for their benefit and advantage was provided for by
his grace^ and that it would be acknowledged by them, if
they had not fears and jealousies infused into their heads
by them. He put them in mind of many indignities
offered to him in the pulpits by seditious sermons, and by
the press in publishing and printing those sermons, and
many other scandalous pamphlets, and that all this found
no discountenance from them. He said, he would deny
nothing to them which by law they could require, and
that the preservation of his own prerogative was neces
sary, that his subjects might enjoy the benefit of those
laws ; and after some sharp reflections upon some unduti-
ful actions of theirs, and some unusual expressions in the
addresses they had made to him, he concluded that, since
they had appealed to the people, by printing all their
unwarrantable votes and other proceedings, which they
had no lawful authority to publish in that manner, his
majesty was well contented that the people should judge
between them, and diseern who was most tender of their
happiness, and most desired that it might be continued to
them ; and so ordered that his answer should be printed,
as their message had been.
37 This new spirit in the king's actions, and steadiness in
his proceedings, and his new dialect in his words and
answers to them, so contrary to the softness they ex
pected, infinitely discomposed them, and raised the spirits

108 Gourny, the lord mayor, is disgusted II. 3 . 3
of others, who had sunk under their insolence. In the
house of peers they found more opposition than of late
they had done, and many in the house of commons re
covered new mettle. Alderman Gourny, who was lord
mayor of London, was a man of courage and discretion,
very well affected to the king, and to the government in
church and state, and perfectly abhorred the proceedings
of the parliament ; gave not that obedience to the orders
they expected; did all he could to discountenance and
suppress the riotous assemblies in the city, and especially
the insolencies committed in churches ; and expressly
refused to call common-halls, and sometimes common-
councils, when the house of commons desired it, which
was the only way they had to scatter their fire about the
city ; and the refractoriness of this lord mayor discouraged
them much by making it evident, that it was only the
rabble and inferior sort of the city which was in truth
devoted to them. But they were now gone too far to
retire with their honour, or indeed with their safety ; and
they easily discerned, that if their spirits seemed to sink,
their friends would leave them as fast as they had resorted
to them ; and if they now appeared more moderate in
their demands from the king, they should but censure
and condemn their own former fervour and importunity,
and therefore they made all haste to make it appear that
they had no such temper and inclination. They made
committees to prepare new messages to the king, and to
prepare new declarations ; and sent their agents into the
country to stir up the people in those counties and places
through which the king was to pass ; so that, wherever
he made any stay, he was sure to be encountered with a
petition from the county, that is, in the name of it, or of
some eminent town in it where he lodged, that he would
return to his parliament ; but at the very time appeared
to be the work of a few factious people, by the repair of
the best persons of quality and interest to his majesty

37. with the proceedings of parliament. (1642.) 109
with all professions of affections and duty to him. They
declared more hardiness and resolution than before for
the settling the militia of the kingdom ; and since the
king had refused to consent to the bill they had sent to
him, they appointed a committee to prepare an ordinance
for the government and settling of it, which, being passed
both houses, they voted had in it the authority of a law,
and that all persons were bound to obey it. They had
before the king's leaving Windsor, or about that time,
sent to the king, that in regard of the sickness and indis
position of the earl of Northumberland, the high admiral
of England, so that he could not be able in person to
command the fleets which his majesty had ordered to be
ready for the guard of the seas, they desired that the earl
of Warwick might, with his majesty's approbation, have
a commission to execute that charge, (the earl of North
umberland having refused to grant any such commission
without the king's consent,) which they said would much
compose the minds of the people, in a conjuncture of so
much jealousy ; and the king answered them,-that in the
absence of the admiral, sir John Pennington, a person of
good experience in command, well known, and of a fair
reputation, had used to have that command, which his
majesty resolved he should execute that year. They now
resolved that the earl of Warwick should be admiral of
that fleet, by an ordinance of both houses, which the earl
accepted, and undertook the charge accordingly; the
admiral having put in some officers and commanders of
ships who would be forward to obey all his commands ;
and the king unhappily restraining some who had good
interest in the navy from taking command then, though
he permitted some others to go, who had less credit and
reputation to serve him, though they were not without
good affections. The king in his journey sent an answer
from Huntingdon to some propositions they had sent to
him, which contained not only a positive refusal of what

110 A design of sending H- 37"
they had desired, but making some sharp reflections upon
somewhat they had said or done, put them into wonderful
passion. They would not believe that it came from the
king, but that it was forged in the town, for that it took
notice of what had been done the night before, which
could not be communicated to the king before the date
of that despatch ; and therefore they would make inquiry
how it came to the speaker, to whom it had been der
livered under the king's signet. The lord Falkland own
ing the having received it that morning from the king,
and that he sent it by a messenger to the speaker, and
putting them in mind that the matter they reflected upon
as done the night before, had likewise been done three or
four days before that, which, being manifest, they supr
pressed their choler as to the forgery, and took revenge
upon the message itself, and voted, " that whosoever had
advised the king to send that message, was a disaffected
person, an enemy to the peace of the kingdom, and a
promoter of the rebellion in Ireland ;" which was a new
style they took up upon that occasion, and continued
afterwards in their most angry votes, to make those they
liked not odious, and to make their punishment to pass
with the more ease when they should be discovered.
And now they tried all ways imaginable to find what new
counsellors and secretary the king had found, who sup
plied him with so much resolution and bitterness ; and
though they made no doubt of the two new counsellors'
concurrence in all, yet they did not impute the framing
and forming the writing itself to either of them.
38 They had long detested and suspected Mr. Hyde, from
the time of their first remonstrance, for framing the king's
messages and answers, which they now every day received,
to their intolerable vexation ; yet knew not how to accuse
him. But now that the earls of Essex and Holland had
discovered his being shut up with the king at Greenwich,
and the marquis of Hamilton had once before found him

-39- Mr. Hyde to the Tower. (1642.) Ill
very early in private with the king at Windsor, at a time
when the king thought all passages had been stopped;
together with his being of late more absent from the
house than he had used to be ; and the resort of the other
two every night to his lodging, as is mentioned before,
satisfied them that he was the person ; and they resolved
to disenable him to manage that office long. Sir John
-Colepepper had as many eyes upon them as they had upon
the other, and an equal animosity against them ; and had
familiarity and friendship with some persons, who from
the second or third hand came to know many of the
greatest designs before they were brought upon the stage.
For though they managed those councils with the greatest
secrecy, and by few persons, which amounted to no more
than pure designs in speculation ; yet when any thing was
to be transacted in public by the house, they were obliged,
not only to prepare those of whom they were themselves
confident, but to allow those confidents to communicate it
to others in whom they confided : and so men, who did
not concur with them, came to know sometimes their
intentions time enough to prevent the success they pro
posed to themselves.
39 And by this means, sir John Colepepper, meeting at
night with the lord Falkland and Mr. Hyde, assured
them, that it had been resolved that day to have seized
upon all three, and sent them to the Tower : of which he
having received notice as he was going to the house, re
turned to his lodging, not being able to give the same
information to the other two ; but that his own being
absent prevented the mischief. For he knew it was re
solved the night before, that, when the three were to
gether in the house, somebody should move the house,
" that they would apply themselves to make some strict
inquiry after the persons who were most like to give the
king the evil counsel he had lately followed, and who
prepared those answers and messages they received from

112 Arbitrary conduct of the parliament. H-39 —
his majesty:" upon which, by one and another, those
three persons should be named, and particular reasons
given for their suspicion; and that they did not doubt,
but, if their friends were well prepared beforehand, they
should be able to cause them to be all sent to the Tower ;
and then they doubted not they should be able to keep
them there. But it was then likewise agreed, that they
would not make the attempt but at a time when they
were all three in the house ; upon hearing whereof, and
finding that they two were there, he went back to his
lodging ; knowing that thereupon there would be nothing
done.
40 Upon this communication, though they were all of
opinion that the design was so extravagant, and exceed
ing all the rules of common justice, that they would not
be able to procure the consent of the major part of the
house in it, if there were any considerable number pre-
, sent ; yet because very many usually absented themselves,
and they were not governed by any rules which had been
formerly observed, they thought fit to resolve, that one of
them would be always present in the house, that they
might know all that was done ; but that they would
never be there all together, and seldom two of them ;
and when they were, they would only hear, and speak no
more than was of absolute necessity. For it was now
grown a very difficult thing for a man who was in their
disfavour to speak against what they proposed, but that
they would find some exception to some word or expres
sion ; upon which, after he had been called upon to ex
plain, he was obliged to withdraw; and then they had
commonly a major part to send him to the Tower, or to
expel him the house ; or at least oblige him to receive a
reprehension at the bar upon his knees. And so they
had used sir Ralph Hopton at that time ; who excepting
to some expression that was used in a declaration pre
pared by a committee, and presented to the house, which

-42. The king at York sends for Mr. Hyde. (1642.) 113
he said was dishonourable to the king, they said, it was a
tax upon the committee; caused him to withdraw, and
committed him to the Tower ; which terrified many from
speaking at all, and caused more to absent themselves
from the house ; where too small numbers appeared any
day. These three gentlemen kept the resolution agreed
upon, till they all found it necessary to forbear any fur
ther attendance upon the house.
41 About the end of ^April, which was in the year 1642,
Mr. Hyde received a letter from the king, wherein he
required him, that, as soon as he could be spared from
his business there, he should repair to his majesty at
York, where he had occasion for his service : which when
he had communicated to his two friends, they were all of
opinion that it was necessary he should defer that journey
for some time ; there being every day great occasion of
consulting together, and of sending despatches to the
-'king. And it was a wonderful expedition that was then
used between York and London, when gentlemen under
took the service, as enough were willing to do : insomuch,
as when they despatched a letter on Saturday night, at
that time of the year, about twelve at night, they received
always the king's answer, Monday by ten of the clock in
^-the morning. His majesty was content that he should
stay as long as the necessity required { but that as soon
as he might be dispensed with, he would expect him.
And it was very happy that he did stay ; for there was
an occasion then fell out, in which his presence was very
useful, and it was agreed between the three, that it was
now time that he should be gone (the king having sent for
him some time before) after a day or two ; in which time
the declaration of the nineteenth of May would be passed,
which being very long, he might carry with him, and prepare
the answer upon the way, or after he came to York.
42 It was upon a Wednesday that he resolved to begin
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. I

114 Mr. Hyde is advised at once to II. 42-
his journey, having told the speaker, that it was very ne
cessary, by the advice of his physician, that he should
take the air of the country for his health ; and his phy
sician certified the same ; which caution was necessary :
for he had a week or two before made a journey into the
country to his own house, and his absence being taken
notice of, a messenger was immediately sent to him, to
require him immediately to attend the house ; upon
which he found it necessary to return without delay ; and
was willing to prevent the like sudden inquiry, and so pre
pared the speaker to answer for him. He resolved with
the lord Falkland to stay at a friend's house near Oxford,
and little out of the road he meant to take for York, till
he should hear of the keeper's motion, of which he pro
mised to give him timely notice ; not giving in the mean
time any credit to his purpose of moving; but he was
quickly convinced.
43 Much notice had been taken of Mr. Hyde's frequent
resort to him, and of his being often shut up with him ;
and when he took his leave of him, the night before he
left the town, the keeper was walking in his garden with
Mr. Hollis and Mr. Glyn, who had, as they said, then
observed, that as soon as the keeper's eyes were upon
him, at his entrance into the garden, he had shewn some
impatience to be free from them ; and when they were
gone, others took notice, (for there were many in the
garden,) as they pretended, that, after they had walked
some time together, they took their leave of each other
in another manner than was usual ; and which was not
true. But he had not so good a name, as that any thing of
that kind would not easily gain belief: so that Dr. Morley,
(who is since bishop of Winchester,) being in Westmin
ster hall on the Monday morning, when the news came of
the lord keeper's flight, a person of great authority in
the parliament met him, and, with great passion inveigh-

— 44- prosecute his journey to York. (1642.) 115
ing against the keeper, told him, that they knew well
enough that his friend Mr. Hyde had contrived that mis
chief, and brought it to pass ; for which he would be that
morning, or the next, accused of high treason ; which the
doctor (who was ever very much his friend) hearing, went
presently to the lord Falkland, and told him of it, and
desired to know where he was, that he might give him
timely notice of it ; knowing a gentleman, a very near
friend of his, who would immediately ride to him. The
lord Falkland was then writing to him, to inform him of
the keeper's having made good his word, of which he had
but then notice, and to advise him to prosecute his north
ern journey with all expedition ; and desired the doctor,
that he would send for the gentleman, whom he would
presently direct where he should find Mr. Hyde ; who
did make so good haste, that he delivered the lord Falk
land's letter to him early the same night.
44 He was then at Ditchley with the lady Lee, (since
countess of Rochester,) and the person who brought the
advertisement to him was John Ayliffe, whom he dearly
loved. He no sooner received the advertisement, but
he thought it time for him to be gone ; and as he was
utterly unacquainted with the way, having never been
in the northern parts, and apprehended that there would
be care taken to intercept him, if he went in any com
mon road ; there was with him at that time Mr. Chil
lingworth, whose company he had desired from Oxford,
purposely for that occasion ; and who was well acquainted
with those ways which led almost as far as Yorkshire.
They sent their horses that night to a village near Co
ventry, where Mr. Chillingworth's brother had a farm ;
and then in the morning they put themselves into the
lady's coach ; which, with six horses, carried them to that
village, thirty miles from Ditchley; where, after they
had a little refreshed themselves, they took their horses ;
and that night, out of all roads, reached Lutterworth, a
1 2

116 Mr. Hyde rests at Nostall. II.
village in Leicestershire ; where Mr. Chillingworth had
likewise a friend, who was parson of the parish, who re
ceived them kindly. And so by unusual ways they got
through Derbyshire, until they came to Yorkshire ; and
then rested at Nostall, the house of sir John Worsten-
holme ; who, though he and his family were at London,
had given order for his very good reception ; it having
been before resolved, with his majesty's consent, that he
should stay in some private place near York, till his
majesty was informed of it, and till his affairs absolutely
required his presence there ; there being many reasons
that he should be concealed in those parts as long as
might be convenient. Nostall was within twenty miles
of York ; and from thence he gave his majesty notice of
his being there, and sent him the answer that was pre
pared to the declaration of the two houses. And the
king the next day sent Mr. Ashburnham to him, with the
declaration of the twenty-sixth of May, and which was
the highest they had yet published ; and to which he
wished an answer should be prepared as soon as possible
it might be, that the poison thereof might not work too
long upon the minds of the people.
45 By this time many persons of quality from the several
quarters of the kingdom repaired to the king, and many
gentlemen listed themselves with those of the country in
the prince's troop, and usually attended upon his majesty
when he rode abroad to take the air ; and it was not
possible but in such a number of men of all humours,
many would discourse with freedom of the times, aud of
the proceedings of the parliament, according to their
tempers and passions ; and there were spies enough to
give quick advertisement to London of all that was said
or done. Whereupon the houses sent messengers to
apprehend some gentlemen, against whom they had re
ceived information of words spoken by them, which
trenched upon them and their actions, and to bring them

-45- Many persons repair to York. (1642.) 117
before them ; who appeared with the same confidence,
even in the king's presence, as they could have done at
Westminster, and shewed their warrants to the persons
concerned, and required their submission ; of which his
majesty being informed, he forbade the gentlemen to
yield any obedience to those summons, and sent for the
messengers, and commanded them to depart the town,
and to appear no more there on those errands at their
utmost perils. The news of this protection, which his
majesty knew well if he did not give, he should be
quickly stripped of all his attendants, and that nobody
should remain about him, but such who would betray
him, was no sooner known, but persons of all conditions
and from all places flocked to York, and many members
of both houses of parliament left their attendance at
Westminster, and repaired to his majesty, it being in
truth not safe to continue longer there, they having now
made their general, and solemnly engaged themselves to
live and die with the earl of Essex ; and shortly after sir
Sydney Mountague was expelled the house of commons
for refusing to take that engagement, and giving his
reason, because, he said, he had a proclamation in his
pocket by which the king had proclaimed the earl of
Essex a traitor, and produced the proclamation, for which
he was so treated as aforesaid. In the house of commons
the members had publicly declared, and made subscrip
tions what horse and arms they would contribute or
bring in to serve under the earl of Essex. It is true,
though all the members were called upon by name to
declare themselves, there was not yet any man punished
for refusing ; the case of sir Sydney Mountague fell out
afterwards ; and Harry Killigrew, of Cornwall, (a gallant
gentleman, and generally known,) being asked in the
house what he would subscribe, stood up and answered,
that he would provide a good horse, and a good sword,
and a good buff coat, and then he would find a good

J

1 18 The parliament sends spies to York, II. 45 
cause ; which, for that time, only raised laughter, though
they knew well what cause he thought good, which he
had never dissembled. However men easily discerned,
that in a short time there could very few remain there,
but of one party ; and so very many repaired into their
countries, there to expect what would follow ; and very
many resorted to the king, to offer him their service, and
to receive his commands. Upon the return of the
messengers to London, who were forbade by his majesty
to come any more thither, after he forbade the gentlemen
who had been sent for to obey the summons, the houses
had a new reproach to cast upon the king, that he pro
tected delinquents from justice ; upon which they made
new votes and declarations ; and that the spirits of their
friends in those parts might not sink, they sent a com
mittee of both houses to deliver one of their usual mes
sages to his majesty, and ordered them to reside at York,
or wheresoever his majesty should be, for the more con
venient representing their desires and propositions, which
would otherwise require particular messengers every
[time] ; whereas that committee, residing still there,
would receive his majesty's answers upon all occasions,
and transmit them to the parliament.
46 The king well knew that the persons were chosen to
be spies upon him, and to raise factions in the country
against him ; yet thought it not yet time to break off all
correspondence with the parliament, and so to dismiss
that committee. That committee consisted of the lord
Edward Howard, who hath been mentioned before so
fully that there needs no enlargement upon him in this
place ; the lord Fairfax, sir Hugh Cholmondely, and sir
John Stapleton ; the three last being gentlemen of that
county ; who, in a short time, had so great an influence
upon that people, that they made it appear to the king
that he was not so entirely possessed of the hearts and
affections of that great county, as by the conflux of the

— 47- where Fairfax delivers a petition to the king. (1642.) 119
chief gentry to him he was willing to believe : for at a
general appearance of that country in a great field or
moor near York, his majesty riding thither to receive the
acclamations of the people, who, he was told, were ready
to receive any commands from him, sir Thomas Fairfax,
the son of the lord Fairfax, and the same man who was
afterwards general for the parliament, with some few
other gentlemen of less account, in the head of a great
number of substantial country people, presented the king
with a petition that he would return to his parliament,
and not violate their privileges by giving protection to
delinquents; taking notice that he had many papists who
attended about him, and had listed themselves in his
troops of guards, and some particulars of the like nature;
which petition, delivered confidently, in such a manner
and at such a time, much surprised the king ; and though
most of the persons of condition expressed a public dislike
and disapprobation of the petition, and the number of
the common people, who knew nothing of it, was much
superior to the other, which appeared many ways, and in
particular by the affronts which were given to many of
those who appeared with the petition ; yet it made a
great noise, and gave the parliament new courage, and
persuaded them that they had many friends in that
place, where it was believed that the king had most.
47 As soon as it was taken notice of in the parliament
that Mr. Hyde was absent, inquiry was made what was
become of him, and a motion made in the house, that he
might be sent for. The speaker said, that he had ac
quainted him with his going into the country to recover
his indisposition, which troubled him, by fresh air ; and
that Dr. Winston his physician was with him, and in
formed him that he was troubled with the stone ; and
that his having sat so much in the house in that very hot
weather had done him much harm, and therefore that he
had advised him to refresh himself in the country air ;

120 The king is dissatisfied with the lord keeper. II.
with which testimony they were for the present satisfied ;
though Mr. Peard said confidently, " that he was troubled
with no other stone than the stone in his heart, and
therefore he would have him sent for wherever he was ;
for he was most confident that he was doing them mis
chief wherever he was." But he prevailed not, till their
committee from York sent them word that he was come
thither, and almost always with the king. It is said
before, that he stayed at Nostall, at the house of sir John
Worstenholme, from whence he sent every day to the .
king, and received his majesty's commands ; and he in
tended to have stayed longer there, where he could better
intend and despatch any business he was to do ; and he
was willing for some time not to be seen at York, which
he knew would quickly be taken notice of at West
minster.
48 When he came first thither, he found that the king
was not satisfied with the lord keeper, which gave him
much trouble ; his majesty having sent him word, that he
did not like his humours, nor know what to make of him.
Mr. Elliot, who had brought the seal to the king, to mag
nify his own service, and not imagining that the keeper
intended to follow him, had told many stories ; as if the
keeper had refused to deliver the seal, and that he got it
by force, by having locked the door upon him, and threat
ened to kill him, if he would not give it to him, which,
upon such his manhood, he did for pure fear consent
unto. And this tale got so much credit with the king,
that he hardly disbelieved it when he came himself;
though it was in the nature of it very improbable, that a
single man, from another man as strong as himself, (who
was attended by many servants in the next room,) should
suffer the door to be shut upon him, and suffer that to be
extorted from him which he had no mind to part with ;
and suffer him to go out of his house, when there were
persons enough in every room to have laid hands upon

'49+9- The lord keepers timidity. (1642.) 121
him, and to have taken that again by force, which he had
ravished away. Besides that, his majesty knew he ex
pected to be sent for at that time; and that if he had
repented the promise he had made, and resolved not to
perform it, he could have found several ways to have
evaded it, and refused to have admitted Mr. Elliot to
speak with him : but the prejudice his majesty had before
contracted against him, and the great confidence Elliot
had in the relation, which was natural in him, had shut
out all those reflections. Yet when his majesty saw him,
he received him graciously ; and caused him to be lodged
in the court, in a room very near his majesty; which many
believed to be rather out of jealousy and care that he
should not again return, than out of respect to him ; his
majesty keeping still the seal himself, and not restoring it
to his custody ; which could not but make some impres
sion on him, and more on others, who from thence con
cluded that he would have no more to do with the seal ;
and carried themselves towards him accordingly.
49 The lords who were come from the house of peers, and
had been offended at his behaviour there, gave him little
respect now ; but rather gave credit to Mr. Elliot's rela
tion ; and were forward to make relation of his carriage in
the house to his disadvantage, to the king himself; so
that it was no wonder that the poor gentleman grew very
melancholic. And when he was sent for to attend the
king, (who was himself present when the great seal was
to be used, nor did ever suffer it to be used but in the
presence of the keeper, who signed all things, as he ought
to do by his office,) when any proclamation of treason, as
that against the earl of Essex, or against the proceedings
of the houses, as in the business of the militia, or the like,
was brought to be sealed, he used all delays ; and made
many exceptions, and found faults in matters of form, and
otherwise, sometimes very reasonably ; yet in such a man
ner as made it evident he retained many fears about him,

Mr. Hyde waits upon the king at York. II.
as if he was not without apprehension that he might fall
again into their hands ; which was the cause that the king
had said, that he knew not what to make of him.
50 Mr. Hyde, as soon as he heard this, wrote a letter to the
king, and put him in mind of all that had formerly passed
in that affair ; how absolutely the keeper had destroyed
himself in the account of the parliament, by paying that
obedience which he ought to do to his majesty's com
mands ; and that if he should be deprived of his majesty's
favour, he must be of all men the most miserable ; and
that himself should be most unfortunate, in having con
tributed so much to his ruin ; which would call his ma
jesty's good nature, and even his justice into question;
and therefore besought him to be gracious to him, and to
keep up his spirits with his countenance. However, he
made it his own humble suit to his majesty, that he would
not take any severe resolution against him, before he gave
him leave to kiss his hand, and to offer him some further
considerations. Upon the receipt of this letter, the king
sent him word, that he would gratify him in the last part
of his letter, and conclude nothing before he spake with
him : in the mean time he wished him to send the keeper
some good counsel ; and that as soon as he should have
despatched some business he had then upon his hands,
that he would come to York, where he would find much
to do ; and that he thought now there would be less rea
son every day for his being concealed. And within four
or five days after, his majesty sent Mr. Ashburnham to
him, to let him know, that he had every day so much
to do with the keeper, and found him so refractory and
obstinate, that he should not be able to keep the promise
he had made to him, if he did not make haste to York ;
and therefore bade him to be with him with all conveni
ence : whereupon, within two days after, for he had some
what to despatch that required haste, and sooner than he
intended, he waited upon his majesty at York.

—5-52. where he is graciously received. (1642.) 123
51 It was about a day or two after the appearance of the
people of the country, when sir Thomas Fairfax had de
livered the petition, mentioned before, that Mr, Hyde
came to York, and when he came to the court, being
about four of the clock in the afternoon, the king was at
council, upon the publishing his answer to the declaration
of the twenty-sixth of May ; which, though it contained
eight or nine sheets of paper, he brought to the board in
his own hand writing ; having kept the promise he had
made at Greenwich to that hour, in writing out all the
papers himself, which had been sent to him ; which had
been a wonderful task he had imposed on himself: so
that he always spent more than half the day shut up by
himself in his chamber, writing ; which was most of the
news the houses heard of him at London ; and which per
plexed them very much.
52 Mr. Hyde was in the gallery When the king came from
council ; and as soon as he saw him, he bade him welcome
to York very graciously ; and asked some questions aloud
of him, as if he thought he had then come from London ;
and then called him into the garden, where he walked
with him above an hour. He said at the beginning,
" that they needed not now be afraid of being seen to
gether ;" then used all the expressions of kindness to him
that can be imagined, of the service he had done him,
and of the great benefit he had received from it, even to
the turning the hearts of the whole nation towards him
again, and of his gracious resolutions of rewarding him
with the first opportunity ; and many expressions of that
kind, which the other received with the modesty and
reverence that became him. Then his majesty spake of
his business, and the temper of that country ; and quickly
entered upon finding fault with the keeper, and protested,
if it were not for his sake, he would turn him out of his
place that very hour ; and enlarged upon many particulars
of his obstinacy, and of his want of courage, to such a

124 Mr. Hyde reconciles the king II- 5* —
degree, as if he did really apprehend that the gentleman
usher of the black rod would come and take him out of
his chamber.
S3 Mr. Hyde told him, that he would discourage many
good men, who desired to serve him very faithfully, if he
were too severe for such faults, as the infirmities of their
nature and defects in their education exposed them to :
that if the keeper, from those impressions, had committed
some faults which might provoke his majesty's displeasure,
he had redeemed those errors by a signal service, which
might well wipe out the memory of the other. The king
said with some warmth, " that he was so far from another
opinion, that he would hate himself, if he did not believe
that he had made a full expiation ; and though he did
think that he had been wrought upon by him to perform
that part, yet he thought the merit of it far above any of
his transgressions ; and that he was disposed, from the
first minute of his coming to York, to have renewed his
old kindness to him, and confidence in him ; and would
willingly have given the seal again into his hands, if he
had found he had desired it ; but that he found no
serenity in his countenance, nor any inclination to do
what necessity required : and whereas the parliament
took advantage, that none of his majesty's acts, which he
had caused to be published, were authentic, nor ought to
be looked upon as his, because the great seal had not
been affixed to them, which could not be done whilst the
great seal was at Westminster ; now he had the seal by
him, and sent proclamations to be sealed, the keeper was
still as unwilling that they should pass, as if he was still
under their power ; which made him angry, and nothing
that he had done before."
54 Mr. Hyde replied, that " the poor gentleman could not
but think himself disobliged to the highest extremity, in
the presumption of Mr. Elliot ; and that his extravagant
and insolent discourses should find credit, without his

-5-55- ia ^ie Iwd keeper. (1642.) 125
majesty's reprehension and vindication, who knew the
falsehood of them." And so put his majesty in mind of
all that had passed; and of the other circumstances,
which made all the other's brags impossible to be true.
For his fears and apprehensions, he besought his majesty
to remember, that " he had newly escaped out of that
region where the thunder and lightning is made ; and
that he could hardly yet recover the fright he had been
often in, and seen so many others in ; and that his majesty
need not distrust him ; he had passed the Rubicon, and
had no hope but in his majesty." His majesty concluded,
that he should be sure to receive all necessary counten
ance and protection from him ; of which he bade him to
assure him, and presently to visit him ; which going to
do, he met him in the garden, and they there walked
together.
55 He found him full of apprehension that he should be
put out of his place, and of the ruin and contempt that
he should be then exposed to, which he had brought
upon himself; but when the other answered him, that
there was no danger of that, and told him all that had
passed between the king and him ; and that if he would,
he might have the seal in his own custody again within
an hour, he was exceedingly revived, and desired him to
entreat the king to keep the great seal still himself ; that
he would by no means be answerable for the safety of it,
nor would trust any servant of his own to look to it ;
which, as it was wisely considered and resolved by him,
so it increased the king's confidence in him ; who would
have been troubled if the other had accepted the grace
that was offered. And from that time, when any thing
was to be done that administered any argument for
doubt, Mr. Hyde always prepared him by discourse ; so
that there was never after any unkindness from the king
towards him : but the vigour of his mind grew every day
less, under a great melancholy that oppressed him, from

126 Mr. Hyde's unpleasant reception II. j^—
the consideration of the time, and of his own ill condition
in his fortune; which was much worse than any body
imagined it could be.
56 Before he went out of the garden, the lord Howard,
sir Hugh Cholmely, and sir Philip Stapleton, (who were
the committee from the parliament,) had intelligence that
he was walking in the garden with the king ; whereupon
they came presently thither, and after they had saluted
him with much civility, they shewed him an instruction
they had from the parliament ; by which they were re
quired, if any member of either house came to York, they
should let them know, that it was the pleasure of the
house that they should immediately attend the house, and
signify to them what answer they made ; and so they
desired he would excuse them for doing their duty. He
told them, he was but just then come thither, in obedience
to his majesty's commands, and knew not yet what service
he was to do ; but that as soon as his majesty would give
him leave, he would return to the parliament.
57 There happened an accident, at Mr. Hyde's first coming
to York, which he used often to speak of, and to be very
merry at. One of the king's servants had provided a
lodging for him, so that when he alighted at the court,
he sent his servants thither, and stayed himself at the
court till after supper, and till the king went into his
chamber ; and then he had a guide, who went with him,
and conducted him to his chamber ; which he liked very
well, and began to undress himself. One of his servants
wished that he had any other lodging, and desired him
not to lie there : he asked why, it seemed to him a good
chamber : his servant answered, that the chamber was
good, but the people of the house the worst he ever saw,
and such as he was confident would do him some mis
chief : at which wondering, his servant told him, that the
persons of the house seemed to be of some condition by
their habit that was very good; and that the servants,

at the house where he was to lodge. (1642.) 127
when they came thither, found the master and mistress
in the lower room, who received them civilly, and shewed
them the chamber where their master was to lodge, and
wished them to call for any thing they wanted, and so
left them: that shortly after, one of them went down,
and the mistress of the house being again in the lower
room, where it seems she usually sat, she asked him what
his master's name was, which he told her: "What," said she,
" that Hyde that is of the house of commons ?" and he an
swering " Yes," she gave a great shriek, and cried out, that
he should not lodge in her house ; cursing him with many
bitter execrations. Upon the noise, her husband came
in ; and when she told him who it was that was to lodge
in the chamber above, he swore a great oath that he
should not ; and that he would rather set his house on
fire than entertain him in it. The servant stood amazed,
knowing that his master had never been in or near that
city, and desired to know what offence he had committed
against them ; he told them, he was confident his master
did not know them, nor could be known to them. The
man answered, after two or three curses, that he knew
him well enough, and that he had undone him, and his
wife, and his children ; and so, after repeating some new
bitter curses, he concluded, that he would set his house
on fire, as soon as the other should set his foot in it ; and
so he and his wife went away in a great rage into an inner
room, and clapped the door to them.
58 When his servant had made this relation to him, he
was no less surprised ; knew not what to make of it ;
asked whether the people were drunk ; was assured that
they were very sober, and appeared before this passion to
be well bred. He sent to desire the master of the house
to come to him, that they might confer together; and
that he would immediately depart his house, if he de
sired it. He received no answer, but that he and his
wife were gone to bed : upon which he said no more, but

128 Mr. Hyde resides with Dr. Hodslwn. II. 58— -
that, if they were gone to bed, he would go to bed too ;
and did accordingly. Though he was not disturbed in
the night, the morning was not at all calmer ; the master
and the mistress stormed as much as ever, and would not
be persuaded to speak with him ; but he then understood
the reason : the man of the house had been an attorney in f (
the court of the president and council of the north, in
great reputation and practice there ; and thereby got a
very good livelihood ; with which he had lived in splen
dour ; and Mr. Hyde had sat in the chair of that com
mittee, and had carried up the votes of the commons
against that court, to the house of peers ; upon which it
was dissolved: which he confessed was a better reason
for being angry with him than many others had, who
were as angry, and persecuted him more. However, he
thought himself obliged to remove the eyesore from them,
and to quit the lodging that had been assigned to him ;
and he was much better accommodated by the kindness
of a good prebendary of the church, Dr. Hodshon, who
sent to invite him to lodge in his house, as soon as he
heard he was come to town ; where he resided as long as
the court stayed there.
59 There was now a great conflux of the members of both
houses of parliament to York ; insomuch as there re
mained not in the house of commons above a fifth part of
the whole number ; and of the house of peers so few,
that there continued not at Westminster twenty lords.
Yet they proceeded with the same spirit and presumption
as when their numbers were full ; published new declara
tions against the king ; raised soldiers for their army
apace ; and executed their ordinance for the militia in all
the counties of England, the northern parts only excepted;
forbade all persons to resort to the king ; and intercepted
many in their journey towards York, and committed them
to prison: notwithstanding which, many persons of quality
every day flocked thither ; and it was no longer safe for

— 60. Nine lords impeached by the commons. (1642.) 129
those members to stay in the houses of parliament, who
resolved not to concur with them in their unwarrantable
designs; and therefore the lord Falkland and sir John
Colepepper shortly after repaired likewise to York. The
houses quickly found the reproach of their small numbers
was some discredit to their transactions, and therefore
renewed their summons to their absent members to re
turn ; and, when they saw no obedience given to those
summons, they expelled those members of the house of
commons who were with the king, and gave order that
new writs should issue out for the electing new members
in their places ; but the king prevented that by giving
order to the lord keeper not to seal any writs which
should be prepared and sent to him for any new elections.
Upon some information against the lord Savile, for some
expressions he had used against the parliament, when the
petition that is mentioned before was presented by sir
Thomas Fairfax, that lord and eight more were summoned
by an order from the house of peers, and required to at
tend that house. Upon which they making a joint an
swer, that they had received an express order to attend
upon his majesty's person, the house of commons, taking-
notice of this answer, in a new and unheard-of way carried
up a charge and impeachment to the house of peers against
those nine lords for not attending the service of the par
liament ; and the house of peers thereupon, with all for
mality, and in their robes, passed a sentence and judgment
upon those nine, (the number of the judges not much ex
ceeding that number,) that they should be fined, and dis
abled to sit in parliament during the time that parliament
should continue ; which was looked upon as an act with
out any foundation of law or precedent, and was slighted
accordingly by those who were most immediately con
cerned in it.
60 The noise of the king's journey to Beverley made a
great impression upon the parliament ; where, how great
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. K

130 The nineteen propositions •. Mr. Hyde II. 60-
a concurrence soever there was, in those unwarrantable
actions which begot the war, yet a small number of those
who voted both the raising the army and making the
general, did in truth intend, or believe, that there would
be a war: and therefore, when they looked upon it as
begun in this march of the king's to Hull, (for they con
sidered their own actions as done only to prevent a war,
by making the king unable to make it, who as they
thought only desired it,) they moved presently for some
overtures of an accommodation : which that angry party
that resolved against it, never durst absolutely reject ;
but consenting cheerfully to it, got thereby authority to
insert such things in the address as must inevitably render
it ineffectual. So at this time they sent the earl of Hol
land, a person at that time they knew to be most unac
ceptable to the king, with two members of the house of
commons, who came to Beverley the day the king ar
rived there. The subject of their message was, after
several specious expressions and professions of their duty,
to dissuade his majesty from making war against his par
liament, by proceeding in his enterprise against Hull,
which the parliament was obliged to defend. And all
the expedient they proposed for the avoiding this war
was, that he would consent to the nineteen propositions,
which they had formerly made to him at York, and to
which he had long since returned his answer ; and both
the one and the other were printed.
61 These nineteen propositions, which contained the dis
inherison of the crown of all its choice regalities, and left
only the shadow and empty name of the king, had been
framed by the houses after Mr. Hyde left London. And
because he had so much work then upon his hands, as
they believed he would not be able to despatch soon
enough, the lord Falkland and sir John Colepepper un
dertook to prepare an answer to them themselves ; and
so divided the propositions between them ; and in a short

¦6252. advises the king not to publish an answer. (1642.) 131
time so finished their answer, that they sent it to the
king, and desired that Mr. Hyde might peruse it, and
then cause it to be published and printed. The answer
was full to all particulars, and writ with very much wit
and sharpness ; but there were some expressions in it,
which he liked not, as prejudicial to the king, and in
truth a mistake in point of right, in that part which had
been prepared by sir John Colepepper ; who had taken it
up upon credit, and, without weighing the consequence,
did really believe that it had been true ; which was, that
in the discourse of the constitution of the kingdom, he
had declared, that the king, and the house of peers, and
the house of commons made the three estates: and for this
reason Mr. Hyde did not advance the printing it ; and
told the king, that all the particulars in those proposi
tions had been enough answered in former answers to
other declarations, (which was true,) and therefore that
this needed not be published : with which his majesty
was satisfied, without knowing the particular true reason 5
which he thought not fit to communicate, for both the
persons' sakes, of whose affection for the church (which
was principally concerned in that mistake, since in truth
the bishops make the third estate, the king being the head
and sovereign of the whole) his majesty was always jealous.
62 But they no sooner came to York, than they appeared
much unsatisfied, that that answer was not printed ; and
the lord Falkland finding it remained still in Mr. Hyde's
hands, he expostulated warmly with him of the reasons ;
and in some passion said, " he therefore disliked it, be
cause he had not writ it himself." Upon which, without
saying more, than that " he never expected so unkind a
reproach from him," he delivered the written copy to
him, and he immediately procured the king's consent,
and sent it to the press that night, with order to lose no
time in the impression. Of which the king was after
wards very sensible ; and that excellent lord, who intended
K 2

132 Mr. Hyde's conversation with the earl of Holland: II. 62^2-
not the least unkindness, (nor did it produce the least in
terruption in their friendship,) was likewise much troubled
when he knew the reason; and imputed it to his own
inadvertency, and to the infusion of some lawyers, who
had misled sir John Colepepper ; and to the declarations
which many of the prelatical clergy frequently and ig-
norantly made, that the bishops did not sit in parliament
as the representatives of the clergy, and so could not be
the third estate.
63 It happened that the day the earl of Holland came to
Beverley, Mr. Hyde had been riding abroad ; and return
ing to Beverley, happened to be in the same road, when
the earl of Holland and his company prosecuted their
journey to the king : when meeting together, there passed
the usual salutations which are between persons well
known to each other. " He hoped," the earl said, " that
he should be welcome to all honest men at the court,
because he came to invite the king to return to his par
liament, and to abolish all jealousies between them." The
other answered, " he would be very welcome indeed, if he
brought proper expedients to produce either of those
effects ; but then his errand must be of another compo
sition than what the king understood it to be." Upon
which they entered upon a warmer discourse than it may
be either of them intended ; and as the earl spake^in
another style than he had used to do, of the power and
authority of the parliament, and how much they were
superior to any opposition or contradiction ; so the other
in the debate was less reserved, and kept a less guard
upon himself than he used to do ; so that they seemed
nothing pleased with each other : nor did Mr. Hyde visit
him after his coming to Beverley, because he was informed
that the earl had, to many persons who resorted to him,
repeated with some liberty and sharpness, what had
passed between them ; and not without some menaces
what the parliament would do. And as soon as he did

—6-65. he is exempted from pardon. (1642.) 133
return, there was a new vote passed by name against
him, and two or three more, by which he was exempted
from pardon, in any accommodation that should be made
between the king and parliament.
64 Mr. Hyde had been absent four or five days from the
court, and came into the presence when the king was
washing his hands before dinner ; and as soon as the king
saw him, he asked him aloud, " Ned Hyde, when did you
play with my band-strings last ?" upon which he was ex
ceedingly out of countenance, not imagining the cause of
the question, and the room being full of gentlemen, who
appeared to be merry with what the king had asked. But
his majesty observing him to be in disorder, and to blush
very much, said pleasantly, " Be not troubled at it, for I
have worn no band-strings these twenty years ;" and then
asked him whether he had not seen the diurnal ; of which
he had not heard till then ; but shortly after, some of the
standers-by shewed him a diurnal, in which there was a
letter of intelligence printed, where it was said, that Ned
Hyde was grown so familiar with the king, that he used
to play with his band-strings. Which was a method of
calumniating they began then, and shortly after prosecuted
and exercised upon much greater persons.
65 In the afternoon the earl of Holland came to deliver
his message with great formality ; whom the king received
with much coldness and manifestation of neglect : and
when the earl approached, and kneeled to kiss his hand,
he turned, or withdrew his hand in such a manner, that
the earl kissed his own. When the message was read,
the king said little more, than that they should not stay
long for an answer ; and so went to his chamber. The
earl was not without many friends there ; and some of
them moved the king, that he would give him leave to
say somewhat to him in private, which they believed
would be very much for his service ; but his majesty
would by no means yield to it. By this time his majesty

134 Mr. Hyde's conversation 1 1. 65-
had notice of the governor's irresolution at Hull ; and so
was glad of this opportunity to have a fair excuse for
making no attempt upon that place : and sent the next
day for the earl of Holland to receive his answer ; which
being read aloud in the king's presence, and a full room,
by the clerk of the council, was very grateful to the au
ditors, who feared some condescension in the king, though
very mortifying to the earl. For besides that it was
thought very sharp towards the houses, it declared his
brother, the earl of Warwick, a traitor, for possessing
himself of the king's fleet against his consent ; and con
cluded, that he would forbear any attempt upon Hull for
fourteen days ; in which time, if the parliament would
enter into a treaty for a happy peace, they should find him
very well inclined to it ; after the expiration of that time,
he should pursue those ways which he thought fit. In
the mean time, he made a short progress into the adjacent
counties of Nottingham and Leicester, to see what counte
nance they wore, and to encourage those who appeared to
have good affections to his service : and then returning to
Beverley within the limited time, and hearing no more from
the parliament, or any thing from Hull that he expected,
he returned again to York, as hath been said before.
66 Mr. Hyde was wont often to relate a passage in that
melancholic time, when the standard was set up at Not
tingham, with which he was much affected. Sir Edmund
Varney, knight-marshal, who was mentioned before as
standard-bearer, with whom he had great familiarity, who
was a man of great courage, and generally beloved, came
one day to him, and told him, " he was very glad to see
him, in so universal a damp, under which the spirits of
most men were oppressed, retain still his natural vivacity
and cheerfulness ; that he knew that the condition of the
king, and the power of the parliament, was not better
known to any man than to him ; and therefore he hoped
that he was able to administer some comfort to his

with sir Edmund Varney. (1642.) 135
friends, that might raise their spirits, as well as it sup
ported his own." He answered, "that he was, in truth,
beholden to his constitution, which did not incline him to
despair ; otherwise, that he had no pleasant prospect
before him, but thought as ill of affairs as most men did ;
that the other was as far from being melancholic as he,
and was known to be a man of great courage, (as indeed
he was of a very cheerful and a generous nature, and
confessedly valiant,) and that they could not do the king
better service, than by making it their business to raise
the dejected minds of men, and root out those apprehen
sions which disturbed them, of fear and despair, which
could do no good, and did really much mischief."
67 He replied smiling, " I will willingly join with you the
best I can, but I shall act it very scurvily. My condition,"
said he, " is much worse than yours, and different, I
believe, from any other man's ; and will very well justify
the melancholic that, I confess to you, possesses me.
You have satisfaction in your conscience that you are in
the right ; that the king ought not to grant what is re
quired of him ; and so you do your duty and your
business together : but for my part, I do not like the
quarrel, and do heartily wish that the king would yield
and consent to what they desire ; so that my conscience
is only concerned in honour and in gratitude to follow my
master. I have eaten his bread, and served him near
thirty years, and will not do so base a thing as to forsake
him ; and choose rather to lose my life (which I am sure
I shall do) to preserve and defend those things which are
against my conscience to preserve and defend : for I will
deal freely with you, I have no reverence for the bishops, -
for whom this quarrel [subsists.]" It was not a time to
dispute ; and his affection to the church had never been
suspected. He was as good as his word ; and was killed,
in the battle of Edge-hill, within two months after this
discourse. And if those who had the same and greater

136 The king's wager with lord Falkland II. 67 
obligations, had observed the same rules of gratitude and
generosity, whatever their other affections had been, that
battle had never been fought, nor any of that mischief
been brought to pass that succeeded it.
68 After the king came to Oxford with his army, his
majesty one day speaking with the lord Falkland very
graciously concerning Mr. Hyde, said he had such a pe
culiar style, that he could know any thing written by
him, if it were brought to him by a stranger, amongst a
multitude of writings by other men. The lord Falkland
answered, he doubted his majesty could hardly do that,
because he himself, who had so long conversation and
friendship with him, was often deceived ; and often met
with things written by him, of which he could never have
suspected him, upon the variety of arguments. To which
the king replied, he would lay him an angel, that, let the
argument be what it would, he should never bring him a
sheet of paper (for he would not undertake to judge of
less) of his writing, but he would discover it to be his.
The lord Falkland told him it should be a wager ; but
neither the one nor the other ever mentioned it to Mr.
Hyde. Some days after, the lord Falkland brought several
packets, which he had then received from London, to the
king, before he had opened them, as he used to do : and
after he had read his several letters of intelligence, he
took out the prints of diurnals, and speeches, and the like,
which were every day printed at London, and as con
stantly sent to Oxford : and amongst the rest there were
two speeches, the one made by the lord Pembroke for an
accommodation, and the other by the lord Brooke against
it ; and for the carrying on the war with more vigour,
and utterly to^ root out the cavaliers, which were the
king's party.
69 The king was very much pleased with reading the
speeches, and said, he did not think that Pembroke could
speak so long together ; though every word he said was

— 7"7 °' concerning Mr. Hyde? s style. (1642.) 137
so much his own, that nobody else could make it. And
so after he had pleased himself with reading the speeches
over again, and then passed to other papers, the lord
Falkland whispered in his ear, (for there were other
persons by,) desiring him he would pay him the angel ;
which his majesty in the instant apprehending, blushed,
and put his hand in his pocket, and gave him an angel,
saying, he had never paid a wager more willingly ; and
was very merry upon it, and would often call upon Mr.
Hyde for a speech, or a letter, which he very often pre
pared upon several occasions ; and the king always com
manded them to be printed. And he was often wont to
say, many years after, that he would be very glad he
could make a collection of all those papers, which he had
written occasionally at that time ; which he could never
do, though he got many of them.
70 There was at that time a pleasant story upon those
speeches. The lord Brooke had met with them in print,
and heard that he was much reproached for so unchristian
a speech against peace, though the language was such as
he used in all opportunities : whereupon one morning in
the house of peers, and before the house sat, he came to
the earl of Portland, (who yet remained there with the
king's approbation, and knew well enough from whence
the speeches came, having himself caused them to be
printed,) and shewing them to him, desired he would
move the house, that that speech might, by their order, be
burned by the hand of the hangman ; by which means the
kingdom would be informed, that it had never been spoken
by him. The earl said, he would willingly do him the
service ; but he observed, that the speeches were printed
in that manner, that where the earl of Pembroke's speech
ended on the one side of the leaf, his (the lord Brooke's)
speech began on the other side, so that one could not be
burned, without burning the other too ; which he knew
not how the earl of Pembroke would like ; and therefore

138 State of the factions II- 7° —
he durst not move it withou his consent. Whereupon
they both went to the earl, who was then likewise in the
house; and Portland told him what the lord Brooke
desired, and asked him whether he wished it should be
done. He, who heard he was very well spoken of, for
having spoke so honestly for peace, said* he did not
desire it. Upon which Brooke, in great anger, asked, if
he had ever made that speech ; he was very sure he had
never made the other ; and the other with equal choler
replied, that he was always for peace; and though he
could not say he had spoken all those things together, he
was sure he had spoken them all at several times ; and
that he knew as well, that he had always been against
peace, and had often used all those expressions which
were in the speech, though, it may be, not all together.
Upon which they entered into a high combat of re
proachful words against each other, to the no small
delight of the earl, who had brought them together, and
of the rest of the standers-by.
71 Though upon the king's advance from Colebrooke, and
the imagination that he purposed to have brought his
army to London, both the parliament and the city was so
far provoked, that they laid aside all thoughts of treaty ;
and upon his retreat, the view of the number and ill
condition of his army, the furious party was much exalted,
and thought of nothing but of forming new armies, which
might subdue the other parts of the kingdom ; yet when
they had better collected themselves, the principal persons
of the parliament, and those of the city, who had formerly
very importunately pressed the message to the king for a
treaty, returned to the same temper. The parliament
was full of faction, and they who had concurred too much
in the entering into the war, were now most solicitous to
get out of it ; they said the expense was already unsup-
portable ; their army was wasted, so that they were upon
the matter to begin again. They had spent very much

-jt. in parliament. (1642.) 139
of the money which had been raised for Ireland, and
employed great numbers of those soldiers which were
levied for that kingdom, which did not only redound to
the great hazard of losing that kingdom, but would ex
ceedingly turn to their reproach with the people of
England, as soon as it should be taken notice of, and it
could not be long concealed. They foresaw likewise that
the vast sum of money, which must be got for the carrying
on the war, must all be raised out of the city, which
appeared discontented enough. There was likewise no
union in the army ; many officers gave up their commis
sions ; and those who were members of both houses, and
had carried regiments and troops into the field, were
weary of the service, and disengaged themselves, and
gave up their commands; so that the motions were
again renewed for sending to the king for a peace : and
at last a message was sent to the king, that he would
send a safe conduct for four lords and eight commoners
to attend his majesty with an humble petition from both
houses, which they hoped might produce a good ac
commodation; which safe conduct was immediately
granted, with which the messenger returned ; and within
few days after, the earls of Northumberland, Pembroke,
Salisbury, and Holland, together with Pierrepoint, lord
Wenman, Whitlocke, Waller, and other members of the
house of commons, came to Oxford with a petition to the
king ; which contained no more than a desire from the
parliament, in terms more modest than they had been
accustomed to, that his majesty would permit them to
send a committee of both houses to attend him, that they
might treat about a happy peace, and, in the first place,
of a cessation of all acts of hostility. There was a plea
sant observation at that time, which made the artifices
appear by which they imposed upon their friends at
London. The people there did generally believe that
the king, and the little army he had with him, were in so
great straits for want of provision in Oxford, that they

140 State of the king's affairs II. 71-
were compelled to eat horseflesh ; and that they would
in a short time be forced to return to the parliament,
that they might avoid the being starved ; and either to
keep up this imagination, or that they did themselves
believe the scarcity to be very great, these commissioners
brought with them a great quantity of provisions, even of
bread and beer, as well as of beef and mutton and fowl,
sufficient to feed the whole company that came with
them, during such time as they believed they should stay
there ; of which they were ashamed as soon as they
entered Oxford, and saw the great plenty in the markets,
not only of the usual common fare, but of those choice
fowl, of pheasants, partridge, cocks, snipes, in that abund
ance, as they were not so well furnished in London ;
besides the best fish and wild fowl, which was brought in
every day, from the western part, in such plenty, that it
can hardly be imagined. So that they were quickly
converted from giving credit to that rumour, and it may
be by it judged the better of the want of integrity in
many other reports. The commissioners, after three or
four days, returned with a gracious answer from the king,
and with a safe conduct for such persons as the two
houses should send to treat with the king ; and men
began to entertain good hope of a peace, and fair ac
commodation of all differences.
72 It may not be unfit in this place, for the better under
standing the unhappy temper of the court and of the
king's affairs, to remember, that, as soon as the commis
sioners were gone out of the town, there appeared a
general indisposition in court, in army, and amongst the
persons of quality which filled the town, to the peace, and
a wonderful apprehension that it would be brought to
pass, and therefore there were many cabals and meetings
to consult how the treaty might be prevented, or at least
made ineffectual. Though the king was in pleasant and
plentiful quarters, where he wanted no provision of
victuals, and out of which (for he was possessed of most

-72. at Oxford. (1642.) 141
of the countries between Oxford and Chester, and of the
greatest part of Wales) he might reasonably hope to re
cruit his army ; yet there was no hope of procuring money
to pay them ; and though the soldiers yet behaved them
selves modestly in their quarters, so that there were no
complaints, it could not be imagined that the country would
long endure free-quarters, and submit likewise to pay
contributions in money, which was assigned to the horse.
The battle of Edge-hill, and the supplying the few
garrisons which were made with very slender proportions
of ammunition, had already so exhausted the stores, that
there were not left at this time in Oxford above forty
barrels of powder, and match and bullet proportionable ;
and though there was set up there a mill to make pow
der, newly erected, yet the undertakers in it would not
promise to provide above twenty barrels in a week,
which could produce no provision suitable to the neces
sity. It is true there was a reasonable supply of arms
and ammunition arrived at Newcastle, the only port in
the king's obedience ; but, besides the great use there
was to be of it in those parts, where the earl of Newcastle
had been left to raise an army, and had now Yorkshire
added to his commission, which stood in great need of
his protection, the distance was so great between that
and Oxford, that there was little hope of getting any of
it with a less convoy than an army. Above all this, it
was apparent to all men, who could discern at any dis
tance, that the good humour of the lords and persons of
quality, which kept up the humour every where else,
would decay, and turn into murmuring and discontent, as
soon as that money should be spent which they had
brought with them from London, and which alone had
made some show of plenty in the court ; and therefore it
was looked upon by wise men as a judgment from Heaven,
that now, when that seemed to be in view which men of
all conditions had prayed for since the setting up the
standard at Nottingham, there should be even a conspiracy

142 Mr. Hyde declines the office 11-72-
amongst those very persons to drive that blessing from
them. And it was the more wonderful, that even the
king himself was not without apprehension that he might
suffer by making peace, and countenanced those who
spake most against it, and laboured to prevent it; of
which there will be occasion anon to speak more at large,
and in that place to mention the true reason which pro
duced that aversion.
73 The king was no sooner settled in his winter quarters,
after his retreat from Brentford to Oxford, but the par
liament sent to him for a safe-conduct, for commissioners
to be sent from them to treat of peace ; which was sent to
them. And at this time there was a change in Mr. Hyde's
fortune, by a preferment the king conferred upon him.
Every body knew that he was trusted by the king in his
most secret transactions ; but he was under no character in
his service. When the commissioners who were sent for
the safe-conduct came to Oxford, some who came in their
company, amongst other matters of intelligence, brought
the king a letter of his own to the queen, printed, that
had been intercepted, and printed by the license, if not
order, of the parliament. In this letter, of the safe con
veyance whereof his majesty had no apprehension, the
king had lamented the uneasiness of his own condition,
in respect of the daily importunity which was made to
him by the lords and others, for honours, offices, and pre
ferments ; and named several lords, who were solicitous
by themselves, or their friends, for this and that place ;
in all which he desired to receive the queen's advice,
being resolved to do nothing with reference to those pre
tences till he should receive it. But he said there were
some places which he must dispose of without staying for
her answer, the necessity of his service requiring it; which
were the mastership of the wards ; applications being still
made to the lord Say in those affairs, and so that revenue
was diverted from him : and therefore, as he had revoked
his patent, so he was resolved to make secretary Nicholas

¦  74- of secretary of state. (1643.) 14$
master of the wards ; " and then," (these were his ma
jesty's own words,) " I must make Ned Hyde secretary of
state, for the truth is, I can trust nobody else." Which
was a very envious expression, and extended, by the ill
interpretation of some men, to a more general compre
hension than could be intended. This was quickly made
public, for there were several prints of it in many hands ;
and some men had reason to be troubled to find their
names mentioned in that manner, and others were glad
that theirs were there, as having the pretence to pursue
their importunities the more vehemently, being, as the
phrase was, brought upon the stage, and should suffer
much in their honour, if they should be now rejected ;
which kind of argumentation was very unagreeable and
grievous to the king.
74 One morning, when the king was walking in the gar
den, as he used to do, Mr. Hyde being then in his view,
his majesty called him, and discoursed of the trouble he
was in at the intercepting that letter ; and finding by his
countenance that he understood not the meaning, he
asked him, " whether he had not heard a letter of his,
which he writ to the queen, had been intercepted and
printed." And he answering, " that he had not heard of
it," as in truth he had not, the king gave him the printed
letter to read, and then said, that " he wished it were as
much in his power to make every body else amends as he
could him ; for," he said, " he was resolved that afternoon
to swear him secretary of state, in the place of Nicholas,
whom he would likewise then make master of the wards."
Mr, Hyde told him, " he was indeed much surprised with
the sight of the letter ; which he wished had not been
communicated in that manner : but that he was much
more surprised to find his own name in it, and his ma
jesty's resolution upon it, which he besought him to
change; for as he never had the ambition to hope or
wish for that place, so he knew he was very unfit for it,
and unable to discharge it." To which the king with a

144 Mr. Hyde accepts the office II. 74-
little anger replied, that " he did the greatest part of the
business now :" and he answered, that " what he did now
would be no part of the business, if the rebellion were
ended ; and that his unskilfulness in languages, and his
not understanding foreign affairs, rendered him very in
capable of that trust." The king said, " he would learn
as much as was necessary of that kind very quickly." He
continued his desire, that his majesty would lay aside that
thought ; and said, " that he had great friendship for se
cretary Nicholas, who would be undone by the change ;
for he would find that his majesty would receive very
little, and he nothing, by that office, till the troubles
were composed." The king said, " Nicholas was an
honest man, and that his change was by his desire ;" and
bade him speak with him of it ; which he went presently
to do, leaving his majesty unsatisfied with the scruples he
had made.
75 When he came to the secretary's lodging, he found
him with a cheerful countenance, and embracing him,
called him his son. Mr. Hyde answered him, that " it
was not the part of a good son to undo his father, or to
become his son that he might undo him :" and so they
entered upon the discourse; the one telling him what
the king had resolved, and how grateful the resolution
was to him ; and the other informing him of the con
ference he had then had with the king, and that for his
sake, as well as his own, he would not submit to .the
king's pleasure in it. And so he debated the whole
matter with him, and made it evident to him, that he
would be disappointed in any expectation he should
entertain of profit from the wards, as the state of affairs
then stood: so that he should relinquish an honourable
employment, which he was well acquainted with, for an
empty title, with which he would have nothing to do :
and so advised him to consider well of it, and of all the
consequences of it, before he exposed himself to such an
inconvenience.

7777- of chancellor of the exchequer. (1643.) 145
76 Whilst this was in suspense, sir Charles Caesar, who,
with great prejudice tc, the king, and more reproach to
the archbishop of Canterbury, Laud, had been made mas
ter of the rolls, -died: and sir John Colepepper had long
had a promise from the king of that place, when it should
become void, and now pressed the performance of it :
which was violently opposed by many, partly out of ill-
will to him, (for he had not? the faculty of getting him
self much loved,) and as much out of good husbandry,
and to supply the king's necessities with a good sum of
money, which Dr. Duck was^ready to lay down for the
office. And the king was srj far wrought upon, that he
paid down three thousand pc^nds in part of what he was
to give ; but his majesty caused the money to be repaid,
and resolved to make good his promise to sir John Cole
pepper, who would by no means release him. This was
no sooner declared, than the lord Falkland (who was
much more solicitous to have Mr. Hyde of the council,
than he was himself for the honour) took an opportunity
to tell the king, that he had now a good opportunity to
prefer Mr. Hyde, by making him chancellor of the ex
chequer, in the place of sir John Colepepper ; which the
king said he had resolved to do, and bid him take no
notice of it, until he had told him so himself: and shortly
after sent for him, and said, " that he had now found an
office for him, which he hoped he would not refuse : that
the chancellorship of the exchequer was void by the pro
motion of Colepepper, and that he resolved to confer it
upon him ;" with many gracious expressions of the satis
faction he had in his service. The other answered, " that
though it was an office much above his merit, yet he did
not despair of enabling himself by industry to execute it,
which he would do with all fidelity."
77 As soon as this was knowii, no man was so much
troubled at it as sir John Colepepper, who had in truth
an intention to have kept both places, until he should
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. L

1 46 Mr. Hyde is sworn of the privy council, II. 77-
get into the quiet possession of tjie rolls. And though
he professed much friendship toithe other, he had no
mind he should be upon the sarjje level with him ; and
believed he would have too milch credit in the council.
And so delayed, after his patent for the rolls was passed, to
surrender that of the chancellorship of the exchequer, until
the lord Falkland and the h/ird Digby expostulated very
warmly with him upon it, and until the king took notice
of it; and then, seeming Very much troubled that any
body should doubt the integrity of his friendship to Mr.
Hyde, to whom he made ai} the professions imaginable,
he surrendered his office of| chancellor of the exchequer :
and the next day Mr. Hyde *vas sworn of the privy-coun
cil, and knighted, and had his patents sealed for that
office. And the king, after he rose from the council, and
after many expressions of the content he took himself in
the obligation he had laid upon him, with much grace,
that was not natural in him upon such occasions, told
him, that " he was very fortunate, because he verily be
lieved nobody was angry at his preferment ; for besides
that the earl of Dorset and others, who he knew loved
him, had expressed much satisfaction in the king's pur
pose," he said, " the lord Maltrevers, and the lord Duns-
more, who he did not think had any acquaintance with
him, seemed very much pleased with him ; and therefore
he thought nobody would envy him ; which was a rare
felicity." But his majesty was therein mistaken ; for he
had great enviers, of many who thought he had run too
fast ; especially of those of his own profession, who looked
upon themselves as his superiors in all respects, and did
not think that his age, (which was not then above thirty-
three,) or his other parts, did entitle him to such a pre
ference before them. And the news of it at Westminster
exceedingly offended those who governed in the parlia
ment ; to see the man whom they most hated, and whom
they had voted to be incapable of pardon, to be now pre-

-79-9- and knighted. (1643.) 147
ferred to an office the chief of them looked for. Besides,
there was another unusual circumstance accompanied his
preferment, that it was without the interposition or privity
of the queen, which was not like to make it the more
easy and advantageous; and it was not the more un
welcome to him from that circumstance. ,
78 Notwithstanding all the discourse of, and inclination to
a treaty, the armies were not quiet on either side. The
king's quarters were enlarged by the taking of Marl
borough in Wiltshire, and of Cirencester in Gloucester
shire; which, though untenable by their situation and
weak fortifications, were garrisoned by the parliament
with great numbers of men; who were all killed, or
taken prisoners. And the parliament forces were not
without success too ; and, after the loss of Marlborough,
surprised the regiment of horse, that was commanded by
the lord Grandison, a gallant gentleman, who, if not be
trayed, was unhappily invited to Winchester, with pro
mise of forces ready to defend the place ; which being
in no degree performed, he was, the next day after he
came, enclosed in the castle of Winchester, and com
pelled to become, all, officers and soldiers, prisoners of
war : though he and some other of the principal officers,
by the negligence or corruption of their guard, made their
escape in the night, and returned to Oxford.
79 This was the state of the kingdom, of the king, and of
the parliament, in the beginning of the year 1643, at the
time when Mr. Hyde was made of the privy-council and
chancellor of the exchequer: which was between the
return of the commissioners, who had been sent to the
king to propose a treaty, and the coming of those com
missioners to Oxford, who were afterwards sent from the
parliament to treat with the king ; which being about the
end of the year 1642, this part shall be closed here.
Pezenas, the 3,4>th of July, 1669. L 2

148 The parliament commissioners come to Oxford

III. i —

THE LIFE
OF
EDWARD EAEL OF CLARENDON;
FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE RESTORATION OF THE ROYAL
FAMILY IN THE YEAR 1660.

PAET III.

It was about the beginning of March (which by that
account was about the end of the year 1642, and about
the beginning of the year 1643) that the commissioners
of the parliament came to Oxford, to treat with his
majesty; and were received graciously by him; and by
his order lodged conveniently, and well accommodated in
all respects.
2 The persons were the earl of Northumberland, (the
rest appointed by the house of peers were dispensed
with,) and of the commons the lord Wenman, Mr.
Pierrepoint, Mr. Whitlocke, and the king in
tended to have appointed some of his council to have
treated with them ; but they discovered at their first
audience, that they had authority only to treat with his
majesty himself, and not with any other persons ; where
upon his majesty gave them admission whenever they
desired it, and received what they had to propose in
writing, and then consulted and debated it at his council,
and delivered his answer again in writing, the chancellor

—2. to treat with the king. (1643.) 149
of the exchequer being always appointed to prepare those
answers. The commissioners had very sincere desires to
have made a peace, none of them having ever had incli
nation to alter the government, and the short experience
they had, made it manifest to them that others were pos
sessed with contrary resolutions ; but their instructions
were very strict, and nothing left to their own discre
tions ; they who sent them well knowing how their affec
tions stood, and though they had not power to hinder a
treaty, which all the kingdom called for, and to refuse it
had been to declare that they would continue the war
that was universally abominated ; yet they knew well
how to elude it, which they were the less suspected to
incline to, because they were still willing that such per
sons should be employed to treat who were known to be
most solicitous for peace. When the propositions were
formed in the house, upon the debate of them, when ob
jections were made of their unreasonableness : that the
king had already refused those very overtures when his
condition was much lower, and therefore that it was not
probable he would yield to the same when he was in the
head of a good army : it was answered by those who re
solved it should come to nothing, that it was the course
and rule in all treaties iniquum peter e ut cequum feras ;
that they did not expect that the king would yield to all
they desired, or indeed that a peace would ever be made
upon what they did or could propose ; but that thereupon
the king would be wrought upon to make his propositions,
which must be the ground of the peace ; and that they
must first know what the king would grant before they
abated any thing of their demands ; and hereby (which
seemed to have somewhat of reason) they still prevailed
to keep up their propositions to the utmost they had in
sisted upon, in their proudest and most insolent conjunc
ture, but still implied that they would be glad to depart
from any thing of it, when they should see any approach

150 The king regrets the limited power III. % 
made towards peace by any concessions from the king
that would make it safe and valid : yet they bound up
their commissioners to the strictest letter of their propo
sitions ; nor did their instructions at this time (which they
presented to the king) admit the least latitude to them,
to interpret a word or expression, that admitted a doubtful
interpretation. Insomuch as the king told them, "that
he was sorry that they had no more trust reposed in
them ; and that the parliament might as well have sent
their demands to him by the common carrier, as by com
missioners so restrained." They had only twenty days
allowed them to finish the whole treaty: whereof they
might employ six days in adjusting a cessation, if they
found it probable to effect it in that time ; otherwise they
were to decline the cessation, and enter upon the condi
tions of the peace ; which, if not concluded before the
end of the twenty days, they were to give it over, and to
return to the parliament.
3 These propositions and restrictions much abated the
hopes of a good issue of the treaty. Yet every body be
lieved, and the commissioners themselves did not doubt,
that if such a progress should be made in the treaty, that
a peace was like to ensue, there would be no difficulty in
the enlargement of the time ; and therefore the articles
for a cessation were the sooner declined, that they might
proceed in the main business. For though what was
proposed by them in order to it was agreeable enough to
the nature of such an affair ; yet the time allowed for it
was so short, that it was impossible to make it practica
ble: nor could notice be timely given to all the quarters
on either side to observe it.
4 Besides that, there were many particulars in it, which
the officers on the king's side (who had no mind to a
cessation) formalized much upon ; and (I know not from
what unhappy root, but) there was sprung up a wonderful
aversion in the town against a cessation. Insomuch as

—5- of the commissioners. (1643.) 151
many persons of quality of several counties, whereof the
town was full, applied themselves in a body to the king,
not to consent to a cessation till a peace might be con
cluded ; alleging, that they had several agitations in their
countries, for his majesty's and their own conveniences,
which would be interrupted by the cessation; and if a
peace should not afterwards ensue, would be very mis
chievous. Which suggestion, if it had been well weighed,
would not have been found to be of importance. But the
truth is, the king himself had no mind to the cessation,
for a reason which shall be mentioned anon, though it
was never owned : and so they waved all further mention
of the cessation, and betook themselves to the treaty ; it
being reasonable enough to believe, that if both sides
were heartily disposed to it, a peace might as soon have
been agreed upon as a cessation could be. All the trans
actions of that treaty having been long since published,
and being fit only to be digested into the history of that
time, are to be omitted here. Only what passed in secret,
and was never communicated, nor can otherwise be known,
sinee at this time no man else is living who was privy to
that negociation but the chancellor of the exchequer, will
have a proper place in this discourse.
5 The commissioners, who had all good fortunes and
estates, had all a great desire of peace, but knew well
that there must be a receding mutually on both sides
from what they demanded ; for if the king insisted on
justice, and on the satisfaction and reparation the law
would give him, the lives and the fortunes of all who had
opposed him would be at his mercy ; and there were too
many concerned to submit to that, and that guilt was in
truth the foundation of their union. On the other side, if
the parliament insisted on all that they had demanded, all
the power of the crown and monarchy itself would be
thrown off the hinges, which as they could never imagine
the king would ever consent to, so they saw well enough

152 Mr. Pierrepoint's proposition. III. 5— ¦-
their own concernment in it, and that themselves should
be as much involved in the confusion as those they called
their enemies.
6 The propositions brought by the commissioners in the
treaty were so unreasonable, that they well knew that the
king would never consent to them : but some persons
amongst them, who were known to wish well to the king,
endeavoured underhand to bring it to pass. And they did
therefore, whilst they publicly pursued their instructions,
and delivered and received papers upon their propositions,
privately use all the means they could, especially in con
ferences with the lord Falkland and the chancellor of the
exchequer, that the king might be prevailed with in some
degree to comply with their unreasonable demands.
7 In all matters which related to the church, they did
not only despair of the king's concurrence, but did not in
their own judgments wish it ; and believed, that the
strength of the party which desired the continuance of
the war, was made up of those who were very indifferent
in that point ; and that, if they might return with satis
faction in other particulars, they should have power
enough in the two houses to oblige the more violent
people to accept or submit to the conditions. They
wished therefore that the king would make some conde"
scensions in the point of the militia ; which they looked
upon as the only substantial security they could have, not to
be called in question for what they had done amiss. And
when they saw nothing could be digested of that kind,
which would not reflect both upon the king's authority
and his honour, they gave over insisting upon the general ;
and then Mr. Pierrepoint (who was of the best parts, and
most intimate with the earl of Northumberland) rather
desired than proposed, that the king would offer to grant
his commission to the earl of Northumberland, to be lord
high admiral of England. By which condescension he
Avould be restored to his office, which he had lost for their

The earl of Northumberland's offer. (1643.) 153
sakes; and so their honour would be likewise repaired,
without any signal prejudice to the king ; since he should
hold it only by his majesty's commission, and not by any
ordinance of parliament : and he said, if the king would
be induced to gratify them in this particular, he could
not be confident that they should be able to prevail with
both houses to be satisfied therewith, so that a peace
might suddenly be concluded ; but, as he did not despair
even of that,] he^ did ] believe, that so many would be
satisfied with it, that they would from thence take
the occasion to separate themselves from them, as men
who would rather destroy their country than restore it to
peace.
8 And the earl of Northumberland himself took so much
notice of this discourse to secretary Nicholas, (with whom
he had as much freedom as his reserved nature was capable
of,) as to protest to him, that he desired only to receive
that honour and trust from the king, that he might be
able to do him service ; and thereby to recover the credit
he had unhappily lost with him. In which he used very
decent expressions towards his majesty ; not without such
reflections upon his own behaviour, as implied that he
was not proud of it : and concluded that if his majesty
would do him that honour, as to make that offer to the
houses, upon the proposition of the militia, he would
do all he could that it might be effectual towards a peace ;
and if it had not success, he would pass his word and
honour to the king, that as soon, or whensoever his
majesty would please to require it, he would deliver up
his commission again into his hands ; he having 110 other
ambition or desire, than by this means to redeliver up the
royal navy to his majesty's as absolute disposal, as it was
when his majesty first put it into his hands ; and which
he doubted would hardly be done by any other expedient,
at least not so soon.
9 When this proposition (which, from the interest and

154 Mr. Hyde advises the king to III. g 
persons who proposed it, seemed to carry with it some
probability of success, if it should be accepted) was com
municated with those who were like with most secrecy to
consult it ; secretary Nicholas having already made some
approach towards the king upon the subject, and found
his majesty without inclination to hear more of it ; it was
agreed and resolved by them, that the chancellor of the
exchequer should presume to make the proposition plainly
to the king, and to persuade his majesty to hear it de
bated in his presence ; at least, if that might not be, to
enlarge upon it himself as much as the argument re
quired : and he was not unwilling to embark himself in
the affair.
0 When he found a fit opportunity for the representa
tion, and his majesty at good leisure, in his morning's
walk, when he was always most willing to be entertained ;
the chancellor related ingenuously to him the whole dis
course, which had been made by Mr. Pierrepoint, and to
whom ; and what the earl himself had said to secretary
Nicholas; and what conference they, to whom his ma
jesty gave leave to consult together upon his affairs, had
between themselves upon the argument, and what oc
curred to them upon it : in which he mentioned the
earl's demerit towards his majesty with severity enough,
and what reason he had not to be willing: to restore a
man to his favour, who had forfeited it so unworthily.
Yet he desired him to consider his own ill condition ; and
how unlike it was that it should be improved by the con
tinuance of the war ; and whether he could ever imagine
a possibility of getting out of it upon more easy con
ditions than what was now proposed ; the offer of which
to the parliament could do him no signal prejudice, and
could not but bring him very notable advantages : for if
the peace did not ensue upon it, such a rupture infallibly
would, as might in a little time facilitate the other. And
then he said as much to lessen the malignity of the earl

-n.i. comply with Pierrepoint's proposition. (1643.) 1^5
as he could, by remembering, how dutifully he had re
signed his commission of admiral upon his majesty's de
mand, and his refusal to accept the commission the par
liament would have given him ; and observed some vices
in his nature, which would stand in the place of virtues,
towards the support of his fidelity to his majesty, and his
animosity against the parliament, if he were once rein-
gratiated to his majesty's trust.
11 The king heard him very quietly without the least in
terruption, which he used not to do upon subjects which
were not grateful to him ; for he knew well that he was
not swayed by any affection to the man, to whom he was
more a stranger than he was to most of that condition ;
and he, upon occasions, had often made sharp reflections
upon his ingratitude to the king. His majesty seemed at
the first to insist upon the improbability that any such
concession by him would be attended with any success ;
that not only the earl had not interest in the houses to
lead them into a resolution that was only for his particu
lar benefit, but that the parliament itself was not able to
make a peace, without such conditions as the army would
require; and then he should suffer exceedingly in his
honour, for having shewn an inclination to a person who
had requited his former graces so unworthily : and this
led him into more warmth than he used to be affected
with. He said, " indeed he had been very unfortunate
in conferring his favours upon many very ungrateful
persons ; but no man was so inexcusable as the earl of
Northumberland." He said, " he knew that the earl of
Holland was generally looked upon as the man of the
greatest ingratitude; but," he said, "he could better
excuse him than the other : that it was true, he owed all
he had to his father's and his bounties, and that himself
had conferred great favours upon him ; but that it was as
true, he had frequently given him many mortifications,
which, though he had deserved, he knew had troubled

156 The true cause of the king's III.
him very much ; that he had oftener denied him, than
any other man of his condition ; and that he had but
lately refused to gratify him in a suit he had made to him,
of which he had been very confident ; and so might have
some excuse (how ill soever) for being out of humour,
which led him from one ill to another : but that he had
lived always without intermission with the earl of North
umberland as his friend, and courted him as his mistress ;
that he had never denied any thing he had ever asked ;
and therefore his carriage to him was never to be for
gotten."
12 And this discourse he continued with more commotion,
and in a more pathetical style than ever he used upon
any other argument. And though at that time it was
not fit to press the matter further, it was afterwards re
sumed by the same person more than once ; but without
any other effect, than that his majesty was contented
that the earl should not despair of being restored to that
office, when the peace should be made; or upon any
eminent service performed by him, when the peace should
be despaired of. The king was very willing and desirous
that the treaty should be drawn out in length ; to which
purpose a proposition was made to the commissioners for
an addition of ten days, which they sent to the parlia
ment, without the least apprehension that it would be
denied. But they were deceived ; and for answer, re
ceived an order upon the last day but one of the time
before limited, by which they were expressly required to
leave Oxford the next day. From that time all inter
course and commerce between Oxford and London, which
had been permitted before, was absolutely interdicted
under the highest penalties by the parliament.
J3 If this secret underhand proposition had succeeded,
and received that encouragement from the king that was
desired, and more application of the same remedies had
been then made to other persons, (for alone it could

-14.

rejecting Pierrepoint's proposition. (1643.) 157
never have proved effectual,) it is probable, that those
violent and abominable counsels, which were but then in
projection between very few men of any interest, and
which were afterwards miserably put in practice, had
been prevented. And it was exceedingly wondered at,
by those who were then privy to this overture, and by all
who afterwards came to hear of it, that the king should
in that conjuncture decline so advantageous a proposition ;
since he did already discern many ill humours and fac
tions, growing and nourished, both in his court and army,
which would every day be uneasy to him ; and did with
all his soul desire an end of the war. And there was
nothing more suitable and agreeable to his magnanimous
nature, than to forgive those, who had in the highest
degree offended him: which temper was notorious
throughout his"' whole life. It will not be therefore
amiss, in this discourse, which is never to see light, and
so can reflect upon nobody's character with prejudice, to
enlarge upon this fatal rejection, and the true cause and
ground thereof.
14 The king's affection to the queen was of a very extra
ordinary alloy; a composition of conscience, and love,
and generosity, and gratitude, and all those noble affec
tions which raise the passion to the greatest height ;
insomuch as he saw with her eyes, and determined by
her judgment ; and did not only pay her this adoration,
but desired that all men should know that he was swayed
by her : which was not good for either of them. The
queen was a lady of great beauty, excellent wit and
humour, and made him a just return of noblest affections;
so that they were the true idea of conjugal affection, in
the age in which they lived. When she was admitted to
the knowledge and participation of the most secret affairs,
(from which she had been carefully restrained by the duke
of Buckingham whilst he lived,) she took delight in the
examining and discussing them, and from thence in

III. It—

158 The true cause of the king's 111. 15
making judgment of them; in which her passions were
always strong.
15 She had felt so much pain in knowing nothing, and
meddling with nothing, during the time of that great
favourite, that now she took pleasure in nothing but
knowing all things, and disposing all things ; and thought
it but just, that she should dispose of all favours and pre
ferments, as he had done ; at least, that nothing of that
kind might be done without her privity : not considering
that the universal prejudice that great man had under
gone, was not with reference to his person, but his power;
and that the same power would be equally obnoxious to
murmur and complaint, if it resided in any other person
than the king himself. And she so far concurred with
the king's inclination, that she did not more desire to be
possessed of this unlimited power, than that all the world
should take notice that she was the entire mistress of it :
which in truth (what other unhappy circumstance soever
concurred in the mischief) was the foundation upon which
the first and the utmost prejudices to the king and his
government were raised and prosecuted. And it was her
majesty's and the kingdom's misfortune, that she had not
any person about her, who had either ability or affection,
to inform and advise her of the temper of the kingdom
or humour of the people, or who thought either worth
the caring for.
16 When the disturbances grew so rude as to interrupt
this harmony, and the queen's fears, and indisposition,
which proceeded from those fears, disposed her to leave
the kingdom, which the king, to comply with her, con
sented to ; (and if that fear had not been predominant in
her, her jealousy and apprehension, that the king would
at some time be prevailed with to yield to some un
reasonable conditions, would have dissuaded her from
that voyage;) to make all things therefore as sure as
might be, that her absence should not be attended with

— 18. rejecting Pierrepoint's proposition. (1643.) 159
any such inconvenience, his majesty made a solemn pro
mise to her at parting, that he would receive no person
into any favour or trust, who had disserved him, without
her privity and consent ; and that, as she had undergone
so many reproaches and calumnies at the entrance into
the war, so he would never make any peace, but by her
interposition and mediation, that the kingdom might re
ceive that blessing only from her.
•7 This promise (of which his majesty was too religious
an observer) was the cause of his majesty's rejection, or
not entertaining this last overture; and this was the
reason that he had that aversion to the cessation, which
he thought would inevitably oblige him to consent to the
peace, as it should be proposed; and therefore he had
countenanced an address, that had been made to him
against it, by the gentlemen of several counties attending
the court : and in truth they were put upon that address
by the king's own private direction. Upon which the
chancellor of the exchequer told him, when the business
was over, that he had raised a spirit he would not be able
to conjure down ; and that those petitioners had now ap
peared in a business that pleased him, but would be as
ready to appear, at another time, to cross what he de
sired ; which proved true. For he was afterwards more
troubled with application and importunity of that kind,
and the murmurs that arose from that liberty, when all
men would be counsellors, and censure all that the coun
cil did, than with the power of the enemy.
18 About the time that the treaty began, the queen landed
in the north, having been chased by the parliament ships
into Burlington bay, tbeir ships discharging all their can
non upon a small village where she lodged after her land
ing, that she was glad to resort for shelter to some banks
in the field, where she spent most part of the night, and
was the next day received by the earl of Newcastle, with
some troops of his army, and was by him conveyed to

160 The Scotch commissioners require III.
York. Her majesty had brought with her a good supply
of arms and ammunition, which was exceedingly wanted
in the king's quarters; and she resolved, with a good
quantity of ammunition and arms, to make what haste
she could to the king; having at her first landing ex
pressed, by a letter to his majesty, her apprehension of an
ill peace by that treaty; and declared, that she would
never live in England, if she might not have a guard for
the security of her person : which letter came accident
ally afterwards into the hands of the parliament; of which
they made use to the queen's disadvantage. And the ex
pectation of her majesty's arrival at Oxford was the rea
son that the king so much desired the prolongation of the
treaty. And if it had pleased God that she had come
thither time enough, as she did shortly after, she would
have probably condescended to many propositions for the
gratifying particular persons, as appeared afterwards, if
thereby a reasonable peace might have been obtained.
19 It was some few days before the commissioners from
the parliament came to Oxford to treat, that some com
missioners from Scotland came likewise to the king ; and,
having taken London in their way, had concerted with
their old friends how to behave themselves, and how they
might be able, by being present there, to advance their
pretences. They were sent by the council and kingdom
of Scotland, and they pretended to desire his majesty to
issue out his letters of summons for the convening a par
liament in that kingdom, which they said the affairs of
that nation required ; the rather, because of the present
distractions in England. The earl of Loudon, so often
mentioned before, who had been so deeply engaged in the
beginning and throughout the rebellion of Scotland, and
had been gratified upon the pacification, (in treaty whereof
he had been a principal commissioner,) at the king's late
being in Edinburgh, with being made an earl and chan
cellor of Scotland, was the principal commissioner now

-19. the abolition of episcopacy. (1643.) 161
sent to Oxford, together with Alexander Henderson,
their high priest, who had modelled the church govern
ment there, after he had inflamed the people against
the bishops there. In that parliament, when his majesty
had been lately present, and they had obtained all those
concessions from his majesty which gave them power to
keep all they had got, and left the empty name of king to
his majesty, there was an act passed for the dissolving
that parliament, with a provision in it, that if the king
should not call another parliament within three years
after the dissolution of that, that then, upon such day, in
such a year, summons should be sent out by the several
officers, so that infallibly, on such a Tuesday, in such a
year, another parliament should meet at Edinburgh ac
cording to such a model as they had carried with them
from London. Now when these commissioners came to
Oxford to demand a parliament, there were above two
years to come to the day upon which that act of par
liament would authorize them to meet ; but it is true
the king might, if he thought fit, convene one sooner.
His majesty knew well, that, with reference to Scotland
itself, there was no occasion for a parliament to meet,
and knew as well, that it was desired only in order the
better to support the rebellion in England ; and, without
a parliament, he did not believe that the disaffected party
in that kingdom would have power enough to do him any
notable disservice; his majesty always unhappily over
valuing the authority of those there, who he believed
true to him ; and therefore he gave for answer to those
commissioners, that he would send out his summons time
enough for a parliament to meet before that time: nor
could all the importunity they could use, which was very
great, nor the professions and promises which they could
make, which were very many, how great benefit and ser
vice his majesty should receive by speedily calling a par
liament, prevail with him to give them any other answer.
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. M

162 The king calls for the chancellor's opinion III. 20-
20 When they despaired of having his majesty's leave to
have a parliament, which would have served their turn,
and suspended all other propositions, they dealt more
ingenuously and openly ; and taking notice of the present
treaty, and desiring such an end thereof as might establish
peace and quiet to the nation, to the glory of God, and
settlement of the true religion, they presented a long
paper to the king, containing a bitter invective against
bishops, and the whole government of the church ; as
being contrary to the word of God, and to the advance
ment of true religion : and concluded with a very pas
sionate desire for the alteration of that government, as
the only means to settle peace throughout his majesty's
dominions. In all their other demands, concerning the
kingdom of Scotland, and calling a parliament there, the
king had only conferred with two or three of those he
most trusted, whereof the chancellor of the exchequer
was always one, and drew the answers he gave : but this
last paper, which only concerned England, he brought to
the council-board, and required their advice, what answer
he should give to it. The king himself was very desirous
to take this occasion to shew his affection and zeal for
the church ; and that other men's mouths might be here
after stopped in that argument, and that nobody might
ever make the same proposition to him again, he had a
great mind to have made an answer to every expression
in their paper, and to have set out the divine right of
episcopacy; and how impossible it was ever for him in
conscience to consent to any thing, to the prejudice of
that order and function, or to the alienating their lands ;
enlarging himself more in the debate than he used to do
upon any other argument; mentioning those reasons
which the ablest prelate could do upon that occasion;
and wished that all those, and such others as might occur,
should be contained in his answer.
21 Many of the lords were of opinion that a short answer

— 22. on the abolition of episcopacy. (1643.) 163
would be best, that should contain nothing but a rejection
of the proposition, without giving any reason ; no man
seeming to concur with his majesty ; with which he was
not satisfied ; and replied with some sharpness upon what
had been said. Upon which the lord Falkland replied,
having been before of that mind, desiring that no reasons
might be given ; and upon that occasion answered many
of those reasons the king had urged, as not valid to sup
port the subject, with a little quickness of wit, (as his
notions were always sharp, and expressed with notable
vivacity,) which made the king warmer than he used to
be ; reproaching all who were of that mind with want of
affection for the church ; and declaring, that he would
have the substance of what he had said, or of the like
nature, digested into his answer : with which reprehension
all sat very silent, having never undergone the like be
fore. Whereupon the king recollecting himself, and ob
serving that the chancellor of the exchequer had not yet
spoke, called upon him to deliver his opinion, adding,
that he was sure he was of his majesty's mind, with re
ference to religion and the church.
" The chancellor stood up, and said, that he would have
been glad to have said nothing that day, having observed
more warmth than had ever been at that board since he
had the honour to sit there, (which was not many days
before ;) that in truth he was not of the opinion of any one
who had spoken ; he did not think that the answer ought
to be very short, or without any reasons ; and he did as
little think that the reasons mentioned by his majesty
ought to be applied to the paper which the Scots had
been so bold as to present to the king. He said, all
those reasons were fit to be offered in a synod, or in any
other place, where that subject could be lawfully venti
lated; and he believed them all to be of that weight,
that Mr. Henderson and all his assembly of divines could
never answer ; but he should be very sorry that his ma-
m2

164 The king shews his approbation III. 22-
jesty should so far condescend to their presumption, as to
give those reasons; as if he admitted the matter to be
disputed. He asked his majesty, what answer he would
give to the king of France, if he should send to him to
alter the government of the city of London, or any other
city, and that he would substitute other magistrates in
the place of those who are ; which, as a king, he might
more reasonably demand, than these gentlemen of Scot
land could do what they propose ; whether his majesty
would think it more agreeable to his honour, to make a
reasonable discourse of the antiquity of the lord mayor of
London, and of the dependence the present magistrates
had upon the law, and the frame of the government ; or
whether he would only send him word, that he should
meddle with what he had to do. He did think, that it
was very fit that his majesty's answer to this paper should
contain a very severe and sharp reprehension for their
presumption ; and take notice, how solicitous they were
for the preservation of what they called the right and
privilege of their country, that his majesty might not
bring any thing into debate at his council-board here
that concerned the kingdom of Scotland ; though it had
often too much relation to the affairs and government of
England : yet that they would take upon them to demand
from his majesty, at least to advise him to make, an al
teration in the government of England, which would quite
alter the frame of it, and make such a confusion in the
laws, which they could no more comprehend than they
could any thing of the same kind that related to any
other foreign kingdom ; and therefore, that for the future
they should not practise the like presumption.
23 The king discovered himself to be very well pleased all
the time he was speaking ; and when he had done, his
majesty said again, he was sure the chancellor was entirely
of his mind, with reference to the church ; and that he
had satisfied him that this was not the season, nor the

— :— 24- of the chancellor's opinion. (1643.) 165
occasion, in which those arguments which he had used
were to be insisted on ; and that he was willing to depart
from his own sense; and was in truth so well pleased,
that he vouchsafed to make some kind of excuse for the
passion he had spoken with : and all the lords were very
well satisfied with the expedient proposed ; and all com
mended the chancellor : and the answer was given to the
Scottish commissioners accordingly; who had too good
intelligence not to know all that had passed : and upon
their long discourses with the king, (who was always for
ward to enlarge upon that subject, in which he was so
well versed,) expected such an answer as might give them
opportunity to bring the whole matter of episcopacy upon
the stage, and into public disputation. And so they
returned to London, with manifest dissatisfaction, before
the commissioners of the parliament ; and with avowed
detestation of a person, against whom they were known
always to have an inveterate and an implacable displea
sure.
24 It appeared quickly that the parliament had refused to
enlarge the time of the treaty, and so positively com
manded the commissioners to return before the last day
was expired that was assigned for the treaty. They who
intended nothing but the carrying on of the war, and
believed there could be no security for them but by an
entire victory of the king, and a total subduing his party,
had not power enough to hinder and prevent the treaty,
and therefore satisfied themselves with limiting the com
missioners to such propositions and by such instructions
as are mentioned before. But from that time they met
with little opposition in the houses ; they who desired
peace, and had raised their hopes upon the treaty, think
ing it reasonable that all preparations should be made for
the war, and they who abhorred the thought of peace,
and all those who affected it, using all imaginable dili
gence in advancing those preparations ; insomuch as,

166 The king resolves HI. 24-
having by ordinances and seizures drawn in great supplies
of money, they had made such wonderful haste in recruit
ing the army, (to which the earl of Essex had contributed
all his endeavours, believing that he had yet performed
less than had been expected from him,) that the very day
that the commissioners left Oxford, the earl of Essex had
a rendezvous of his whole army, and marched towards
Reading, which was about the beginning of April.
25 The king was much troubled at the disunion betwen the
princes Rupert and Maurice, and the marquis of Hertford*,
after the taking of Bristol; which he knew must exceed
ingly disorder and divide that army: for composing
whereof, his majesty resolved, the next day after the
news, to go himself to Bristol ; which was very necessary
in many respects. The settlement of the port, which was
of infinite importance to the king in point of trade, and
his customs, and with reference to Ireland, and the ap
plying the army to some new enterprise, without loss of
time, could not be done without his majesty's presence.
But there was nothing more disposed his majesty to that
resolution, than to be absent from his council at Oxford,
when he should settle the differences between the prince
and the marquis ; for as he was always swayed by his affec
tion to his nephew, which he did not think partiality ; so
the lords, towards whom the prince did not live with any
condescension, were very solicitous that the marquis might
receive no injustice or disobligation. And the king, to
avoid all counsel in this particular, resolved to declare no
resolution till he should come himself to Bristol ; and so
went from Oxford thither : taking with him, of the coun
cil, the duke of Richmond, the lord Falkland, the master
of the rolls, and the chancellor of the exchequer. The
king lodging the first night at Malmsbury ; and the lord
Falkland, the master of the rolls, and some other gentle-
A The account of this disunion is inserted in Appendix 3 R p. 426.
vol. vi. of the History of the Rebellion, edit. 1849.

—2-26. to go to Bristol. (1643.) 167
men lodging that night with the chancellor of the exche
quer, at his house at Pirton, which lay in the way to
Bristol ; where they were the next day within an hour
after the king.
26 The disorders at Bristol were greater than could have
been imagined ; the factions and jealousies ran through
all kinds and degrees of men, of the army, of the city, of
the country; and the loss of many officers and common
men upon the assaults had weakened the army beyond
imagination, and the number of the sick and wounded was
very great. The natural murmurs of the Cornish were
now turned into direct mutiny, and they declared posi
tively that they would not march further southward, but
would return to their own country, to look to their houses,
their wives, and their children, which they said were in
fested by the garrison at Plymouth. There was no money
to give them, nor were there any officers left, who had
credit and authority over them ; and now all men saw the
infinite loss the king had sustained in the death of Green-
vil, Slanning, and Trevannion, who governed that people
absolutely. It was evident, that if they were compelled
to march further, many of them would run away, and the
rest be full of discontent ; and therefore it was resolved,
that they, and all the rest who had been officers or soldiers
formerly designed for the western services under the mar
quis and prince Maurice, should return again to the west,
upon a presumption that they wonld be able, with the
reputation they would carry back upon the taking of
Bristol, in a short time to subdue those maritime places-
which were possessed by small garrisons for the parlia
ment; and being recruited by good winter quarters, an
army would be ready by the next spring to attend his
majesty ; and all the Cornish made solemn promises that,
as soon as Plymouth should be reduced, they would with
great alacrity return to any service they should be re
quired. The expectation was very reasonable, and the

168 The chancellor opposes HI. 26-
counsel much advanced by prince Rupert, that his brother
Maurice might be in the head of an army ; for he had
prevailed with the king to resolve that the marquis of
Hertford should be no more employed as general, though
it was not discovered to him, nor his commission taken
from him.
27 Besides the king's inclination to his nephew, he found
that work not so difficult, nor the marquis so popular, as
it appeared in the first consultation at Oxford. The mar
quis's unactivity in all things relating to the war, and his
too much retirement to his ease, had lost all the reverence
and devotion of the soldiers ; and prince Maurice's living
with them sociably and familiarly, and going with them
upon all parties and in all actions, in which he had re
ceived some hurts, had made both his person and his
command very acceptable to them. Then the marquis's
leaning too much to the advice of his domestic officers and
the stewards of his lands, and people of that condition,
(many whereof were thought very disaffected to the king's
service, as most of his tenants were,) made the chief per
sons of the country less solicitous for his command over
them than they had been, whereof the lord Paulet was
the chief, who was then at Bristol, and spake with great
freedom to the king of the marquis's unfitness to exercise
that command ; which advice, besides that it was very
grateful, made the more impression, because he was
thought to have good affection for the marquis, and had
little knowledge of the prince.
28 This matter being thus settled in the king's own
thoughts and resolutions, he discovered it no further
than by appointing those troops to be ready for their
march, and prince Maurice to conduct them, whilst the
marquis of Hertford attended his majesty till the business
of Bristol should be settled, and some other affairs of the
country; the marquis intending, when those should be
settled, (in doing whereof he was willing to be present,)

the removal of the marquis of Hertford. (1643.) 169
to make haste to the army, and his majesty, according to
his natural custom of discovering any disobliging resolution
as late as wras possible, did not at all impart his purpose
to him, and being first to resolve what obligation to confer
upon him at the same time, to make the other the better
digested ; and to that purpose he was pleased to confer
with freedom and without reservation with the chancellor
of the exchequer, and bidding him inform himself of the
opinion both the army and the country had of the mar
quis, and asking him, whether the lord Paulet and others
had not spoken to him of the laziness of the marquis, and
of the credit and power Hirton had with him ; and of
some actions done by his secretary, who was a fellow of
an ill reputation ; and wished him to think of it, and to
dispose the marquis to decline that employment, as less
agreeable to his nature and constitution, and to remain
about the person of the king, in order to which he
would think upon some place, for he knew he was weary
of being governor to the prince. The chancellor had
great reverence for the marquis, and knew the benefit
his fidelity had brought to the king, and the insupport
able damage that would accrue from his declared discon
tent, and had no other esteem of the prince's parts and
conduct and discretion, than good manners obliged him
to ; and yet he had with much trouble heard the little
credit the marquis had in the army, and more of his un-
activity than he believed he could have been guilty of;
for though he knew he was naturally lazy, and did so
much love his ease, he knew too that he had a clear
courage and a very good understanding ; and if he had a
friend by him to put him in mind of any thing that con
cerned his honour, he would be very counsellable. Where
upon he told the king, that though he had heard many
discourses which he had not expected, and found that
some persons had changed their opinions of the marquis,
yet he was so apprehensive of the ill consequence that

1 70 Prince Rupert is appointed governor of Bristol, III. 38-
might probably attend his majesty's inclination to remove
him from the command, and giving the entire trust to his
nephew, that he could not give his counsel for the putting
it in execution ; but that when his majesty upon full
thoughts had fixed himself, he would use the credit he
had with the marquis to dispose him to conform himself
to his majesty's determination, and that he could with a
much better conscience dissuade the marquis from affect
ing that command, than he could persuade his majesty to
take it from him.
29 The other matter concerning the government of Bristol
was of as nice a nature, but not like to give the king so
much trouble ; for sir Ralph Hop ton had neither set his
heart upon the command, nor would embrace any title
that might give any umbrage to his majesty, but laid all
his pretences at the king's feet, and himself to be dis
posed of by him. By which unconcernedness and inge
nuity the marquis was sensibly disobliged, having chosen
him as a subject fit to support his authority against the
pretences of the prince ; and therefore this unwarm con
descension was looked upon as a forsaking the marquis,
who was never thoroughly reconciled to him afterwards.
But that which gave the king trouble was, the clear and
unquestionable credit and reputation of sir Ralph Hopton,
who was now the only man left, who had out of nothing,
and when the marquis had given over all hopes of the
west and abandoned it, and fled into Wales, (which was
now remembered with many reproaches,) raised that
force, and upon the matter reduced that part of the king
dom to his majesty's obedience. He was a person of one
of the best families, and one of the fairest fortunes, of all
the gentlemen in that large, rich, and populous county of
Somerset, and inferior to none in the love and affection
of that people. He was of a very generous nature, a
pious and devout man, and an exact observer of justice,
which made the city infinitely desire that he might be

lord Hopton lieutenant governor. (1643.) 1^1
their governor, who would not suffer them to be made a
prey to the soldier. On the other side, by being himself
ungrievous to them by any exactions, it was very pro
bable he would be able to persuade and induce them
cheerfully to submit to such impositions as were necessary
for their own defence ; and that such a man should be
rejected by the king upon the prince's pretence, who
could not reside there himself, and must leave it to a
deputy who would never be grateful, seemed unreasonable
to the king himself in reference to his own service, and
to the envy which would be increased by it towards his
nephew, prince Rupert, who was already become very
unpopular ; but on the other side, the granting it to him
would be generally looked upon as the triumph of the
marquis of Hertford over prince Rupert, which his
majesty could not think of with any patience. The easy
temper and disposition of sir Ralph Hopton, and prince
Rupert's being willing to come off from this matter with
his honour, gave the king an expedient to compose this
difficult affair to his own satisfaction : prince Rupert
should have the name of governor of Bristol, according to
his pretence, by a grant from the king, and sir Ralph
Hopton should be his lieutenant governor, which he
without scruple accepted : but the prince promised to
the king that he would never in the least degree meddle
in the government, but leave it entirely to sir Ralph
Hopton; which being all concluded, two were only
satisfied, the king and sir Ralph Hopton ; the other two,
the prince and the marquis, were both offended, the latter
thinking himself injured by sir Ralph's declining his com
mission to be governor, and submitting to be lieutenant
under prince Rupert, though he had it by commission
from the king himself; and prince Rupert being as angry
that he had only the title, and could not make his own
lieutenant; and that the same man's having the place,
who was designed to it by the marquis, as was generally

172 Mr. Ashburnham invades the office III. 29 
known, would be believed to be put in by his authority ;
and from that time he never favoured sir Ralph Hopton,
but always discountenanced him all he could. But the
king, to publish to all the world the esteem he had of
him, made him at the same time a baron, and created
him lord Hopton of Witham, a noble seat of his own in
the county of Somerset, of whom there will be more occa
sion of discourse hereafter upon several particulars.
30 When the king had settled these particulars, which
had very much disquieted him, he considered what he
was to do now this success at Bristol gave him great
reputation every where ; and the possessing the second
city of the kingdom for trade and wealth of the inhabit
ants much enlarged his quarters.
31 The chancellor of the exchequer had undergone some
mortification during the short abode at Bristol, which was
the only port of trade within the king's quarters ; which
was like to yield a considerable benefit to the king, if it
were well managed ; and the direction thereof belonged
entirely to his office : but when he sent to the officers of
the customs, to be informed of the present state of trade,
he found that some treaty was made, and order given in
it by Mr. Ashburnham, a groom of the bedchamber ; who,
with the assistance and advice of sir John Colepepper,
had prevailed with the king to assign that province to
him, as a means to raise a present sum of money for the
supply of the army : which the chancellor took very
heavily ; and the lord Falkland, out of his friendship to
him, more tenderly ; and expostulated it with the king
with some warmth ; and more passionately with sir John
Colepepper and Mr. Ashburnham, as a violation of the
friendship they professed to the chancellor, and an in
vasion of his office ; which no man bears easily.
32 They were both ashamed of it, and made some weak
excuses, of incogitance and inadvertence ; and the king
himself, who discerned the mischief that would ensue, if

~33>3- of the chancellor of the exchequer. (1643.) 1^3
there should be an apparent schism amongst those he so
entirely trusted, was pleased to take notice of it to the
chancellor, with many gracious expressions ; and said,
" that Mr. Ashburnham being treasurer and paymaster of
the army, he did believe some money might have been
raised for the present occasion ; and only intended it for
the present, without considering it would be an invasion
of his right ; and therefore directed, that an account
should be given to him of all that had been done, and he
should do in it as he thought fit." But when he under
stood all that had been done, he would make no alteration
in it, that his majesty might be convinced that his service
was not looked after in the design. And it was discern
ible enough, that Mr. Ashburnham, who usually looked
very far before him, had not so much intended to disoblige
the chancellor, as, by introducing himself this way into
the customs, to continue one of the farmers of the cus
toms, when the war should be at an end ; of which he
got a promise from the king at the same time ; who had
great affection for him, and an extraordinary opinion of
his managery. If there remained after this any jealousy
or coldness between the chancellor of the exchequer and
the other two, as the disparity between their natures and
humours made some believe there did, it never brake out
or appeared, to the disturbance or prejudice of the king's
service ; but all possible concurrence in the carrying it on
was observed between them.
33 They who had judged only of the improbability of re
lieving Gloucester, by the slow progress that seemed to
be made in the parliament towards it, and the small
increase that was made in the army by new levies, found
themselves deceived ; and, before it was imagined possible,
saw the earl of Essex march out of London with a much
better army, and better provided for, than he had yet
commanded since the beginning of the troubles. The
city had supplied him with five thousand foot of their

174 Lord Falkland is killed III. 33-
trainbands, consisting all of citizens of good account, who
were commanded by their own officers ; and made it
appear, that their city order and discipline very well
prepared and disposed men for the boldest service and
enterprise. The march of the earl of Essex from London
to Gloucester, over as large a campania as any in England,
when the king had an army of above eight thousand
horse, reputed victorious, without being put to strike one
stroke ; the circumstances of that siege, and the raising
it; the earl's march after he had performed that great
work, and when the king's army watched only to engage
him in a battle, and passing over a large and open cam
pania three days before the king had notice that he was
come out of Gloucester ; the overtaking his army, and
the battle by Newbury ; and his retreat afterwards to
London ; contained so many particular actions of courage
and conduct, that they all deserve a very punctual and
just relation ; and are much above the level of this plain
and foreign discourse.
34 In this battle of Newbury, the chancellor of the ex
chequer lost the joy and comfort of his life; which he
lamented so passionately, that he could not in many days
compose himself to any thoughts of business. His dear
friend the lord Falkland, hurried by his fate, in the morn
ing of the battle, as he was naturally inquisitive after
danger, put himself into the head of sir John Byron's
regiment, which he believed was like to be in the hottest
service, and was then appointed to charge a body of foot ;
and in that charge was shot with a musket bullet, so that
he fell dead from his horse. The same day that the news
came to Oxford of his death, which was the next after
he was killed, the chancellor received a letter from him,
written at the time when the army rose from Gloucester ;
but the messenger had been employed in other service, so
that he came not to Oxford till that day. The letter was
an answer to one the chancellor had then sent to him ; in

in the battle of Newbury. (1643.) 175
which he had told him, how much he suffered in his repu
tation with all discreet men, by engaging himself unneces
sarily in all places of danger; and that it was not the
office of a privy counsellor, and a secretary of state, to
visit the trenches, as he usually did ; and conjured him,
out of the conscience of his duty to the king, and to free
his friends from those continual uneasy apprehensions, not
to engage his person to those dangers which were not
incumbent to him. His answer was, that the trenches
were now at an end ; there would be no more danger
there : that his case was different from other men's ;
that he was so much taken notice of for an impatient
desire of peace, that it was necessary that he should like
wise make it appear, that it was not out of fear of the
utmost hazard of war : he said some melancholic things
of the time ; and concluded, that in few days they should
come to a battle, the issue whereofj he hoped, would put
an end to the misery of the kingdom.
35 Much hath been said of this excellent person before ;
but not so much, or so well, as his wonderful parts and
virtues deserved. He died as much of the time as of the
bullet : for, from the very beginning of the war, he con
tracted so deep a sadness and melancholy, that his life
was not pleasant to him ; and sure he was too weary of it-
Those who did not know him very well imputed, very
unjustly, much of it to a violent passion he had for a noble
lady ; and it was the more spoken of, because she died the
same day, and, as some computed it, in the same hour that
he was killed : but they who knew either the lord or the
lady, knew well that neither of them was capable of an ill
imagination. She was of the most unspotted, unblemished
virtue; never married ; of an extraordinary talent of mind,
but of no alluring beauty ; nor of a constitution of tole
rable health, being in a deep consumption, and not like
to have lived so long by many months. It is very true,
the lord Falkland had an extraordinary esteem of her,

176 The chancellor of the exchequer again III. 35 —
and exceedingly loved her conversation, as most of the
persons of eminent parts of that time did ; for she was in
her understanding, and discretion, and wit, and modesty,
above most women; the best of which had always a
friendship with her. But he was withal so kind to his
wife, whom he knew to be an excellent person, that,
though he loved his children with more affection and
fondness than most fathers used to do, he left by his will
all he had to his wife; and committed his three sons,
who were all the children he had, to her sole care and
bounty.
36 He was little more than thirty years of age when he
was killed ; in which time he was very accomplished in
all those parts of learning and knowledge, which most
men labour to attain till they are very old ; and in
wisdom, and the practice of virtue, to a wonderful per
fection. From his age of twenty years, he had lived in
an entire friendship with the chancellor, who was about
six months elder ; and who never spake of him after
wards, but with a love, and a grief, which still raised some
commotion in him. And he very often used to lament
him in the words of Cicero concerning Hortensius, "Quod
magna sapientium et civium bonorum penuria, vir egre-
gius, conjunctissimusque mecum consiliorum omnium
societate, alienissimo reipublicse tempore extinctus, et
auctoritatis, et prudentise suae, triste nobis desiderium
reliquerat." And without doubt, it was in a conjuncture
of time, when the death of every honest and discreet
person was a very sensible and terrible loss in the judg
ment of all good men.
37 After the unhappy death of the lord Falkland, the king
much desired that the chancellor of the exchequer should
be secretary of state in his place ; which the queen did
not oppose, though she rather wished that the lord Digby
might have it ; who had so much kindness and friendship
for the chancellor, (which was at that time, and long after,

-388. refuses the office of secretary of state. (1643.) 177
as sincere as could receive harbour in his breast,) that he
professed he would not have it, if the other would receive
it: but the chancellor gratified his civility, and refused
the office a second time, as he had once before. And he
had so much more reason now, by the coming of a very
specious embassy from France, in the person of the count
of Harcourt, who was already arrived in London ; in which
the chancellor knew his own want of ability to act that
part the office of secretary would have obliged him to;
and for which, as far as the perfection of the French
tongue could qualify him, the lord Digby was very proper ;
and so he was made secretary of state ; professing to every
body, that, as he had the office by the chancellor's refusal
of it, so he would wholly advise with him in all things
pertaining to it, which he always did ; and the confidence
and friendship between them was mutual, and very no
torious, until that lord changed his religion. And he
was no sooner admitted and sworn secretary of state, and
privy counsellor, aiid consequently made of the junto,
which the king at that time created, consisting of the
duke of Richmond, the lord Cottington, the two secre
taries of state, and sir John Colepepper, but the chancellor
of the exchequer was likewise added ; to the trouble, at
least the surprise, of the master of the rolls ; who could
have been contented that he should have been excluded
from that near trust, where all matters were to be con
sulted before they should be brought to the council-board.
And this committee was appointed to treat with the count
of Harcourt ; whom the king believed to be sent from
France, to demand any thing from the parliament in that
king's name, as his majesty should direct ; and therefore
they were appointed to consider well what he should be
directed to propose.
38 But the ambassador no sooner came to the town in
great state and lustre, but he quickly saved them any
further labour, by declaring, that he would treat with
CLABENDON LIFE, VOL. I. N

178 The king proposes to dissolve III. 38 
nobody but the king himself; his business being only to
serve the king, with reference to the differences between
his majesty and the parliament ; and pretended, that, in
his short stay at London, he had already discovered that
his majesty was betrayed ; and that his most secret coun
sels were discovered : and so there was never any com
munication between him and the king's council ; but all
matters were transacted with the king himself, and queen,
and lord Jermyn, who was not of the council, and the
lord Digby ; the queen promising herself very much from
his negociation ; the ambassador being then of great re
putation, having been general of the French army in two
or three great actions, in which his success had been very
notable ; and the queen looked upon him as a person
particularly devoted to her service ; and being of the
house of Lorrain, (the younger son of the duke d'Elboeuf,)
he was not without some alliance to the king : and so he
returned to London with such instructions and advice as
they thought fit to intrust him with, which were too par
ticular ; and with the privity only of the two other per
sons mentioned before.
39 But it quickly appeared after, that he was not sent with
any purpose to do the king service ; but that cardinal
Mazarin (who was newly entered upon the ministry, after
the death of cardinal Richelieu) might take such a view
of the affairs of England, as the better to judge what he
was to do ; and that an accommodation there might not
break his measures, with reference to his other designs ;
which the ambassador was easily satisfied it was not like
to do. And so, after three or four months spent between
Oxford and London, he returned to France ; leaving the
king's affairs so much worse than he found them, by hav
ing communicated some instructions which had been
given him at Oxford, with overmuch confidence, and
which less disposed some persons to peace than they
had been at London.

 41- the parliament at Westminster. (1643.) 179
40 The king called the chancellor one day to him, and
told him, " that he thought there was too much honour
done to those rebels at Westminster in all his declara
tions, by his mentioning them as part of the parliament ;
which as long as they should be thought to be, they would
have, more authority, by their continuing their sitting in
the place whither they were first called, than all the
other members, though so much more numerous, would
have, when they should be convened any where else ;
(there being a thought of convening them to Oxford :)
therefore he knew no reason why he should not positively
declare them to be dissolved ; and so forbid them to sit
or meet any more there." He said, " that he knew
learned men of an opinion, that that act for the con
tinuance of the parliament was void from the beginning ;
and that it is not in the power of the king to bar himself
from the power of dissolving it ; which is to be deprived
of an essential part of his sovereignty: but if the act
were good and valid in law, they had dissolved themselves
by their force, in driving so many members, and even his
majesty himself, who was their head, from the parliament ;
and had forfeited their right of sitting there, and all that
the act had given them, by their treason and rebellion;
which the very being a parliament could not support:
and therefore he wished, that a proclamation might be
prepared, to declare them actually dissolved; and ex
pressly forbidding them to meet, or any body to own
them or submit to them as a parliament."
41 The chancellor told him, that " he perceived by his
majesty's discourse, that he had very much considered
the argument, and was well prepared in it; which for
his part he was not. But he besought him to think it
worth a very strict reflection ; and to hear the opinion of
learned men before he resolved upon it. That it was of
a very nice and delicate nature, in which not only the
people in general, but those of his own party, and even
N 2

180 Mr. Hyde opposes the proposition III. 41——
of his council, would take more umbrage, than upon any
one particular that had happened since the beginning of
the war. That he could not imagine that his forbidding
them to meet any more at Westminster would make one
man the less to meet there ; but he might forbid them
upon such grounds and reasons as might bring more to
them : and that they who had severed themselves from
them, upon the guilt of their actions, might return and
be reconciled to them, upon their unity of opinion. That
it had been the first powerful reproach they had corrupted
the people with towards his majesty, that he intended to
dissolve this parliament, notwithstanding the act for con
tinuance thereof: and if he had power to do that, he
might likewise, by the same power, repeal all the other
acts made this parliament, whereof some were very pre
cious to the people : and as his majesty had always dis
claimed any such thought, so such a proclamation, as he
now mentioned, would confirm all the fears and jealousies
which had been infused into them, and would trouble
many of his own true subjects.
42 " That for the invalidity of the act from the beginning,
he was in his own opinion inclined to hope that it might
be originally void, for the reasons and grounds his majesty
had mentioned ; and that the parliament itself, if this re
bellion was suppressed, might be of the same judgment,
and declare it accordingly ; which would enable him
quickly to dissolve it. But till then, he thought all the
judges together, even those who were in his own quarters,
and of unquestionable affection to his majesty, would not
declare any such invalidity; and much less, that any
private man, how learned soever, would avow that judg
ment : in which his majesty might easily satisfy himself,
having so many of the judges, and many other excellent
men of the robe then at Oxford. For their having dis
solved themselves, or forfeited their right of sitting there,
by their treason and rebellion," he said, " he could less

-44" to dissolve the parliament at Westminster. (1643.) 181
understand it than the other argument of invalidity ; for
that the treason and rebellion could only concern and be
penal to the persons who committed them : it was possi
ble many might sit there, he was sure many had a right
to sit there, who had always opposed every illegal and
every rebellious act ; and therefore the faults of the others
could never forfeit any right of theirs, who had com
mitted no fault : and, upon the whole matter, concluded
as he had begun, that his majesty would very throughly
consult it, before he did so much as incline in his own
wishes."
43 His majesty said, he had spoken more reason against it
than he had thought could have been alleged : however,
he bade him confer with his attorney general, who, he
believed, was of another opinion. The chancellor moved
his majesty, that since the ground of what should be
resolved on in this point must be expressed in the pro
clamation, the attorney might put his own conceptions in
writing, and then his majesty would the better judge of
them. The king said, it seemed reasonable to him, and
he had proposed it to him, but he had declined it, and
commended the pen his majesty had used to employ, as
very clear and significant ; and said, if he had an hour's
conference with that person, the business would be done.
Whereupon the chancellor went immediately to his lodg
ing, choosing rather to use that civility towards him, than
to send for him ; who did not love him so well as he had
done before he was his superior officer.
44 After a long conference together, and many circumlo
cutions, (which was his natural way of discourse,) and
asking questions, Why not this? and, Why not that?
without expressing his own opinion ; at last he confessed,
that there must be no attempt to dissolve them, " though
it might be even that might be lawful in many respects,"
but that it would be sufficient to declare the force which
had been, and still was upon them, that rendered them

182 Mr. Hyde's conferences with III. 44 
not free ; and so they ought not to be looked upon as a
parliament ; and that they might be required to adjourn
from time to time, till all the members might with safety
repair to and sit with them : in all which the other
agreed with him, and so they parted ; the chancellor
promising, that, against the next morning, he would pre
pare a proclamation agreeable to that which he thought
to be their joint meaning ; for he did not observe any
difference to be between them. The next morning the
attorney came to his lodging, where he found the 'draught
prepared ; which, as soon as he had read, he said did in
no degree express or comprehend the sense that had been
agreed between them : and thereupon he entered again
into the same discourse he had made before, and more
perplexed than before ; being most offended with the
preamble, wherein it was declared, that the king neither
could or intended to break the parliament : which was so
contrary to what he had infused into the king, and which
the chancellor thought most necessary, to contradict that
reproach which naturally would be cast upon his majesty.
In the end, when he had wearied himself with the debate,
they came both again to mean the same thing ; which
was no other than was agreed before, though, as the
attorney said, it was not expressed in the draught before
them : whereupon it was agreed between them, that,
against the next morning, either of them should make a
draught apart ; and then, when they came together, it
would easily be adjusted.
45 But the next morning they were as far asunder as
before, and the attorney had prepared no paper, and said,
it needed not, the difference being very small, and would
be rectified with changing or leaving out a word or two ;
which the chancellor desired him to do, and to leave out
or put in what he pleased : which when he Went about to
do, twenty other things occurred to him ; and so he
entered upon new discourses, without concluding any

— i— 46. the attorney general thereon. (1643.) 183
thing ; and every day entertained the king with an account,
as if all were agreed ; but upon conference with the
chancellor, his majesty wondered at the delay, and told
him, he wondered at it, for the attorney spake still as
clearly to him as it was possible for any man to do, and
therefore the putting it in writing could not be hard.
The other answered him, that it would never be done
any other way than that which he had first proposed to
him ; and therefore besought his majesty, that he would
oblige the attorney to put his own conceptions, which he
made so clear to him, into writing; and then, his majesty
having likewise what the chancellor prepared in his
hands, he would easily conclude which should stand ; and
otherwise there would never be any conclusion.
46 About two days after, the chancellor came into the
garden where the king was walking ; and calling him
shortly to him, in some disorder, his majesty told him,
" he was never in that amazement in his life ; that he
had at last, not without a very positive command, obliged
the attorney to bring him such a draught in writing, as
was agreeable to his own sense ; and that he had now
done it ; but in such a manner, that he no more under
stood what the meaning of it was, than if it were in
Welch, which was the language of the attorney's country ;
only," he said, " he was very sure it contained nothing of
the sense he had ever expressed to him :" and so bade
him follow him into a little room at the end of the
garden ; where, as soon as he was entered, he shut the
door, because there were many people in the garden ; and
then pulled a paper out of his pocket, and bade him read
it ; which when he had done, it being all in the attorney's
own hand, he said, " it deserved wonder indeed ;" and it
was so rough, perplexed, and insignificant, that no man
could judge by it, or out of it, what the writer proposed
to himself. And it made so great an impression upon
the king, (who had before thought him a man of a master

184 The king's approbation of Mr. Hyde's III. 47—
reason, and that no man had so clear notions,) that he
never after had any esteem of him.
47 The truth is, he was a man very unlike any other man ;
of a very good natural wit, improved by conversation
with learned men, but not at all by study and industry :
and then his conversation was most with men, though
much superior to him in parts, who rather admired than
informed him ; of which his nature (being the proudest
man living) made him not capable, because not desirous.
His greatest faculty was, and in which he was a master,
to make difficult matters more intricate and perplexed ;
and very easy things to seem more hard than they were.
The king considered the matter and subject of that pro
clamation at the council ; where that draught the chan
cellor had provided was agreed to ; and the attorney
seemed to be satisfied in it, and was content to have it
believed that it had been consulted with him ; though he
never forgave the chancellor for exposing him in that man
ner ; by which he found he bad lost much ground.
48 After the treaty of Uxbridge, most of the commission
ers had given so good a testimony of the chancellor's
diligence and industry, that the king, shortly after his
return, very graciously took notice of it to him; and,
above all, of his affection to the church, of which, he said,
Dr. Steward had so fully informed him, that he looked
upon him as one of the few who was to be relied upon in
that particular : at which, he said, himself was not at all
surprised, having long known his affection and judgment
in that point ; but confessed he was surprised with the
carriage of some others, from whom he had expected
another kind of behaviour in matters of the church ; and
named sir Orlando Bridgman, upon whom, he said, he
had always looked, being the son of a bishop, as so firm,
that he could not be shaken ; and therefore he was the
more amazed, to hear what condescensions he had been
willing to have made, in. what concerned religion ; and

behaviour in the treaty of Uxbridge. (1645.) 185
pressed the chancellor to answer some questions he asked
him about that transaction : to the particulars whereof he
excused himself from answering, by the protestation they
had all taken before the treaty, with his majesty's appro
bation : though indeed himself had been very much sur
prised with the first discovery of that temper in that
gentleman, which he had never before suspected : and
ever after said, that " he was a man of excellent parts,
and honestly inclined ; and would choose much rather to
do well than ill ; but if it were not safe for him to be
steady in those resolutions, he was so much given to find
out expedients to satisfy unreasonable men, that he would
at last be drawn to yield to any thing he should be power
fully pressed to do."
49 The king at that time having resolved to separate the
prince his son from himself, by sending him into the west,
the chancellor had a great desire to excuse himself from
attending upon the prince in that journey ; and repre
sented to his majesty, that his office made it more proper
for him to be near his majesty's person ; and therefore
renewed his suit again to him, that his service might be
spared in that employment ; which he was the less in
clined to, because he had discovered, that neither the
duke of Richmond or the earl of Southampton did intend
to wait upon his highness in that expedition : but the
king told him positively, and with some warmth, that if
he would not go, he would not send his son : whereupon
he submitted to do any thing which his majesty should
judge fit for his service.
50 The chancellor speaking one day with the duke of
Richmond, who was exceedingly kind to him, of the ill
state of the king's affairs, and of the prince's journey into
the west ; the duke asked him, whether he was well re
solved to carry the prince into France when he should
be required. He answered, that there had been no such
-thing mentioned to him, nor could he ever be made in-

186 Lord Digby' s discourse with Mr. Hyde III. 50-
strumental in it, but in one case, which was, to prevent
his falling into the hands of the parliament ; and in that
case, he did believe every honest man would rather advise
his going any whither than to be taken by them : yet
even in that case he should prefer many places before
France. The duke wished he might stay till then, im
plying, that he doubted it was the present design ; but
there was never any thing discovered to make it believed,
that there was a design at that time formed to such a
purpose : yet the lord Digby, who had all familiarity and
confidence with the chancellor, shortly after gave him oc
casion to apprehend that there might even then be some
such intention.
51 After a long discourse of the great satisfaction the king
had in his (the chancellor's) service, and how much he
was pleased with his behaviour in the treaty at Uxbridge,
and that he had not a greater confidence in any man's af
fection and fidelity ; he said, his majesty had a great mind
to confer with him upon a point of the last importance ;
but that he was kept from it by an apprehension that he
was of a different judgment from his majesty in that par
ticular. The other answered, that he was very sorry that
the king was reserved for such a reason ; for though he
knew the chancellor did never pretend to think one thing
when he did think another, and so might take the bold
ness to differ from his majesty in his judgment; yet the
king could not believe that he would discover the secret,
or refuse to do any thing that became an honest man,
upon his command, though he did not believe it coun-
sellable. Whereupon he entered upon a very reasonable
consideration of the low condition of the king ; of the
discontent and murmur of the court and of the camp ;
how very difficult a thing it was like to be, to raise such
an army as would be fit to take the field ; and how much
more unfit it would be for the king to suffer himself to he
enclosed in any garrison ; which he must be, if there were

_53>3- concerning the prince's going to France. (1645.) 187
no army for him to be in. If the first difficulty should be
mastered, and an army made ready to march, there could
be little doubt, how great soever their distractions were
at London, but that the parliament would be able to send
another more numerous, and much better supplied than
the king's could be ; and then, if the king's army was
beaten, he could have no hope ever to raise another, his
quarters already being very strait ; and after a defeat,
the victorious army would find no opposition ; nor was
there any garrison that could oppose them any consider
able time ; London would pour out more forces ; that all
the west would be swallowed up in an instant ; and in
such a case he asked him, whether he would not think
it fit, and assist to the carrying the prince out of the
kingdom.
52 The chancellor told him, he would deliver his opinion
freely to him, and was willing he should let the king
know it. That such a prospect as he had supposed, might
and ought to be prudently considered ; but that it must
be with great secrecy, for that there were already, to his
knowledge, some whispers of such a purpose ; and that it
was the true end of sending the prince into the west;
which, if it should be believed, it would never be in their
power to execute, though the occasion should be most
pressing : therefore desired there might not be the least
whisper of any contingency that might make it fit. For
the matter itself, it must never be done upon any suppo
sition of a necessity; but when the necessity should be
real, and in view, it ought to be resolved and executed at
once ; and he would make no scruple of carrying him
rather into Turkey, than suffering him to be made a
prisoner to the parliament.
S3 The lord Digby replied, that though the king would
be very well pleased with this opinion of his, yet he would
not be surprised with it ; since he knew his affection and
wisdom to be such, that in such an extremity he could

188 Lord Digby and Mr. Hyde converse III. 53
not bnt have that resolution : therefore that was not the
point that the king doubted he would differ with him in.
Then he continued the discourse, that he hoped there
would not such an occasion fall out, and that the divisions
at London would yet open some door for a good peace to
enter at ; but if they should unite, and should send out a
strong army, and likewise appoint the Scots to march
towards them ; how the king would do between two such
armies, was a terrible prospect : and then the least blow
would raise so general a consternation, that the king
would be more disquieted by his friends and servants
than by the enemy ; that his council was so constituted,
that they would look upon the prince's leaving the
kingdom as less advisable than giving himself up to the
parliament ; and that many men were yet so weak as to
believe, that the best way the king could take for his
security, and preservation of his posterity, was to deliver
up both himself and all his children into the hands of the
parliament; and that they would then give him better
conditions than they had offered in their treaties, having
it then in their power to keep all such persons from him
as they were dissatisfied with.
54 If this opinion should once spread itself, as upon any
signal defeat it would undoubtedly do, it must be expected,
that the council, and most of the lords, who looked upon
themselves as ruined for their loyalty, out of their natural
apprehension, would imagine, that the prince being then
in the west, and at liberty to do what should be thought
fit, would be directed by the king to transport himself into
parts beyond the sea ; and the queen his mother being
then in France, most probably thither ; which was a cir
cumstance that would likewise make his transportation
more universally odious. So that upon this reflection and
erroneous animadversion, the king would be, in the first
unfortunate conjuncture, importuned by all about him to
send for the prince ; or at least to send such orders to

respecting the prince's going to France. (1645.) 189
those to whose care he was intrusted, that they should
not presume to transport him beyond the seas, in what
exigent soever. Most men would believe, that they
should merit of the parliament by this advice, and would
prosecute it with the more earnestness and importunity ;
whilst those few who discerned the mischief and ruin that
must flow from it, would not have the courage to deliver
their opinions in public, for fear of being accused of the
counsel ; and by this means the king might be so wearied
and tired with importunity, that, against his judgment, he
might be prevailed with to sign such a direction and
order as is before mentioned ; though his majesty was
clearly satisfied in his understanding, that if both himself
and the prince were in their hands together, the best that
could happen would be murdering him and crowning his
son ; whereas if his son were at liberty, and out of their
reach, they would get nothing by his death, and conse
quently would not attempt it.
55 This, he said, was the fatal conjunction the king appre
hended ; and he then asked the chancellor, what he would
do. To which he answered, without pausing, that he
hoped the king had made up a firm resolution never to
depart from his own virtue, upon which his fate depended ;
and that if he forsook himself, he had no reason to depend
upon the constancy of any other man, who had nothing to
support that confidence but the conscience of doing what
was just : that no man could doubt the lawfulness of
obeying him, in carrying the prince out of the kingdom,
to avoid his being taken by the rebels ; and he was not
only ready to obey in that case, but would confidently
advise it, as a thing in policy and prudence necessary to
be done. But if the king, being at liberty, and with his
own counsellors and servants, should under his hand
forbid the prince to transport himself, and forbid all
about him to suffer it to be done, he would never be
guilty of disobeying that express command ; though he

190 The king's confidence in the judgment III. 55
should be very sorry to receive it. He wished the king
would speak with him of it, that he might take the
boldness to conjure him never to put an honest and a
faithful servant to that unjust strait, to do any thing
expressly contrary to his plain and positive command,
upon pretence of knowing his secret pleasure ; which is
exposing him to public justice and reproach, which can
never be wiped out by the conscience of the other; and
that the artifice was not worthy the royal breast of a
great monarch. This, he said, was still upon the sup
position of the king's liberty; but if he were a prisoner
in the hands of his enemies, (though that should not
shake his resolution, or make him say things he doth
not intend, upon imagination that others will know his
meaning,) the case would be different ; and honest men
would pursue former resolutions, though they should be
countermanded, according to circumstances.
56 The conference ended ; and was never after resumed :
nor did the king ever, in the least degree, enter upon
the argument with the chancellor, though he had many
private conferences with him upon all that occurred to
him, with reference to what the prince should do in the
west ; and of all the melancholic contingencies which
might fall out in his own fortune. And it was generally
believed, that his majesty had a much greater confidence
in the chancellor than in the other, whose judgment he
had no reverence for ; and this made the chancellor after
wards believe, that all the other discourse from the lord
Digby proceeded rather from some communication of
counsels he had with the queen, than any directions
from the king. And he did upon concurrent circum*
stances ever think, that the queen did, from the first
minute of the separation of the prince from the king,
intend to draw his highness into France, that he might
be near her, and under her tuition, before any thing in
the declension of the king's fortune required it, or made

of the chancellor of the exchequer. (1645.) 191
it compellable ; and therefore had appointed the lord
Digby, her creature, who she knew had great friendship
with the chancellor, to feel his pulse, and discover,
whether he (in whom she had never confidence) might
be applicable to her purposes. But he often declared,
that the king himself never intimated the least thought
of the prince's leaving the kingdom till after the battle
of Naseby ; and when Fairfax was marched with his
army into the west, and himself was in despair of being
able to raise another army ; and even then, when he sig
nified his pleasure to that purpose, he left the time and
the manner and the place to them who were especially
trusted by him about the prince ; as will appear by the
particular papers which are preserved of that affair ; and
wherein it will likewise appear, that his majesty received
infinite satisfaction and content in the whole management
of that affair, and the happy and secure transportation of
the prince, in the just and proper season, and when all
the kingdom was right glad that it was done.
57 As his majesty was more particularly gracious to the
chancellor from the time of the treaty at Uxbridge ; so
there was no day passed without his conferring with him
in private upon his most secret considerations and appre
hensions, before his departure with the prince for the
west. One day he told him, he was very glad of what
the duke of Richmond had done the day before ; and
indeed he had done somewhat the day before which very
much surprised the chancellor. When his majesty arose
from council, the duke of Richmond whispered somewhat
privately to him, upon which the king went into his
bedchamber: and the duke called the chancellor, and
told him, the king would speak with him, and so took
him by the hand, and led him into the bedchamber ; the
privilege and dignity of which room was then so punctually
preserved, that the king very rarely called any privy
counsellor to confer with him there, who was not of the

192 The chancellor forms a friendship with the III. 58
bedchamber : which maintained a just reverence to the"
place, and an esteem of those who were admitted to
attend there.
58 As soon as he came into the room, before he said any
thing to the king, who was there alone, the duke spake
to the chancellor, and told him, that he had been brought
up from his childhood by the crown, and had always paid
it the obedience of a child ; that as he had taken a wife
with the approbation and advice of the crown, so he had
never made a friendship, which he took to be a kind of
marriage, without the king's privity and particular appro
bation ; that he had long had a kindness for him, but had
taken time to know him well, which he thought he now
did ; and therefore had asked his majesty's consent, that
he might make a friendship with him : and then said to
the king, " Sir, have I not your approbation to this con
junction ?" to which his majesty said, " Yes, my lord, I
am very glad of it ; and I will pass my word to you for
the chancellor, that you will not repent it ;" with many
gracious expressions to them both : and so the duke led
him out of the room again, saying, " Now, Mr. Chancellor,
it is in your power to deceive me." And to this it was,
that his majesty's discourse related the next day, when
he told him he was glad of what had passed, &c. and said,
he hoped he would give him good counsel ; for he had
not of late lived towards him in the manner he was used
to do ; that he knew well the duke was a very honest and
worthy man, and had all the kindness as well as duty for
his majesty; but that he was grown sullen, or discon
tented, and had not the same countenance he used to
have ; for which he could imagine no other reason, but
that his man Webb gave him ill counsel : he said, he was
well contented that he should take notice, that his
majesty was not well satisfied ; and asked him suddenly,
when the duke was at Oriel college with them ; (Oriel
college was the lodging of the lord treasurer, where that

-fjoJo. duke of Richmond. The duke's character. (1645.) 193
committee for secret affairs, of which the duke was one,
used to meet.) The chancellor answered, that indeed the
duke had not been there lately, which he thought had
proceeded from his attendance upon his majesty, or some
other necessary divertisement. The king said, it pro
ceeded not from thence ; and that he might take occasion
from his absence from thence, to let himself into that
discourse, and afterwards proceed as he thought fit.
59 The duke was a person of a very good understanding ;
and of so great perfection and punctuality in all matters
of honesty and honour, that he was infinitely superior to
any kind of temptation. He had all the warmth and
passions of a subject, and a servant, and a friend for the
king, and for his person ; but he was then a man of a
high spirit, and valued his very fidelity at the rate it was
worth; and not the less, for that it had almost stood
single for some time. The chancellor was very sorry for
this discovery; and chose to wait upon the duke the
same day, near the hour when the meeting used to be at
Oriel college : and when he had spent a short time with
him, he said, he thought it was time to go to Oriel
college, and asked his grace, whether he would please to
go thither ; for which he making some excuse, the other
pressed him with some earnestness, and said, it was
observed that he had a good time declined that meeting,
and if he should not now go thither, he should be doubt
ful there was some reason for it.
60 The duke replied, that he had indeed been absent from
thence for some time, and that he would deal clearly with
him as his friend, but desired it should not be known ;
that he was resolved to be there no more. Then com
plained, that the king was not kind to him ; at least, had
not that confidence in him which he had used to have :
and then spake of many particulars loosely; and especially,
that before the treaty, he had advised the king to use all
the means he could to draw them to a treaty, for many
CLAEENDON LIFE, VOL. I. °

194 The chancellor endeavours to reconcile III. 6o-
advantages which were like to be gotten by it ; and to
that purpose produced a letter that he had newly received
from the countess of Carlisle, and read it to his majesty,
who then seemed not to be moved with the contents;
but afterwards, in several discourses, reflected upon it in
such a manner, as if he were jealous that the duke held
too much correspondence with that people: which he
looked upon as such a point of diffidence, that it was no
longer fit for him to be present where the secret part of .
his affairs was transacted ; and so he had and would for
bear to meet in that place, till his majesty should enter
tain a better opinion of him : yet he concealed the
trouble of mind which he sustained ; and wished that
no notice might be taken of it.
61 The chancellor told him, it was too late for that caution ;
that the lords themselves could not but observe his long
absence, who before used to be the most punctual ; and
confessed to him, that the king himself had spoken to
him of it with a sense of wonder and dislike ; which, he
said, he was to blame himself for ; since the honour he
had done him to the king, had likewise disposed his ma
jesty to trust him so far, as to express some dissatisfaction
he had in his grace's late carriage and behaviour. The
duke seemed not displeased with the communication, but
thereupon entered into a fuller and warmer discourse
than before ; how much the king had withdrawn his
confidence from him, and trusted others much more than
Mm. In sum, it was easy to discern, that the thing that ;
troubled him was the power and credit that John Ash
burnham had with the king ; which his vanity made him
own to that degree, that he was not content to enjoy the
benefit of it, except he made it public, and to be taken
notice of by all men ; which could not but reflect upon
his honour : and when the chancellor seemed to think it
impossible, that himself could believe that the king
could prefer a man of Mr. Ashburnham's talent before his

the duke of Richmond to the king (1645.) 195
grace, he proceeded with many instances, and insisted
with most indignation upon one.
62 That about a year before, sir John Lucas, who was well
known to his grace, having met him abroad in his travels,
and ever after paid a particular respect to him, had
applied himself to him, and desired his favour ; that
when there should be any opportunity offered, he would
recommend him to the king, to whom he was not un
known: that his affection to his majesty's service was
notorious enough, and that his sufferings were so likewise,
his house being the first that was plundered in the be
ginning of the war; by which, the loss he sustained in
furniture, plate, money, and stock was very considerable ;
so that he might modestly hope, that when his majesty
scattered his favours upon others of his own rank, his
poor service might likewise be remembered : but he had
seen men raised to dignities, who he was sure had not the
advantage over him in their sufferings, whatever they
might have in their actings; and he desired no more,
but (since it was too evident that his majesty's wants
were great, and that money would do him some service)
that he might receive that degree of honour which others
had, and he would make such a present to him as should
manifest his gratitude; and he desired to owe the
obligation to his grace, and to receive it only by his
mediation.
63 He said, he had moved this matter, with the relation
of all the circumstances, to his majesty, who spake very
graciously of the gentleman, as a person of merit, but
said, he was resolved to make no more lords ; which he
received as a very good answer, and looked upon as a
good resolution, and commended it ; desiring only, that
if at any time his majesty found it necessary to vary from
that resolution, he would remember his proposition, and
gratify that gentleman ; which he promised to do ; and
with all which he acquainted the person concerned;
0 2

196 The chancellor unavailingly endeavours to reconcile III. 63
thinking it could not but well satisfy him. But he told
him, that he was sorry that he could not receive the
honour by his grace's recommendation ; but for the thing
itself, he could have it when he would ; and shortly after
it was despatched by Mr. Ashburnham : he asked, whether
this was not preferring Mr. Ashburnham very much before
him. The chancellor told him, he was preferred as the
better market man ; and that he ought not to believe
that the king's affection swayed him to that preference,
but an opinion that the other would make the better
bargain. He replied, his majesty was deceived in that,
for he had told him what the other meant to give, without
the least thought of reserving any thing for himself;
whereas his majesty had now received five hundred pounds
less, and his market man had gotten so much for his
pains.
64 In conclusion, he prevailed so far with him, that they
went that afternoon together to the committee to Oriel
college ; and the next day the chancellor spake with the
king again, and told him, that the duke had been in the
afternoon with the committee, where many things had
been consulted ; and that he found all his trouble pro
ceeded from an apprehension that his majesty had with
drawn his affection from him ; at least, that he, the duke,
had not the same credit with his majesty which he had
formerly had ; and that the sense and fear of that could
not but make an impression upon a good servant, who
loved his master as well as he did. His majesty said,
they two should not live as well together as they had
done, as long as the duke kept his man Webb ; who
made him believe that the king was wholly governed by
Ashburnham, and cared not for any body else. He said,
nobody who knew him could believe he could be governed
by Ashburnham ; who, though an honest man, and one
that he believed loved him well, no man thought was of
an understanding superior to his majesty ; and enlarged

-6616. the king to the duke of Richmond. (1645.) 197
himself upon this argument so much, that he seemed as
it were glad of the opportunity to clear himself from that
aspersion or imputation.
65 It is a very great misfortune for any prince to be sus
pected to be governed by any man ; for as the reproach
is of all others the most grievous, so they think the
trusting weak men, who are much short of their own
vigour of wit and understanding, is a sufficient vindication
from that calumny ; and so, before they are aware of it,
they decline wiser men, who are fit to advise them, and
give themselves to weaker, upon an imagination, that
nobody will ever suspect they can be governed by them.
In fine, he found the work too hard for him ; the king
being so much incensed against Webb, that he expected
the duke should turn him away : and the duke himself
looked upon the king's prejudice as infused into him by
Ashburnham, upon particular malice; having often desired
that some accuser might charge Webb, and he be heard
to answer for himself ; which the king not being willing
to admit, the other was unwilling to dismiss a servant, his
secretary, who had served him long, and was very useful
to him ; and who indeed was never suspected for any
infidelity or want of affection to his master : and so the
chancellor, to his great trouble, was not able to remove
that cloudiness that remained in both their countenances ;
which never produced the least ill effect in the view or
observation of any ; the duke's duty being never in any
degree diminished ; and the king's kindness to him con
tinuing with many gracious evidences to his death.
66 The last conference his majesty had with the chancellor
was the very day the prince began his journey towards
the west, and indeed after he had received his blessing;
when his majesty sent for him into his bedchamber, and
repeated some things he had mentioned before. He told
him, "there had been many things which had troubled
him, with reference to his son's absence from him ; for

198 The king's last conference with the chancellor, III. (56-
all which, but one, he had satisfied himself: the one was,
the inconvenience which might arise from the weakness
and folly of his governor ; against which he had provided*
as well as he could, by obliging the prince to follow the
advice of his council in all things ; which he was well
assured he would do; and he had given them as much
authority as they could wish : another was, that there was
one servant about the prince, who he thought had too
much credit with him, which was Elliot ; who he did not
intend should be with him in the journey ; and had there
fore sent him into France to the queen, with direction to
her majesty, to keep him there ; and if he should return
whilst the prince remained in the west, that he should be
sent to his majesty, and not suffered to stay with his
highness ; and that was all the care he could take in
those two particulars : but there was a third, in which he
knew not what to do, and that troubled him much more
than the other two." When the chancellor seemed full
of expectation to know what that might be, the king
said, " I have observed of late some kind of sharpness,
upon many occasions, between Colepepper and you ; and
though you are joined with other honest men, yet my
great confidence is upon you two : I know not that the
fault is in you ; nay, I must confess, that it is very often
in him ; but let it be where it will, any difference and
unkindness between you two must be at my charge; and I
must tell you, the fear I have of it gives me much trouble ;
I have spoken very plainly to him my apprehension in this
point, within this hour; and he hath made as fair promises
to me as I can wish ; and upon my conscience I think he
loves you, though he may sometimes provoke you to be
angry."
67 The king here making a pause, the chancellor, out of
countenance, said, " he was very sorry that he had ever
given his majesty any occasion for such an apprehension,
but very glad that he had vouchsafed to inform him of it ;

¦68,8.. who is for the first time attacked o$ -gout. (1645.) 199
because he believed he should give his majesty such as
surance in that particular as would fully satisfy him : he
assured his majesty, that he had a great esteem of the lord
Colepepper; and though he might have at some times
passions which were inconvenient, he was so confident of
himself, that they should not provoke or disturb him, that
he was well content that his majesty should condemn, and
think him in the fault, if any thing should fall out, of pre
judice to his service, from a difference between them two."
With which his majesty appeared abundantly satisfied and
pleased ; and embracing him, gave him his hand to kiss ;
and he immediately went to horse, and followed the
prince : and this was the last time the chancellor ever
saw that gracious and excellent king.
68 It was upon the fourth of March, in the year 1644,
that the prince parted from the king his father. He
lodged that night at Farringdon, having made his journey
thither in one continued storm of rain from the minute
he left Oxford ; and from thence went the next day to
the garrison of the Devizes ; and the third to the city of
Bath ; which being a safe place, and within seven or eight
miles of Bristol, he stayed there two or three days. And
in this journey the chancellor was first assaulted with the
gout, having never had the least apprehension of it
before ; but from his coming to Bath he was not able to
stand, and so went by coach to Bristol; where in few-
days he recovered that first lameness, which ever after
afflicted him too often. And thus ended the year 1644,
which shall conclude this part.
Montpelier, November 6, 1669.

200 fritmmary of particulars IV. i.

THE LIFE

OF

EDWAKD EAKL OF CLAKENDON;
FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE RESTORATION OF THE ROYAL
FAMILY IN THE YEAR 1660.

PART IV.

A. VERY particular memorial of all material affairs in
the west, during the subsequent year of 1645, during the
prince's residence in the west — The state and temper of
that country, after the defeat of his majesty's army at
Naseby — The several plots and devices of the lord
Goring, to get the prince into his power — The de
bauchery of that army and amongst the officers of it,
and the defeats it suffered from the enemy through that
debauchery — Goring's departure out of the kingdom, and
the posture he left his army in — The beating up of their
quarters afterwards — The entering of Fairfax into the
west with his army ; and his sudden taking the towns
there — The mutinous behaviour of sir Richard Greenvil,
and the quarrels and conflicts between the troops under
his command with those under the lord Goring — The
prince's retreat by degrees backward into Cornwall, as
Fairfax advanced — The several messages and orders from
the king, for the transporting the prince out of England,
and all the directions and resolutions thereupon ; and the
several messages from the queen and the earl of St.

noticed in the History. (1646.) 201
Alban's ; with the assurance of a supply of six thousand
foot, under the command of Ruvignie, promised con
fidently to be landed in Cornwall within one month,
when there was not any such thing in nature, nor one
company raised, or ship in readiness, or in view for such
an expedition, &c. — The king's obliging the lord Hopton
to take charge of those broken and dissolute troops — The
commitment of sir Richard Greenvil, for not submitting
to be commanded by him, and for endeavouring to raise a
party in the country to treat with the enemy for the
security and neutrality of Cornwall, and the routing the
lord Hopton's troops at Torrington — The prince's retreat
thereupon to Pendennis; and the factions and conspira
cies between some of his own servants and some gentle
men of the country to hinder the prince from going out
of the kingdom ; and the departure of his highness from
Pendennis, in the end of that year 1645, and his arrival
in the island of Scilly, is contained in papers, orderly and
methodically set down ; which papers and relation are
not now at hand, but are safe, and will be easily found ;
together with his highness's stay in the island of Scilly :
from whence, the next day, the lord Colepepper was
despatched with letters to the queen to Paris, to give
notice of his highness's being in that island ; and to
desire money, arms, and ammunition for the defence
thereof: and at the same time another vessel was sent
into Ireland, to give the marquis of Ormond likewise
information of it, and to desire that two companies of
foot might be sent thither, to increase that garrison,
and to defend it, in case the enemy should attack it —
His highness's stay in Scilly near six weeks, until the lords
Capel and Hopton came thither, after they had made con
ditions for the disbanding their troops with Fairfax ; which
Goring's troops made it necesary to do ; they not only
refusing to obey all orders, but mingling every day with
the troops of the enemy, and remained quietly together

202 Summary of particulars IV. i-
in the same quarters, drinking and making merry with
each other— The report of a fleet designed from the par
liament for Scilly, and those lords viewing the island, and
not looking upon it as tenable, caused a new consultation
to be held, whether it were fit for his highness to remain
there till the return of the lord Colepepper, or to remove
sooner ; and whither he should remove ; the frigate which
brought the prince from Pendennis being still kept in rea
diness at Scilly, upon the foresight that his remove might
come to be necessary — That upon this consultation it was
resolved, that it would not be safe for his highness to
remain there, but that he should transport himself from
thence into the island of Jersey ; which was done accord
ingly — And his highness's arrival there about the be
ginning of April, 1645 — The prince's reception in Jersey
by sir George Carteret ; and the universal joy of the
island for his arrival ; with the situation and strength of the
island — The lord Digby's arrival in Jersey, with two frigates
from Ireland, and with two hundred soldiers ; having been
at Scilly, and there heard of his highness's departure for
Jersey — His earnest advice for the prince's going for
Ireland ; and when he could not obtain his highness's
consent, till the return of the lord Colepepper, his going
to Paris, to persuade the queen, and to protest against the
prince's going for France ; against which he inveighed
with more passion than any man — The arrival of Mr.
Thomas Jermyn from Paris, with very positive orders for
the prince's repair thither, from the queen — And shortly
after, the lord Colepepper's arrival, who had been de
spatched from her majesty to return to Scilly, before she
knew of his highness's remove from thence ; which ad
vertisement overtook the lord Colepepper at Havre de
Grace, after he -was embarked : and so he bent his course
thither, and had the same orders for the prince's going to
Paris as Mr. Jermyn had likewise brought.
r There was none of the council inclined that his highness,

noticed in the History. (1646.) 203"
being in a place of unquestionable safety, should suddenly
depart from thence, till the state and condition in which
his majesty was, and his pleasure might be known : it
was then understood that his majesty had left Oxford,
and was with the Scottish army before Newark; which
he had caused to be rendered, that the army might
retire ; which it presently did, and the king in it, to
Newcastle : the prince was yet in his father's dominions ;
some places in England still holding out, as Oxford,
Worcester, Pendennis, and other places; that it would
be easy, in a short time, to understand the king's plea
sure, and that there could be no inconvenience in ex
pecting it, the prince's person being in no possible
danger; but that the mischief might be very great, if,
without the king's direction, it were done, whether his
majesty should be well or ill treated by the Scots ; and
that the parliament might make it a new matter of
reproach against the king, that he had sent the heir
apparent of the crown out of the kingdom ; which could
be no otherwise excused, at least by those who attended
him, than by evident and apparent necessity : those
reasons appeared of so much weight to the prince him
self, (who had not a natural inclination to go into France,)
and to all the council, that the lord Capel and the lord
Colepepper were desired to go to Paris, to satisfy the
queen why the prince had deferred yielding a present
obedience to her command.
3 The treatment they received at Paris, and their return
again to Jersey, together with the lord Jermyn and lord
Digby, and some other persons of quality : the lord Digby
being to return to Ireland with eight thousand pistoles,
which the cardinal sent towards the supply of the king's
service there ; and being by it and the cardinal so
throughly convinced of the necessity of the prince's going
for France, that he was more positive for it than any of
the rest; and had promised the queen that he would
convert the chancellor, and make him consent to it ; with

204 Summary of particulars noticed in the History. IV. 3, 4 
whom he had a great friendship — The debate at Jersey
upon their coming back — The lord Capel adhering to his
former opinion, that we might first know the king's
opinion; towards the receiving of which he had offered
the queen, and now offered again, to go himself to New
castle, where the king still was ; nobody knowing what
would be the issue of the controversy between the Scots
and the parliament ; and if the king should direct it,
every man would willingly attend his highness, and
punctually observe whatsoever the king commanded ; and
because the objection might be removed, of his being
taken prisoner by the parliament, or his being not suffered
by the Scots to speak with the king, he did offer, and all
who were of his opinion consented to it, that if he did
not return to Jersey within one month, the prince should
pursue the queen's orders, and every man would attend
his highness into France ; and a month's delay could be
of no ill consequence — The prince's resolution to go
presently for Paris — and the reasons which moved the
lords Capel and Hopton, and the chancellor, to excuse
themselves — and his highness's permission to remain in
Jersey ; from whence they would attend his commands,
when he had any service for them — And the sudden
reservedness and strangeness that grew between those
who advised the going, and those who were for staying —
and the prince's embarking himself for France about July,
in the year 1646 —
4 All these particulars are so exactly remembered in
those papers, remaining in a cabinet easy to be found,
that they will quickly be put into a method ; and contain
enough to be inserted in the fourth part of this relation.
Montpelier, November 9, 1669.
N. B. These materials were afterwards made use of by
the author, when he completed the History of the
Rebellion, where these occurrences are treated of more
at large.

— V.i. The chancellor's residence at Jersey. (1642.). 205

THE LIFE
OF
EDWARD EAEL OF CLAEENDON;
FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE RESTORATION OF THE ROYAL
FAMILY IN THE YEAR 1660.

PART V.

X HE prince having left Jersey about July in the year
1646, the chancellor of the exchequer remained there
about two years after ; where he presently betook himself
to his study ; and enjoyed, as he was wont to say, the
greatest tranquillity of mind imaginable. Whilst the
lords Capel and Hopton stayed there, they lived and kept
house together in St. Hilary's ; which is the chief town
of the island : where, having a chaplain of their own, they
had prayers every day in the church, at eleven of the
clock in the morning ; till which hour they enjoyed them
selves in their chambers, according as they thought fit;
the chancellor betaking himself to the continuance of the
History, which he had begun at Scilly, and spending most
of his time at that exercise. The other two walked, or
rode abroad, or read, as they were disposed ; but at the
hour of prayers they always met ; and then dined together
at the lord Hopton's lodging, which was the best house;
they being lodged at several houses, with convenience

206 The chancellor writes from Jersey V. i—
enough. Their table was maintained at their joint ex
pense only for dinners ; they never using to sup ; but
met always upon the sands in the evening to walk, often
going to the castle to sir George Carteret ; who treated
them with extraordinary kindness and civility, and spent
much time with them ; and, in truth, the whole island
shewed great affection to them, and all the persons of
quality invited them to their houses, to very good enter
tainments ; and all other ways expressed great esteem
towards them, and appeared very unanimous and resolute
to defend the island against any attempt the parliament
should make against it.
2 And from hence they writ a joint letter to the king,
which they sent to him by Mr. Fanshaw ; in which they
made great profession of their duty to his majesty, and their
readiness to proceed in his service, and to wait upon the
prince upon the first occasion; with such reasons for their
not attending him into France, as they thought could not
but be satisfactory to his majesty ; declaring, that they had
only desired that he would stay so long in a place of his
own, of unquestionable security, as that they might receive
the signification of his majesty's pleasure for his remove;
upon which they were all resolved to have waited upon him :
though it was evident enough to them, that their advice
would be no longer hearkened unto, after his highness
should arrive with the queen.
3 In England, men's hopes and fears were raised accord
ing to their tempers ; for there was argument for both
affections in the transactions and occurrences of every
day ; it being no easy matter to make a judgment which
party would prevail, nor what they would do if they did.
The lord Capel received advice from his friends in Eng
land, to remove from Jersey into some part of the United'
Provinces ; that so, being in a place to which there could
be no prejudice, his friends might the more hopefully
solicit for liberty for him to return into his own country^

-4- to the king. (1647.) 207
and that he might live in his own house ; which they
had reason to hope would not be denied to a person who
had many friends, and could not be conceived to have
any enemies, his person being worthily esteemed by all.
Whereupon, with the full concurrence and advice of his
two friends, from whom he had great tenderness to part,
and with whom he renewed his contract of friendship at
parting in a particular manner, upon foresight of what
might happen ; he went from thence, and first waited
upon the prince at Paris, that he might have his royal
highness's approbation for his return into England, if he
might do it upon honourable conditions : and from thence,
with all possible demonstration of grace from the prince,
he transported himself to Middleburgh in Zealand ;
where he remained till his friends procured liberty for
him to return, and remain at his own house. The worthy
and noble things he did after will be mentioned in order,
and deserve to be transmitted to posterity in some more
illustrious testimony, that may be worthy to be recorded.
4 The lord Capel thus leaving Jersey, the lord Hopton
and the chancellor remained still there, in the same con
junction, until, some few months after, the lord Hopton
received the news of the death of his wife, and of the
arrival in France of his uncle, sir Arthur Hopton ; who,
having been ambassador from the king in Spain, had left
that court, and retired to Paris ; from whence he shortly
after removed to Rouen, with a purpose, as soon as he
had at large conferred with his nephew, to go into Eng
land, for the good and benefit of both their fortunes : and
upon this occasion the lord Hopton likewise left Jersey,
with all possible professions of an entire friendship to the
chancellor, which was never violated in the least degree
to his death. And the chancellor being thus left alone,
•he was with great civility and friendship invited by sir
Greorge Carteret to remove from the town, (where he had
lived .with his friends till then,) and to live with him in

208 The chancellor removes to sir G. Carteret's,
the castle Elizabeth ; whither he went the next day after
the departure of the lord Hopton, and remained there, to
his wonderful contentment, in the very cheerful society
of sir George Carteret and his lady ; in whose house he
received all the liberty and entertainment he could have
expected in his own family ; of which he always retained
60 just a memory, that there was never any intermission
or decay of that friendship he then made : and he re
mained there till he was sent for again to attend the
prince, which will be mentioned in its time.
S He built a lodging in the castle, of two or three con
venient rooms, to the wall of the church, which sir George
Carteret had repaired and beautified ; and over the door
of his lodging he set up his arms, with this inscription.
Bene vixit, qui bene latuit: and he always took pleasure
in relating, with what great tranquillity of spirit (though
deprived of the joy he took in his wife and children) he
spent his time here amongst his books (which he got
from Paris) and his papers; between which he seldom
spent less than ten hours in the day : and it can hardly
be believed how much he read and writ there ; insomuch
as he did usually compute, that during his whole stay in
Jersey, which was some months above two years, he writ
[daily] little less than one sheet of large paper with his
own hand ; most of which are still to be seen amongst
his papers.
6 From Hampton Court, his majesty writ to the chan
cellor of the exchequer with his own hand ; in which he
took notice, that he was writing the History of the late
Troubles; for which he thanked him, saying, that he
knew no man could do it so well ; and that he would not
do it the worse by the helps that he would very speedily
send him : (as his majesty shortly after did, in two manu
scripts very fairly written, containing all matters of im
portance that had passed from the time that the prince of
Wales went from his majesty into the west, to the very

where he writes the history of die troubles. (1647.) 209
time that his majesty himself went from Oxford to the
Scottish army ; which were all the passages in the years
1645 and 1646.) He used many gracious expressions in
that letter to him ; and said, he looked upon him as one
of those who had served him with most fidelity, and
therefore he might be confident of his kindness ; and that
he would bring him to him with the first ; though, he
said, he did not hold him to be infallible, as he might
discern by what he had commanded Dr. Sheldon, who
was then clerk of his closet, to write to him ; and at the
same time the doctor writ him word, that the king was
sorry that he, the chancellor, stayed at Jersey, and did
not attend the prinee into France ; and that if he had
been there, he would have been able to have prevented
the vexation his majesty had endured at Newcastle by
messages from Paris.
7 The doctor likewise sent him word, that great pains
had been taken from Paris to incense the king against
him ; but that it had so little prevailed, that his majesty
had with some sharpness reprehended those who blamed
him, and had justified the chancellor. He made haste to
answer his majesty's letter, and gave him so much satis
faction, that his majesty said, he was too hard for him.
And about the same time the lord Capel came into Eng
land ; and though he was under security to the parliament
for behaving himself peaceably, he was not restrained
from seeing the king ; and so gave him a very particular
information of all that had passed at Jersey ; and many
other things, of which his majesty had never been in
formed before ; which put it out of any body's power to
make any ill impressions in him towards the chancellor.
8 Upon the king's refusing to give his assent to the four
acts sent to him from the parliament when he was in the
Isle of Wight, they voted " that no more addresses should
be made to the king ;" and published a declaration to that
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. p

210 The chancellor writes an answer V. 9-
effect, which contained severe charges against his majesty.
Vid. Hist. Reb. book x. par. 146.
9 The chancellor of the exchequer no sooner received a
copy of it in Jersey, than he prepared a very large and
full answer to it ; in which he made the malice and the
treason of that libellous declaration to appear ; and his
majesty's innocence in all the particulars charged upon
him, with such pathetical applications and insinuations,
as were most like to work upon the affections of the
people : all which was transmitted (by the care of Mr.
Secretary Nicholas, who resided at Caen in Normandy,
and held a constant correspondence with the chancellor)
to a trusty hand in London ; who caused it to be well
printed and divulged, and found means to send it to the
king : who, after he had read it, said he durst swear it
was writ by the chancellor, if it were not that there was
more divinity in it than he expected from him, which
made him believe he had conferred with Dr. Steward.
But some months after, being informed by secretary Ni
cholas, he sent the chancellor thanks for it ; and expressed
upon all occasions, that he was much pleased with that
vindication.
to The lord Capel had written to the chancellor of the
exchequer, who remained still in Jersey, signifying the
king's commands, that as soon as the chancellor should be
required to wait upon the prince, he should without delay
obey the summons. The king had writ to the queen, that
when it should be necessary for the prince to remove out of
France, the chancellor should have notice of it, and be
required to attend him. About the beginning of April, in
the year 1648, the lord Capel writ again to the chancellor,
giving him notice, that he would probably be sent for soon,
and desiring him to be ready. About the middle of May,
the queen sent to the chancellor of the exchequer to Jersey,
commanding, that he would wait upon the prince at Paris,

-12. to the parliament's declaration. (1648.) 211
upon a day that was past before the letter came to his hands ;
but as soon as he received the summons, he immediately
transported himself into Normandy, and went to Caen;
from thence he hastened to Rouen, where he found the lord
Cottington, the earl of Bristol, and secretary Nicholas, who
had received the same commands. They were informed
that the prince teas passed by towards Calais ; and direc
tion was sent, that the chancellor and the rest should stay
at Rouen till they should receive new orders from Calais.
Within few days they received advice, that the prince had
put himself on board a ship that he found at Calais bound
for Holland, where they were to hear from him ; whereupon
they removed from Rouen to Dieppe ; from whence they
might embark for Holland when required. Vid. Hist.
Reb. book xi. par. 22, &c.
11 After the lord Cottington, the earl of BristoLand the
chancellor of the exchequer had stayed at Dieppe some
days, and were confirmed by reports every day that the
prince was in Holland, and that the fleet wanted some
provisions, without which it could not put out to sea ;
they resolved to make use of the first vessel, of which
there were many then in the harbour, that should be
bound for Holland, and to transport themselves thither ;
and there was one which within two or three days would
set out for Flushing. The earl of Bristol had no mind
to venture himself in such a vessel ; and since the fleet
that had declared for the king was then in Holland, he
apprehended that the parliament might have other vessels
abroad, that might easily seize upon that small bark ; and
so, after some debate with the lord Cottington, (they two
being seldom of one mind,) the earl resolved to return to
his old habitation at Caen, and expect another occasion.
12 The chancellor, who knew nothing of the sea, nor
understood the hazards thereof, (being always so afflicted
upon that element with sickness, that he considered
nothing about it ; and holding himself obliged to make
P 2

212 The chancellor arrives at Dunkirk; III. 12-
what haste he could to the prince,) committed himself
entirely to the lord Cottington : and when they resolved
to embark themselves in the vessel bound for Flushing, a
French man of war, which was called the king's ship,
came into the road of Dieppe, and offered to carry them
the next day to Dunkirk ; which they took to be the
safer passage : and so giving the captain as much money
as he demanded, they put themselves upon his miserable
frigate, where they had no accommodations but the open
deck ; and were safely set on shore at Dunkirk, where
marshal Ranzaw was then governor. And they no sooner
landed in the evening, but Carteret, a servant of the
prince's, came to them, and informed them, that the
prince was entered the river of Thames with the fleet ;
and that he was sent by his highness to the marshal for a
frigate, which he had offered to lend the prince : and .
that he had delivered the letter, and the marshal (who
had been out all the night before upon a design upon the
enemy, and was newly arrived, and gone to bed) had
promised him that the frigate should be ready the next
day. This seemed an extraordinary good fortune to them,
that they might now embark directly for the fleet without
going into Holland, which they were willing to avoid;
and so resolved to speak with the marshal, as soon as
they could, that they might be confirmed by him that
his frigate should be ready the next day ; and thereupon
sent a servant to wait at the marshal's lodging, that they
might know when he waked, and was to be spoken with.
'3 The marshal had notice of their arrival before the
servant came to him, and of their desire to go to the
prince ; and sent one of his officers to welcome them to
the town, and to see them well accommodated with
lodging : and to excuse him, that he did not wait upon
them that night, by reason of the fatigue he had under
gone the night before, and that day ; and to oblige them
to dine with him the next day, against which time the

—i$i- and proceeds to the prince's fleet. (1648.) 213
vessel would be made ready to receive them, and transport
them to the prince's fleet ; with which they were abun
dantly satisfied ; and betook themselves to their rest for
that night : and were early up the next morning to see
the marshal ; but it was late before he rose.
14 He received them with great civility, being a very
proper man, of a most extraordinary presence and aspect,
and might well be reckoned a very handsome man,
though he had but one leg, one hand, one eye, and one
ear, the other being cut off with that side of his face ;
besides many other cuts on the other cheek, and upon
his head, with many wounds in the body ; notwithstanding
all which, he stood very upright, and had a very graceful
motion, a clear voice, and a charming delivery ; and if he
had not, according to the custom of his nation, (for he
was a German,) too much indulged to the excess of wine,
ho had been one of the most excellent captains of that
age. He professed great affection to the prince, and
much commended the frigate he intended to send to
him ; which, for the swiftness of it, was called the Hare,
and outsailed, as he said, all the vessels of that coast:
and after he had treated them with a very excellent and
a jovial dinner, about four of the clock in the afternoon
he brought them to their boat, that put them on board
their frigate ; which was but a small vessel of twenty
guns, much inferior to what they expected, by the de
scription the marshal had made of it. However, it was
very proper for the use they were to make of it, to be
delivered at the fleet; and so, the moon shining very
fair* they weighed anchor about sunset, with a very small
gale of wind.
15 The prince being master at sea, they had no manner of
apprehension of an enemy; not knowing or considering
that they were very near Ostend, and so, in respect of
the vessel they were in, liable to be made a prize by those
men of war ; as it fell out : for about break of day, in a

214 The chancellor is carried to Ostend, V. 15—
dead calm, they found themselves pursued by six or seven
ships, which, as they drew nearer, were known by the
seamen to be the frigates of Ostend. There was no hope
,to escape by the swiftness of the vessel, for there was not
the least breath of wind ; and it was to no purpose to
resist ; for besides that the vessel was not half manned,
four or five of the pursuers were stronger ships ; so that
it was thought best to let the sails fall, that they might
see there was no purpose of resistance ; and to send Car
teret in the boat, to inform the ships who the persons
were that were on board, and that they had a pass from
the archduke : for an authentic copy of a pass the arch
duke had sent to the prince, had been sent to them. All
the ships, though they had the king of Spain's com
mission, were freebooters, belonging to private owners,
who observed no rules or laws of nations ; but they
boarded the vessel with their swords drawn and pistols
cocked, and without any distinction plundered all the
passengers with equal rudeness ; save that they stripped
some of the servants to their very shirts : they used not
the rest with that barbarity, being satisfied with taking
all they had in their pockets, and carefully examined all
their valises and trunks, in which they found good booty.
16 The lord Cottington lost in money and jewels above
one thousand pounds ; the chancellor, in money about
two hundred pounds, and all his clothes and linen ; and
sir George Ratcliff and Mr. Wansford, who were in the
company, above five hundred pounds in money and jewels.
And having pillaged them in this manner, they carried
them all, with the frigate they had been in, prisoners to
Ostend ; where they arrived about two of the clock in
the afternoon ; all the men and women of the town being
gathered together to behold the prize that was brought in
within so few hours : for intelligence had been sent from
Dunkirk the night before, (according to the custom and
good intelligence observed in those places,) of the going

— i-i8. but is set at liberty. (1648.) 215
out of this vessel, which had such persons on board.
When they were on shore, they were carried through all
the spectators to a common inn ; from whence they sent to
the magistrates, to inform them of what condition they
were, and of the injuries they had received, by having
been treated as enemies ; and demanded restitution of
ship and goods.
*7 The magistrates, who were called the lords of the ad
miralty, came presently to them ; and when they were
fully informed of the whole matter, and had seen the
archduke's pass, they seemed very much troubled ; and
with much civility assured them, that they should not
only receive all that had been taken from them, but that
the men should be severely punished for their transgres
sion. They immediately discharged those guards that
kept them as prisoners, and provided the best lodgings
in the town for them: and because it was growing to
wards the evening, and the frigates were not yet come in,
they excused themselves that they could do no more that
night, but promised to go themselves on board the ships
the next morning early; and desired that some of the
gentlemen of their company might go with them, to the
end that they might discover at least some of those who
had been most rude towards them ; who should be sure
to be imprisoned till full satisfaction were made by the
rest.
18 As soon as the lords of the admiralty were gone, the
governor, an old Spaniard, came to visit them, with all
professions of civility and service, and seemed to abhor
the barbarity with which they had been treated ; asked
very particularly of the manner of them, and of every
particular that had been taken from them; and told
them, they should be sure to have it all returned ; for
that they did not trouble themselves in such cases to find
out the seamen who were the plunderers, but resorted
always to the owners of the ships, who lived in the town,

216 The chancellor can obtain no satisfaction V. 18 —
and were substantial men, and bound to answer and
satisfy for all misdemeanours committed by the company;
and said, he would be with them the next day, and take
care that all should be done that was just. These pro
fessions and assurances made them believe that they
should receive full reparation for the damages they had
received ; and the lord Cottington began to commend the
good order and discipline that was observed under the
Spanish government, much different from that in other
places'; and in how much better condition they were, after
such usage, to be brought into Ostend, than if they had
been so used by the French, and carried into any of their
ports.
19 The next morning two of the lords of the admiralty
called upon them in their way to the ships, retaining the
same professions they had made the night before ; and
sir George Ratcliff, Mr. Wansford, and some of their ser
vants accompanied them according to their desire ; and
as soon as they were on board the admiral's vessel, that
had brought them in, and had taken them out of their
own, they knew some of those seamen who had been
most busy about them ; which were immediately seized
on and searched ; and about some of them some pieces of
chains of gold, and other things of value belonging to the
lord Cottington, were found ; and some mails, in which
were linen and clothes ; all which were presently restored
and delivered to some of the servants who were present,
and brought them to their masters. The chancellor was
more solicitous for some papers he had lost than for his
money ; and he was used to say, that he looked upon it
as a singular act of Providence, that those officers pre
vailed with a seaman, who had taken it out of his pocket,
to restore a little letter which he had lately received from
the king whilst he was in the hands of the army ; which,
for the grace and kindness contained in it, he did ever
exceedingly value.

¦ao#o. for his losses at Ostend. (1648.) 217
20 Those of the admiralty, though they had not yet found
out either any of the jewels or money of which they had
been robbed, thought they had done enough for the
morning, and so returned to dinner ; declaring that they
would return in the afternoon ; and directed the ships to be
drawn nearer together, to the end they might visit them
together : and they did return in the afternoon, accompa
nied as before, but their reception by the seamen was not
as in the morning. The captains answered those questions
which were asked of them negligently and scornfully;
and those seamen who had been searched in the morning,
and were appointed to be produced in the afternoon to be
further examined, could not be found ; and instead of
bringing the ships nearer together, some of them were
gone more out to sea ; and the rest declared, that they
would go all out to sea that night : and when the magis
trates seemed to threaten them, they swore they would
throw both them and all who came with them overboard ;
and offered to lay hands upon them in order to it ; so
that they were all glad to get off; and returned to the
town, talking loud what vengeance they would take upon
the eaptains and seamen when they returned again into
port, (for they already stood out to sea in their sight ;)
and in the mean time they would prosecute the owners of
the vessels, who should satisfy for the damage received :
but from this time the governor nor the lords of the
admiralty cared to come near them; and they quickly
found that the reason of all the governor's civility the
first night, and the many questions he had asked con
cerning all the particulars they had lost of any kind, was
only to be the better informed, to demand his share from
the seamen ; and that the lords of the admiralty were the
owners of the several vessels, or had shares in them, and
in the victualling, and so were to divide the spoil, which
they pretended should be restored. So that after they

218 The cJtancellor goes to Flushing ; \
had remained there four or five days, they were contented
to receive one hundred pistoles for discharging the debts
they had contracted in the town, (for there was not any
money left amongst them,) and to carry them to the
prince ; which those of the admiralty pretended to have
received from some of the owners, and to wait for further
justice when the ships should return, which they doubted
not should be effectually called for by the commands of
the archduke, when he should be informed : and so they
prosecuted their journey to the prince, making their way
by Bruges, and from thence by the way of Sluys to
Flushing : and those hundred pistoles were the only
recompense that they ever received for that affront and
damage they had sustained, which in the whole amounted
to two thousand pounds at the least ; though the king's
resident, De Vic, at Brussels prosecuted the pretence with
the archduke as long as there was any hope.
i The chancellor was often used to relate an observation
that was generally made and discoursed at Ostend at that
time, that never any man who adventured in setting out
those frigates of rapine, which are called men of war, or
in victualling or bearing any share in them, died rich, or
possessed of any valuable estate : and that as he walked
one morning about the town and upon the quay with an
English officer, who was a lieutenant in that garrison, they
saw a poor old man walk by them, whom the lieutenant
desired the chancellor to observe ; and when he was
passed by, he told him, that he had known that man the
richest of any man in the town ; that he had been the
owner of above ten ships of war at one time, without any
partner or sharer with him ; that he had had in his ware
houses in the town as much goods and merchandise to
gether as amounted to the value of one hundred thousand
pounds, within seven years before the time he was then
speaking ; and after the loss of two or three frigates, he

from thence to Middleburgh. (1648.) 219
insensibly decayed so fast, that having begun to build
another frigate, which he shewed him as they walked, and
which lay then not half finished, he was not able to go
through with it ; and that he was at that time so poor,
that he had not wherewith to maintain him, but received
the charity of those who had known him in a plentiful
estate : and this relation he made in confirmation of that
discourse and observation ; and it made so deep an im
pression upon the chancellor, that afterwards, when the
war was between England and Holland and France, and
when many gentlemen thought it good husbandry to ad
venture in the setting out such ships of war, he always
dissuaded his friends from that traffic, relating to them
this story, of the truth whereof he had such evidence;
and did in truth moreover in his own judgment believe,
that all engagements of that kind were contrary to the
rules of justice and a good conscience.
13 When they came to Flushing, they thought it best to
stay there, as the most likely place to have commerce
with the fleet ; and they found there colonel William
Vavasour, who had, by the prince's commission, drawn
some companies of foot together, and expected some
vessel to be sent from the fleet for their transportation ;
and Carteret was already despatched, to inform the prince
of what had befallen the treasurer and chancellor, and
that they waited his commands at Flushing : and because
Middleburgh would be as convenient to receive intelli
gence, and more convenient for their accommodation, they
removed thither, and took a private lodging ; where, by
having a cook, and other servants, they might make their
own provisions. They had been at Middleburgh very few
days, before the Hind frigate was sent by the prince to
bring them to the fleet, with direction that they should
make as much haste as was possible ; and they had no occa
sion to delay, but the wind was so directly against them for

220 The chancellor arrives at the Hague, where V. i% 
two or three days, that they could not put themselves on
board. It was now about the middle of July, when the wind
appeared fair, and they presently embarked, and weighed
anchor, and sailed all the night : but in the morning the
wind changed, and blew so hard a gale, that they were
compelled to turn about, and came before night again to
Flushing ; whence they endeavoured three times more to
get into the Downs, from whence they might easily have
got to the fleet ; but as often as they put to sea, so often
they were driven back, and once with so violent a storm
that their ship was in danger, and was driven in under the
Ramekins, a fort near the mouth of the river that goes to
Middleburgh ; whither they again repaired : and the winds
were so long contrary, that they received order from the
prince to repair into Holland ; for that his highness re
solved within very few days, it being now towards the
end of August, to carry the fleet thither ; as he shortly
after did. And by this means the lord Cottington and the
chancellor were not able to attend the prince whilst he
remained with the fleet within the river of Thames ; but
were well informed, when they came to him, of all that
had passed there.
23 The lord Cottington and the chancellor of the exche
quer, as soon as they received advertisement at Middle
burgh that the prince resolved to return with the fleet
into Holland, made all the haste they could to the Hague;
it being then about the end of August ; and came thither
within one day after the prince's arrival there.
24 The next morning after the lord Cottington and the
chancellor of the exchequer came to the Hague, the prince
appointed his council to meet together, to receive and
deliberate upon a message the lord Lautherdale had brought
from the parliament of Scotland, earnestly pressing him to
repair forthwith to their army ; which was already entered
into England, under the command of the duke of Hamilton

the prince first hears of the murder of the king. (1648.) 22l
— the chancellor reproves the lord Lautherdale for his
insolent behaviour before the council. Vid. Hist, of the
Reb. book xi. par. 86.
35 The factions in the prince's family, and the great ani
mosity which prince Rupert had against the lord Cole-r
pepper, infinitely disturbed the counsels, and perplexed the
lord Cottington and the chancellor of the exchequer — Cole
pepper had passions and infirmities which no friends could
restrain ; and prince Rupert, though very well inclined to
the chancellor, was absolutely governed by Herbert the
attorney general, who industriously cultivated his prejudice
to Colepepper. Hist, of the Reb. book xi. par. 127.
26 Whilst the prince was at the Hague, he received the
shocking account of the murder of the king his father ; and
soon after, the queen wrote to him from Paris, advising
him to repair into France as soon as possible, and desiring
him not to swear any persons to be of his council, till she
could speak with him : but before he received her letter, he
had already caused those of his father's council who had
attended him to be sworn of his privy council ; adding
only Mr. Long his secretary. He had no mind to go into
France ; and it was evident that he could not be long able
to reside at the Hague, an agent from the parliament being
there at that very time: so that it was time to think of
some other retreat. Ireland was then thought most advisable;
some favourable accounts having been received from thence
of the transactions of the marquis of Ormond and lord In-
chiquin, and of the arrival of prince Rupert at Kinsale
with the fleet. Hist, of the Reb. book xii. par. 1, &c.
27 The chancellor of the exchequer was sent to confer with
ihe marquis of Mountrose in a village near the Hague upon
the state of affairs in Scotland. The marquis came now
into Holland to offer his service to his majesty ; expecting
that he would presently send him to Scotland with some
forces, to prepare the way for his majesty to follow after.
Hist, of the Reb. book xii. par. 16.

The chancellor is appointed V. 28.-
28 The king declared his resolution of going into Ireland,
and preparations were made for that expedition ; which
however, from accidents that afterwards fell out, did not
take effect. The lord Cottington, wishing to avoid the
fatigue of such expeditions, took that occasion to confer
with the chancellor of the exchequer upon the expediency
of the king's sending an embassy into Spain ; and pro
posed, that himself and the chancellor should be appointed
ambassadors to that court; to which the chancellor con
sented: and upon the lord Cottington' s representation of
the matter to the king, his majesty soon after publicly
declared his resolution to send those two, ambassadors
extraordinary into Spain. Hist, of the Reb. book xii.
par. 34, &c.
29 This was no sooner known, but all kind of people, who
agreed in nothing else, murmured and complained of this
counsel ; and the more, because it had never been men
tioned or debated in council. Only the Scots were very
glad of it, (Mountrose excepted,) believing that when
the chancellor was gone, their beloved covenant would
not be so irreverently mentioned ; and that the king
would be wrought upon to withdraw all countenance and
favour from the marquis of Mountrose ; and the marquis
himself looked upon it as a deserting him, and complying
with the other party : and from that time, though they
lived with civility towards each other, he withdrew very
much of his confidence, which he had formerly reposed in
him. They who loved him were sorry for him and them
selves ; they thought he deserted a path he had long
trod, and was well acquainted with ; and was hencefor
ward to move extra sphceram activitatis, in an office lie
had not been acquainted with ; and then they should
want his credit to support and confirm them in the king's
favour and grace : and there were many who were very
sorry when they heard it, out of particular duty to the
king ; who, being young, they thought might be without

ambassador to the court of Spain. (1649.) 223
that counsel and advertisement, which they knew well he
would still administer to him.
30 No man was more angry and offended with the counsel
than the lord Colepepper, who would have been very
glad to have gone himself in the employment, if he could
have persuaded the lord Cottington to have accepted his
company ; which he would by no means do ; and though
he and the chancellor were not thought to have the
greatest kindness for each other, yet he knew he could
agree with no other man so well in business ; and was
very unwilling he should be from the person of the king.
But the chancellor himself, from the time that the king
had signified his own pleasure to him, was exceedingly
pleased with the commission; and did believe that he
should in some degree improve his understanding, and
very much refresh his spirits, by what he should learn by
the one, and by his absence from being continually con
versant with those wants which could never be severed
from that court, and that company which would be
always corrupted by those wants. And so he sent for
his wife and children to meet him at Antwerp, where he
intended they should reside whilst he continued in Spain,
and where they were like to find some civilities in respect
of his employment.
31 The ambassadors took leave of the king before the middle
of May, and went to Antwerp, where the chancellor's wife
and family were arrived, who were to remain there during
his embassy — After staying two or three days at Antwerp,
they went to Brussels, to deliver their credentials to the
archduke and to the duke of Lorrain, and to visit the
Spanish ministers there, &c. Hist, of the Reb. book xii.
par. 49.
32 When the ambassadors had despatched all their business
at Brussels, they returned to Antwerp, to negociate the re
mittance of their money to Madrid. Hist, of the Reb.
book xii. par. 53.

The queen is displeased at V. 33-
33 The queen is much displeased that the king had taken
any resolutions before she was consulted, and imputed all
that had been done principally to the chancellor of the ex
chequer; suspecting he meant to exclude her from meddling
in the affairs. Hist, of the Reb. book xii. par. 54.
34 Lord Cottington and the chancellor, hearing that the king
was on his way to France, resolved to defer going to St.
Germain's till the king's first interview with the queen
should be over. Hist, of the Reb. book xii. par. 56.
35 About a week after the king left Brussels, the two am
bassadors prosecuted their journey to Paris ; stayed only
one day there, and then went to St. Germain's ; where ihe
king, and the queen his mother, with both their families, and
the duke of York then were — They found that court full of
jealousy and disorder — The queen much troubled at the
king's behaviour to her, as if he had no mind that she should ,
interfere in his affairs — She now attributes this reservedness
of the king towards her, more to the influence of somebody
else than to the chancellor of the exchequer — He had a
private audience of the queen — She complained of the king's
unkindness to her, and of the great credit Mr. Elliot (one of
his majesty's grooms of the bedchamber) had with the king.
Hist, of the Reb. book xii. par. 59-
36 About the middle of September, the king left St.Germain's,
and began his journey towards Jersey, and the queen re
moved to Paris — The two ambassadors attended her ma
jesty thither, and prepared for their journey into Spain.
Hist, of the Reb. book xii. par. 77.
37 During the time of their short stay at Paris, the queen
used the chancellor very graciously; but still expressed
trouble that he was sent on that embassy, which, she said,
would be fruitless, as to any advantage the king would
receive from it ; and, she said, she must confess, that
though she was not confident of his affection and kind
ness towards her, yet she believed that he did wish that
the king's carriage towards her should be always fair and

-4°|0- the chancellor's going to Spain. (1649.) ^25
respectful ; and that she did desire that he might be
always about his majesty's person ; not only because she
thought he understood the business of England better
than any body else, but because she knew that he loved
the king, and would always give him good counsel towards
his living virtuously ; and that she thought he had more
credit with him than any other who would deal plainly
and honestly with him.
38 There was a passage at that time, of which he used to
speak often, and looked upon as a great honour to him.
The queen one day, amongst some of her ladies in whom
she had most confidence, expressed some sharpness towards
a lord of the king's council, whom she named not ; who,
she said, always gave her the fairest words, and promised
her every thing she desired, and had persuaded her to
affect somewhat that she had before no mind to ; and yet
she was well assured, that when the same was proposed to
the king on her behalf, he was the only man who dis
suaded the king from granting it. Some of the ladies
seemed to have the curiosity to know who it was ; which
the queen would not tell : one of them, who was known
to have a friendship for him, said, she hoped it was not
the chancellor; to which her majesty replied with some
quickness, that she might be sure it was not he, who
was so far from making promises, or giving fair words,
and flattering her, that she did verily believe, that " if he
thought her to be a whore he would tell her of it;"
which when that lady told him, he was not displeased
with the testimony.
39 The two ambassadors began their journey from Paris on
Michaelmas day, and continued it without one day's rest
to Bourdeaux. Hist, of the Reb. book xii. par. 81.
40 They continued their journey to Bayonne ; and from
thence to St. Sebastian's ; where they were told by the cor-
regidor that he had received directions from the secretary
of state, to persuade them to remain there till the king's
CLABENDON LIFE, VOL. I. Q

226 The chancellor arrives at Madrid. V. 4< 4c
further pleasure might be known; and they received a
packet from sir Benjamin Wright at Madrid, enclosing a
pass for them, under the title of ambassadors from the
prince of Wales. They immediately sent an express to
the court, complaining of their treatment, and desiring to
know whether their persons were unacceptable to his catholic
majesty ; and if otherwise, they desired they might be treated
in the manner due to the honour and dignity of the king
their master. They received an answer full of civility,
imputing the error in the style of their pass to the negligence
or ignorance of the secretary ; and new passes were sent to
them in the proper style ; with assurance, that they should
find a very good welcome from his majesty — They left St.
Sebastian's about the middle of November. Hist, of the
Reb book xii. par. 81.
41 When they came to Alcavendas, within three leagues
of Madrid, sir Benjamin Wright came to them, and in
formed them that all things were in the state they were when
he writ to them at St. Sebastian's ; that no house was yet
prepared for their reception ; and that there was an evident
want of attention for them in the court ; the Spanish am
bassador in England having done them ill offices, lest their
good reception in Spain might incense the parliament —
After a week's stay in that little town, they accepted of sir
Benjamin Wright's invitation to his house at Madrid ; they
went privately thither, to reside incognito — The court knew
of their arrival, but took no notice of it — Lord Cottington
desired and obtained a private audience of don Lewis de
Haro — Don Lewis excused the omissiotis towards the am
bassadors, on pretence that the fiestas for their new queen's
arrival had engrossed the whole attention of all the officers
about the court; and promised immediate reparation — Lord
Cottington returned home well satisfied — The ambassadors
are invited to see the exercises of the fiestas ; and the chan
cellor accordingly went to the place assigned. Hist, of the
Reb. book xii. par. 85.

—4-43- Description of the masquerade. (1649.) ~~7
43 The masquerade is an exercise they learned from the
Moors, performed by squadrons of horse, seeming to
charge each other with great fierceness, with bucklers in
their left hands, and a kind of cane in their right ; which,
when they come within little more than a horse's length,
they throw with all the strength they can ; and against
them they defend themselves with very broad bucklers ;
and as soon as they have thrown their darts, they wheel
about in a full gallop, till they can turn to receive the like
assault from those whom they had charged ; and so several
squadrons of twenty or five and twenty horse run round
and charge each other. It hath at first the appearance of
a martial exercise ; the horses are very beautiful, and well
adorned ; the men richly clad, and must be good horse
men, otherwise they could not obey the quick motions
and turns of their horses ; all the rest is too childish, the
darts being nothing else but plain bulrushes of the biggest
growth. After this, they run the course ; which is like
our running at the ring ; save that two run still together,
and the swifter hath the prize ; a post dividing them at
the end : from the start they run their horses full speed
about fifty paces, and the judges are at that post to deter
mine who is first at the end. There the king and don
Lewis ran several courses, in all which don Lewis was too
good a courtier to win any prize ; though he always lost
it by very little. The appearance of the people was very
great, and the ladies in all the windows made a very rich
show, otherwise the show itself had nothing wonderful.
Here there happened to be some sudden sharp words
between the admirante of Castile, a haughty young man,
,and the marquis de Liche, the eldest son of don Lewis de
Haro ; the which being taken notice of, they were both
dismissed the squadrons wherein they were, and com
mitted to their chambers.
43 The next day, and so for two or three days together,
both the ambassadors had a box prepared for them to see
Q 2

228 Description of the toros. V. 43-
the toros ; which is a spectacle very wonderful, different
from what they had seen at Burgos, where the bulls were
much tamer, and where they were not charged by men
on horseback, and little harm done. Here the place was
very noble, being the market-place, a very large square,
built with handsome brick houses, which had all balconies,
which were adorned with tapestry and very beautiful
ladies. Scaffolds were built round to the first story ; the
lower rooms being shops, and for ordinary use ; and in
the division of those scaffolds, all the magistrates and of
ficers of the town knew their places. The pavement of
the place was all covered with gravel, which in summer
time was upon those occasions watered by carts charged
with hogsheads of water. As soon as the king comess
some officers clear the whole ground from the common
people ; so that there is no man seen upon the plain, but
two or three alguazils, magistrates with their small white
wands. Then one of the four gates which lead into the
streets is opened ; at which the torreadors enter, all per
sons of quality richly clad, and upon the best horses in
Spain; every one attended by eight, or ten, or more
lackeys, all clinquant with gold and silver lace ; who
carry the spears which their masters are to use against
the bulls ; and with this entry many of the common
people break in, for which sometimes they pay very dear.
The persons on horseback have all cloaks folded up upon
their left shoulder; the least disorder of which, much
more the letting it fall, is a very great disgrace ; and in
that grave order they march to the place where the king
sits, and after they have made the reverences, they place
themselves at a good distance from one another, and ex
pect the bull.
44 The bulls are brought in the night before from the
mountains, by people used to that work ; who drive them
into the town when nobody is in the streets, into a pen
made for them, which hath a door that opens into that

— ^—45- Description of the toros. (1649.) 229
large space, the key whereof is sent to the king ; which
the king, when he sees every thing ready, throws to an
alguazil, who carries it to the officer that keeps the door ;
and he causes it to be opened when a single bull is ready
to come out. When the bull enters, the common people
who sit over the door, or near it, strike him, or throw
short darts with sharp points of steel, to provoke him to
rage: he commonly runs with all his fury against the
first man he sees on horseback ; who watches him so
carefully, and avoids him so dexterously, that when the
spectators believe him to be even between the horns of
the bull, he avoids him by the quick turn of his horse ;
and with his lance strikes the bull upon a vein that runs
through his pole, with which in a moment he falls down
dead. But this fatal stroke can never be struck, but
when the bull comes so near upon the turn of the horse,
that his horn even touches the rider's leg ; and so is at
such a distance, that he can shorten his lance, and use
the full strength of his arm in the blow ; and they who
are the most skilful in the exercise, do frequently kill the
beast with such an exact stroke ; insomuch as in a day,
two or three fall in that manner : but if they miss the
vein, it only gives a wound that the more enrages him.
43 Sometimes the -bull runs with so much fierceness, (for
if he escapes the first man, he runs upon the rest as they
are in his way,) that he gores the horse with his horns,
so that his guts come out, and he falls before the rider
can get from his back. Sometimes, by the strength of
his neck, he raises horse and man from the ground, and
throws both down ; and then the greatest danger is
another gore upon the ground. In any of these disgraces,
or any other by which the rider comes to be dismounted,
he is obliged in honour to take his revenge upon the bull
by his sword, and upon his head ; towards which the
standers-by assist him, by running after the bull, and
hocking him, by which he falls upon his hinder legs ; but

230 Description of the toros. The chancellor V. 45-
before that execution can be done, a good bull hath his
revenge upon many poor fellows. Sometimes he is so
unruly that nobody dares to attack him ; and then the
king calls for the mastiffs, whereof two are let out at a
time ; and if they cannot master him, but are themselves
killed, as frequently they are, the king then, as the last
refuge, calls for the English mastiffs ; of which they
seldom turn out above one at a time, and he rarely misses
taking the bull, and holding him by the nose till the men
run in ; and after they have hocked him, they quickly
kill him.
46 In one of those days there were no fewer than sixteen
horses, as good as any in Spain, the worst of which would
that very morning have yielded three hundred pistoles,
killed, and four or five men ; besides many more of both
hurt, and some men remained perpetually maimed: for
after the horsemen have done as much as they can, they
withdraw themselves, and then some accustomed nimble
fellows, to whom money is thrown, when they perform
their feats with skill, stand to receive the bulls, whereof
the worst are reserved till the last ; and it is a wonderful
thing to see with what steadiness those fellows will stand
a full career of the bull, and by a little quick motion upon
one foot, avoid him, and lay a hand upon his horn, as if
they guided him from them ; but then the next standers-
by, who have not the same activity, commonly pay for it ;
and there is no day without much mischief. It is a very
barbarous exercise and triumph, in which so many men's
lives are lost, and always ventured ; but so rooted in the
affections of that nation, that it is not in the king's power,
they say, to suppress it ; though if he disliked it enough,
he might forbear to be present at it.
47 There are three festival days in the year, whereof mid
summer is one, on which the people hold it to be their
right to be treated with these spectacles ; not only in
great cities, where they are never disappointed, but in

—4-48- is visited by the other ambassadors. (1649.) 231
very ordinary towns, where there are places provided for
it. Besides those ordinary annual days, upon any extra
ordinary accidents of joy, as at this time for the arrival of
the queen, upon the birth of the king's children, or any
signal victory, these triumphs are repeated ; which no
ecclesiastical censures or authority can suppress or dis
countenance : for pope Pius the Fifth, in the time of
Philip the Second, and very probably with his approba
tion, if not upon his desire, published a bull against the
toros in Spain, which is still in force ; in which he de
clared, that nobody should be capable of Christian burial
who lost his life at those spectacles ; and that every
clergyman who should be preseut at them stood excom
municated ipso facto: and yet there is always one of the
largest galleries assigned to the office of the inquisition,
and the chief of the clergy, which is always filled ; besides
that many religious men in their habits get other places ;
only the Jesuits, out of their submission to the supreme
authority of the pope, are never present there ; but on
those days do always appoint some such solemn exercise to
be performed that obliges their whole body to be together.
48 Though it is not the course for the ambassadors to
make their visits to those who come last, before they
receive their first audience from the king ; yet the very
night they came to the town, the Venetian ambassador
sent to congratulate their arrival, and to know what hour
they would assign of the next day to receive a visit from
him: to which they returned their acknowledgments;
and that when they had obtained their audience of the
king, they would be ready to receive that honour from
him. However, the very next day he came to visit them ;
and he was no sooner gone, but the German ambassador,
not sending notice till he was at the bottom of the stairs,
likewise came to them ; and then the other ambassadors
and public ministers took their times to make their visits,
without attending the audience.

232 Of the Venetian and other ambassadors V. 49 
49 There was one thing very notable, that all the foreign
ministers residing then in Madrid (the English ambassa
dors and the resident of Denmark only excepted) were
Italians ; and all, but the Venetian, subjects of the great
duke. Julio Rospigliosi, nuncio for the pope, was of
Pistoja, and so a subject to the duke of Florence; a grave
man, and at that time, save that his health was not good,
like to come to be, what he was afterwards, pope, as he
was Clement the Ninth. The emperor's ambassador, the
marquis of Grana, was likewise an Italian, and a subject
of Florence ; he had been general of one of the emperor's
armies, and was sent afterwards ambassador to Madrid ;
he was a man of great parts ; and the removing the
conde-duke Olivarez from court was imputed to his arti
fice. He made the match between the king and the
present queen, for which he expected to have the cap of
a cardinal ; and had received it, if he had not died before
the following creation ; the cardinal of Hesse being no
minated by the emperor upon his death. He was a man
of an imperious and insolent nature, and capable of any
temptation ; and nobody was more glad of his death than
his own servants, over whom he was a great tyrant.
50 The ambassador of Venice, [Pietro Basadonna,] a noble
Venetian, was a man, as all that nation is, of great civility
and much profession ; he was the first who told the am
bassadors that the king their master had a resident at
Venice ; which was Mr. Killigrew ; which they did not
at first believe, having before they left St. Germain's dis
suaded the king from that purpose ; but afterwards his
majesty was prevailed upon only to gratify him, that in
that capacity he might borrow money of English mer
chants for his own subsistence ; which he did, and nothing
to the honour of his master ; but was at last compelled
to leave the republic for his vicious behaviour ; of which
the Venetian ambassador complained to the kmg> "when
he came afterwards to Paris.

-J3i3- then at Madrid. (1649.)
51 The ambassador of the king of Poland was likewise a
Florentine, who was much in favour with the king Ula-
dislaus, from whom he was sent ; and continued by king
Casimir. He had lived in great splendour ; but by his
vicious course of life, and some miscarriages, he fell very
low, and was revoked with some circumstances of dis
honour. He was a man of a great wit, if it had not
served him to very ill purposes. The ambassador of
Florence was a subject of his master, and an abbot, a
grave man ; and though he was frequently called am
bassador, he was in truth but resident ; which was dis
covered by a contest he had with the Denmark resident
for place ; who alleged, that the other was no more than
resident ; which was true, and made the discovery that
the Florentines send no ambassadors to Madrid, because
they are not suffered to cover, which they use to do in
many other courts. The archduke of Inspruck's minister
was likewise a Florentine, and had been bred in Spain,
and was a knight of the order ; and supported that cha
racter upon a small assignation from his master, for some
benefit and advantage it gave him in negotiations and
pretences he had in that court.
52 The resident of Denmark was don Henrique William
son, (he was afterwards called Rosewell,) who came secre
tary to Hannibal Zested ; who had been the year before
ambassador in that court, and lived in extraordinary
splendour, as all the northern ministers do; who have
not their allowance from the king, but from a revenue
that is purposely set aside for that kind of service. When
he went away, he left this gentleman to remain there as
resident. He was a grave and a sober man, wiser than
most of his nation ; and lived with much more plenty,
and with a better retinue than any other minister of that
rank in that court.
53 They had not been many days in Madrid, when don
Lewis sent them the news of the imprisonment of the

234 The chancellor demands an audience. V. 53-
prince of Conde, prince of Conti, and the duke of Longue-
ville, and that marshal Turenne was fled into Flanders ;
so much the cardinal had improved his condition from the
time that they had left Paris. There was yet no house
provided for them, which they took very heavily ; and
believed that it might advance that business, if they had
once a public reception as ambassadors ; and therefore
they resolved to demand an audience. Don Lewis came
to be advertised that the ambassadors had prepared
mourning for themselves, and all their train, against
their audience ; which was true ; for they thought it
the most proper dress for them to appear in, and to
demand assistance to revenge the murder of their master,
it being yet within the year: but don Lewis sent to
them, that he hoped that when the whole court was in
gala, upon the joy of the marriage of the king, and to
give the queen a cheerful reception, they would not dis
honour the festival by appearing in luto, which the king
could not but take unkindly ; which, he said, he thought
fit to advertise them of, out of friendship, and without
any authority. Whereupon, as well to comply in an
affair which seemed to have somewhat of reason in it, as
out of apprehension, that from hence they might take
occasion to defer their audience, they changed their pur
pose, and caused new clothes to be made ; and then sent
to demand their audience ; upon the subject whereof,
and what followed of the negotiation, the relation shall
be continued.
Montpelier, March 1, 1670.

—VI. 2. He appUes himself to the study of Spanish. (1649.)

THE LIFE

OF

EDWAKD EARL OF CLARENDON;
FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE RESTORATION OF THE ROYAL
FAMILY IN THE YEAR 1660.

PART VI.

JL HE ambassadors were conducted in form to their
audience of the king of Spain ; and afterwards of the queen
and infanta ; and at last a house was provided for them.
Hist, of the Reb. book xii. par. 100.
2 They perceived that court was more inclined to cultivate
a strict friendship with ihe new commonwealth of England
than with the king their master, from an opinion of his
condition being irrecoverable — After all ceremonies were
over, the ambassadors had a private audience of the king,
to whom they delivered a memorial containing their propo
sitions and demands — They received shortly after such an
answer as was evidence enough to them, how little they were
to expect from any avowed friendship of that crown — They
rested for some time without giving the court any further
trouble, (History of the Rebellion, book xii. par. 109-)
and enjoyed themselves in no unpleasant retreat from
business, if they could have put off the thought of the
miserable condition of their master, and their own par
ticular concernments in their own country. The chan-

236 The chancellor arrives at Paris, where Vl.
cellor betook himself to the learning their language, by
reading their books ; of which he made a good collection;
and informing himself the best he could of their govern
ment, and the administration of their justice : and there
began his Devotions upon the Psalms, which he finished
in another banishment.
3 Prince Rupert came upon the coast of Spain with the
fleet under his command ; and wrote to the chancellor, ac
quainting him, that he had brought away all the fleet from
Ireland ; and desiring him to procure orders from the
court, that he might find a good reception in all the Spanish
ports, if his occasions brought him thither- — The news of a
fleet of the king of England being on their coast at a time
when their galeons were expected home, occasioned great
alteration in the behaviour of that court ; and all that the
ambassadors asked was easily granted: but that seeming
favourable disposition was of short duration ; for on the
arrival afterwards of a strong fleet sent out by the parlia
ment, and the commander thereof writing an insolent letter
to the king of Spain, the ambassadors found themselves less
regarded. Hist, of the Reb. book xii. par. 110.
4 The king had now determined to go into Scotland, upon
the invitation of the council and parliament of that king
dom ; and the ambassadors, who in reality disapproved of
that measure, notified it to the court of Spain as a happy
turn in the king's affairs ; setting forth, that his majesty
was now master of that kingdom, and therefore might rea
sonably hope to be restored to the possession of the rest of
his dominions — The court of Spain then began again to
treat the ambassadors with more regard. Hist, of the Reb.
book xii. par. 124.
5 Upon the news of Cromwell's victory over ihe marquis
of Argyle's army in Scotland, the ambassadors received a
message from the king of Spam, desiring them to depart,
since their presence in the court would be prejudicial to his
affairs — They imagined this proceeded from ihe expectation

the queen complains to him of the duke of York. (1650.) 237
of the arrival of an ambassador from the commonwealth of
England, which was then reported; but they knew after
wards that the true cause of this impatience to get rid of
them was, that their minister in England having purchased
many of the king's pictures, and rich furniture, had sent
them to the Groyne ; from whence they were expected to
arrive about that time at Madrid: which they thought
could not decently be brought to the palace while the am
bassadors remained at the court. Hist, of the Rebellion
book xiii. par. 24.
6 Lord Cottington resolves, and obtains leave to stay as a
private man in Spain , but is not permitted to reside at
Madrid. Hist, of the Reb. book xiii. par. 29-
7 The other ambassador made his journey by Alcala ;
and stayed a day there to see that university ; where the
college and other buildings made by the cardinal Ximenes
are well worth the seeing; and went through the king
dom of Navarre to Pampeluna, where the vice-king, the
duke of Escalona, received him ; and lodged him two
days in the palace, and treated him with great civility.
There he was seized upon with the gout ; yet he con
tinued his journey by mules, there being no passage by
coach or litter, over the Pyrenees to Bayonne ; where he
was forced to keep his bed, and to bleed, for many days :
but was so impatient of delay, that after a week's rest,
and before he was fit for the journey, he put himself into
a litter, and reached Bourdeaux ; where he was forced to
follow the prescription of Dr. Lopez, a very learned Jew
and physician ; and yet went too soon from thence too ;
so that when he came to Paris, he was cast into his bed
by a new defluxion of the gout, more violent than ever.
8 As soon as he had recovered any strength, he waited
upon the queen mother, who received him very graciously;
complained very much to him of the duke of York ; who
having been left with her by the king when he parted
with her majesty at Beauvais, had, expressly against her

238 Dr. Cosins is forbidden to officiate, on VI. i. i
consent and command, transported himself to Brussels,
upon imaginations which had no foundation, and upon
some treaty with the duke of Lorrain, which she was
sure could produce no good effect. Her majesty seemed
most offended with sir Edward Herbert, the attorney
general, and sir George Ratcliff, as the two persons who
prevailed with the duke, and had engaged him in that
journey, and governed him in it, against the advice of the
lord Byron, who was his governor ; and that being disap
pointed of what they had unreasonably looked for at
Brussels, they had carried his royal highness into Hoi- <
land, to his sister; who suffered much by his presence,
the States of Holland being resolved not to suffer him to
reside within their province ; the prince of Orange being
lately dead of the smallpox, and his son, who was born
after his death, being an infant, and depending so entirely
upon the good-will of the States: and therefore the
princess royal was much troubled that the coming of the
duke her brother into those parts gave the States any
occasion of offence. The queen said, that she had writ
to the duke to return into France, but had received no
answer; and therefore she desired the ambassador, as
soon as he should come into those parts, (for he meant
to go to Antwerp, where his wife and children then were,)
that he would make a journey to the Hague, to reduce
the duke, and to prevail with him to return into France ;
which the ambassador could not refuse to promise.
9 He found there the queen's own family in some dis
order, upon some declaration she had made, that the
protestant chaplain should be no more permitted to per
form his function in the Louvre ; where the queen's
court resided, and where there was a lower room, which
had been always used as a chapel, from the time of the
princes first coming thither to that time; and where
twice a day the common prayer was read to those who
were protestants, in both families ; and now the queen

-iii i. which the chancellor speaks to the queen. (1650.) 239
had signified to Dr. Cosins (who was the chaplain assigned
by the late king to attend in her majesty's family, for the
protestant part of it) that he should be no more permitted
to have the use of that room.
10 The chancellor of the exchequer took this occasion to
speak with the queen ; and put her in mind of some
promise she had made him, when he took his leave of
her to go for Spain, that she would not withdraw her
stipend which she allowed to Dr. Cosins; whereby he
must be compelled to withdraw ; and so the protestant
part of her family would be deprived of their public
devotions ; which promise she had observed to that
time: but if now the room should be taken from that
use, it would be the same thing as if the chaplain was
turned away. He put her majesty in mind of the ill
impression it might make in the hearts of the protestants
in England, who retained their respects and duty for her
majesty; and of what pernicious consequence it might
prove to the king, who was still in Scotland, in a hopeful
condition, and depended most upon the affections of his
protestant subjects of England ; and in the last place,
whether it might not prove a better argument to those
who were suspected by her to mislead the duke of York,
to dissuade him from returning to her, since she would
not permit him to have the exercise of his religion. The
queen seemed to think that what he said was not with
out reason, and confessed that she was not the author
of this new resolution, which she did not believe to be
seasonable.
11 Mr. Walter Mountague, who had some years before
changed his religion, and was become catholic, after he
had sustained a long imprisonment in the Tower of
London, procured his release from thence, upon assur
ance that he would no more return into England; and
so came into France ; where he was very well known in
the French as well as the English court, and in great

240 The chancellor confers with Mr. Mountague. VI.
reputation and esteem with both queens. He appeared a
man wholly restrained from all the vanity and levity of
his former life ; and perfectly mortified to the pleasures
of the world, which he had enjoyed in a very great mea
sure and excess.
12 He dedicated himself to his studies with great austerity,
and seemed to have no affection or ambition for prefer
ment, but to live within himself upon the very moderate
exhibition he had left to him by his father ; and in this
melancholic retreat he had newly taken the order of
priesthood ; which was, in truth, the most reasonable way
to satisfy his ambition, if he had any left ; for both the
queen regent and the cardinal could not but liberally
provide for his support in that profession ; which they
did very shortly after : and this devout profession and
new function much improved the interest and credit he
always had in his old mistress ; who very much hearkened
to him in cases of conscience : and she confessed to the
chancellor, that he was a little too bigotted in this affair ;
and had not only pressed her very passionately to remove
the scandal of having a protestant chapel in her house, as
inconsistent with a good conscience, but had likewise in
flamed the queen regent with the same zeal ; who had
very earnestly pressed and importuned her majesty no
longer to permit that offence to be given to the catholic
religion. And upon this occasion she lamented the death
of her late confessor, father Phillips, who, she said, was a
very discreet man, and would never suffer her to be
troubled with such infusions and scruples. In conclusion,
she wished him to confer with Mr. Mountague, and to try
if he could withdraw him from that asperity in that par
ticular ; to which purpose the chancellor conferred with
him, but without any effect.
13 He said, the house was the king of France's, who only
permitted the queen to live there ; and that the queen
regent thought herself bound in conscience no longer to

He resides with his family at Antwerp. (1650.) 241
suffer that reproach, of which she had never had informa
tion till very lately : that if the duke of York came thi
ther, there was no thought or purpose to deny him the
exercise of his religion ; he might have his chaplain say
prayers to him in his own chamber, or in some room ad
jacent, which served likewise to all other purposes ; but
that the setting a room apart, as this was, for that service,
was upon the matter dedicating it as a chapel for the ex
ercise of a religion contrary to what was established in
that kingdom ; which the king of France would not suffer
to be done in a house of his, though the king should
return thither again. He undervalued all the considera
tions which were offered of England, or of a protestant
interest, as if he thought them all, as no doubt he did, of
no importance to the king's restoration, which could never
be effected but by that interest which was quite opposite
to it. When he gave the queen an account of this dis
course, he prevailed so far with her, that she promised,
in case she should be compelled to take away that room,
as she foresaw she should be, the family should be per
mitted to meet in some other room ; and if the duke of
York came, the place that should be appointed for his
devotions should serve for all the rest to resort to.
14 As soon as the chancellor had recovered his strength,
he took leave of the queen, and pursued his journey for
Flanders. At Brussels he stayed till he had an audience
of the archduke, to whom he had letters from the king of
Spain and don Lewis; by which the king signified his
pleasure that he should reside any where in those pro
vinces he best liked, until he could conveniently repair to
the king his master ; and that in the mean time he should
enjoy all the privileges due to an ambassador : and so he
had his audience in that quality. He spake in Latin ;
and the archduke, answering in the same, assured him of
all the respects he could pay him whilst he stayed in those
parts : and thereupon he went to his family at Antwerp,
CLAEENDON LIFE, VOL. I. R

242 Some account of VI. 14-
and kept that character till the king's coming into France,
and his return to him ; by means whereof he enjoyed
many privileges and exemptions in the town ; and had
the freedom of his chapel, not only for his own devotions,
but for the resort of all the protestants who were then in
the town ; whereof the marquis of Newcastle, the earl of
Norwich, and sir Charles Cavendish were the principal ;
who came always on the Sundays, and frequently on the
week days, to the common prayer, to the grief of many
English and Irish Roman catholics ; who used all the
malicious artifices they could to procure that Uberty to be
restrained ; and which could not have been enjoyed under
any other concession than by the privilege of an am
bassador.
15 Whilst he was preparing to make a journey to the
Hague, to wait upon the duke of York, according to the
promise he had made to the queen, he received informa
tion from the Hague, that his royal highness would be at
Breda such a day ; whereupon he was glad to shorten his
journey, and at the day to kiss his hands there ; where
he found his highness newly arrived, and in an inclination
enough to return to the queen ; so that the chancellor
had no great task to confirm him in that resolution ; ndr
in truth did he know what else to do : however, all about
him were very glad of the chancellor's presence, everjr
body hoping to get him to their party, that he might be
ready to make a fair report of their behaviour to the king ;
whom they knew the queen would endeavour to incense
against them.
rt Never little family was torn into so many pieces and
factions. The duke was very young, yet loved intrigues
so well, that he was too much inclined to hearken to any
men who had the confidence to make bold propositions
to him. The king had appointed him to remain with the
queen, and to obey her in all things, religion only ex
cepted. The lord Byron was his governor, ordained to

—177- the duke of York's family. ( 1 650. )
be so by his father, and very fit for that province ; being
a very fine gentleman ; well bred both in France and
Italy, and perfectly versed in both languages ; of great
courage and fidelity ; and in all respects qualified for the
trust ; but his being absent in the king's service when
the duke made his escape out of England, and sir John
Berkley being then put about him, all pains had been
taken to lessen his esteem of the lord Byron; and sir
John Berkley, knowing that he could no longer remain
governor when the lord Byron came thither, and hearing
that he was in his journey, infused into the duke's mind,
that it was a great lessening of his dignity at that age
(when he was hot above fourteen years of age, and back
ward enough for that age) to be under a governor ; and
so, partly by disesteeming the person, and partly by re
proaching the office, he grew less inclined to the person
of that good lord than he should have been.
17 But what title soever any body had, the whole au
thority was in the queen, not only by the direction of the
king, but by inevitable necessity ; for there was no kind
of fund assigned for the support of the duke ; but he de
pended entirely upon the queen his mother's bounty, who
had no more assigned for herself than they, to whom the
management thereof was committed, knew well how to
dispose of, nOr was it enough to serve their occasions ; so
that her majesty herself certainly spent less upon her
Own person, or in any thing relating to herself, than ever
any queen or lady of a very eminent degree did. This
visible and total dependance of the duke upon his mother
made her majesty the less apprehensive of his doing any
thing contrary to her liking ; and there was not that care
for the general part of his education, nor that indulgence
to his persbn, as ought to have been ; and the queen's
own carriage and behaviour towards him was at least
severe enough, as it had been before to the king, in the
B 2

244 The cause of the duke of York's VI. 17-
time that he was prince ; which then and now gave op
portunity to those who were not themselves at ease, to
make many infusions ; which, how contrary soever to
their duties, were not so unreasonable as to be easily
rejected, or to make no impression.
18 The king, at his going from Beauvais in his voyage
for Scotland, had given some recommendation to the
duke his brother of sir George Ratcliff ; to whose care
his father had once designed to commit him, when he
meant to have sent him into Ireland; and his majesty
had likewise, at the same time at Beauvais, made some
promise to sir George Ratcliff of some place about his
brother, when his family should be settled, of which
there was then little appearance : however, it was enough
to entitle him to give his frequent attendance upon the
duke; and the general reputation he had of- having been
the person of the nearest trust with the earl of Strafford,
might well dispose the duke to think him a wise man,
and the better to esteem any thing he said to him.
19 Sir Edward Herbert thought himself the wisest man
that followed the king's fortune, and was always angry
that he had no more to do ; and now prince Rupert was
absent, endeavoured all he could to get credit with the
duke of York ; and came very frequently to him, and
held him in long whispers, which the duke easily in
dulged to him, out of a real belief that he was a man
of great wisdom and experience. The queen liked
neither of these two ; which they well enough discern
ing, grew into a friendship, or rather a familiarity to
gether, though they were of the most different natures
and humours imaginable; Ratcliff being a man very
capable of business ; and if the prosperity of his former
fortune had not raised in him some fumes of vanity and
self'-conceitedness, was very fit to be advised with, being
of a nature constant and sincere ; which the other was

—21. having left Paris. (1650.) 245
not : yet they agreed well in the design of making the
duke of York discontented and weary of his condition ;
which was not pleasant enough to be much delighted in.
30 The news from England, of the state of the king's
affairs in Scotland, made most men believe that his
majesty was irrecoverably lost; and there was for some
time a rumour scattered abroad, and by many believed,
that the king was dead. These two gentlemen, upon the
fame of this, consulted together, whether, if the news
were or should be true, the duke of York, who must
succeed, were in a good place ; and both concluded, that
in that case it would not be fit that he should be with his
mother. Hereupon they persuaded the duke, that it was
not fit for him to remain idle in France, but to employ
himself abroad ; whereby his experience might be im
proved, and he might put himself into a posture to be
able to assist the king his brother ; or if any misfortune
should befall him, in some degree to provide for himself;
and proposed to him, that he would resolve to make a
journey to Brussels, to advise and consult with the duke
of Lorrain, who was a prince of great wisdom, wealth, and
courage ; and being driven out of his own country by too
powerful and potent a neighbour, had yet, by his own
activity and virtue, made himself so considerable, that
Spain depended upon his army, and France itself would
be glad of his friendship ; that he was very rich, and
would not be only able to give the duke good counsel,
but assistance to make it effectual.
21 The duke, without further examining the probability of
the design, which he concluded had been thought upon
enough by two such wise men, gave his full consent to it ;
and they having likewise found credit for so much money
as would defray the charges of the journey, and really
believing that the king was dead, the duke one day told
the queen, that he was resolved to make a journey to
Brussels to see the duke of Lorrain ; with which the

246 Character of Dr. Steward. VI. 31 
queen being surprised, used both her reason and her
authority to dissuade him from it, but could not prevail
by either ; his highness telling her very obstinately, that
he would begin his journey within two days. She found
that none of his servants were privy to the design, or
were at all acquainted with the purpose; and quickly
discovered the two counsellors ; who, having no relation
to his service that she knew, were prepared to wait on
him, and had drawn Dr. Steward (who was dean of the
chapel to the king, and left behind when his majesty
went for Scotland, with direction to be with the duke of
York) to be of their party.
22 The doctor was a very honest and learned gentleman,
and most conversant in that learning which vindicated
the dignity and authority of the church ; upon which his
heart was most entirely set ; not without some prejudice
to those who thought there was any other object to be
more carefully pursued. Sir George Ratcliff seemed to
be of his mind, and so was looked upon by him as one of
the best friends of the church ; which was virtue enough
to cover many defects. He told him of the rumour of the
death of the king, and what conference had been between
him and the attorney general upon it, which they both
believed ; and bow necessary they thought it was for the
duke to be out of France when the certainty of that news
should arrive : that they had spoken with the duke of it,
who seemed very well disposed ; yet they knew not how
his mother's authority might prevail over his obedience ;
and therefore wished that he would speak with the duke,
who had great reverence for him in all matters of con
science, and remove any scruples which might arise. The
doctor did not think himself so much regarded by the
queen as he expected to be, and did really believe the
case to be such as the other had informed him ; and con
firmed the duke in his resolution, notwithstanding any
thing his mother should say to the contrary; and the

-156- St<*te of the duke of York's family. (1650.) 247
queen could neither say or do any thing to dissuade him
from the journey.
23 The lord Byron his governor, and Mr. Bennet his secre
tary, both well liked by the queen, and of great confidence
in each other, thought it their duty to attend upon him.
Sir John Berkley stayed behind, as well to avoid the
being inferior to another, which he always abhorred, as
to prosecute an amour which he was newly embarked
in; and sir George Ratcliff, and sir Edward Herbert,
and the good doctor, were so to improve their interest,
that neither the queen or any who depended on her
might have any credit with the duke. Most of the
inferior servants depended upon them, because they saw
they had most interest with their master ; and with these
thoughts and resolutions they all set out for Brussels:
and these wild notions were the true reasons and founda
tion of that journey, which many sober men so much
wondered at then, and so much censured afterwards.
24 When his highness came to Brussels, he was accom
modated in the house of sir Henry de Vic, the king's
resident there: and he was no sooner there, but they
began to model his house and regulate his family ; to
wards which sir George Ratcliff was designed to manage
all the affairs of money ; the attorney contenting himself
with having the greatest power in governing the councils ;
and all looking for other stations upon the arrival of the
news from Scotland. But in a short time the intelligence
from thence was quite contrary to what they expected ;
the king was not only in good health, but his affairs in
no desperate condition ; all factions seemed reconciled,
and he was at the head of an army that looked Cromwell
in the face.
25 Hereupon they were at a great stand in their councils.
The duke of Lorrain had been civil to the duke, and
had at his first coming lent him some money ; but when
h.e found he was without any design, and by what persons

248 Stateof the duke of York's VI. 35-
his counsels were directed, he grew colder in his respects;
and they who had gone thus far, took upon them the
presumption to propose a marriage between the duke of
York and a natural daughter of the duke of Lorrain ; his
marriage with madame de Cantecroy, the mother of the
said lady, being declared void in the court of Rome:
but the duke of Lorrain was so wise as not to entertain
the motion, except it should be made with the king's
privity. So apt are unexperienced men, when they are
once out of the way, to wander into bogs and precipices,
before they will be sensible of their false conduct. When
they found there was nothing to be done at Brussels,
they persuaded the duke to go to the Hague, with as
little design ; and when they had wearied all people
there, they came to Breda, where the chancellor had met
them.
26 The duke himself was so young, that he was rather
delighted with the journeys he had made, than sensible
that he had not entered upon them with reason enough ;
and they had fortified him with a firm resolution, never
to acknowledge that he had committed any error. But
his counsellors had lost all the pleasure of their combina
tion, and reproached each other of their follies and pre
sumptions with all the animosity imaginable. The lord
Byron and Mr. Bennet, who had comforted each other in
their sufferings, were glad enough to see that there was
some end put to their peregrinations, and that by return
ing to the queen they were like to find some rest again ;
and they entertained the chancellor with many ridiculous
relations of the politics of the attorney and sir George
Ratcliff, and of the pleasant discourses the duke of
Lorrain made of the Latin orations sir George Ratcliff
had entertained him with.
27 On the other hand, sir George was well pleased with
the grace he had received from the duke of Lorrain, and
with the testimony he had given of him to some men

family at Breda. (1650.) 249
who had told him of it again, that he was a very grave
and a wise man, and that he wished he had such another
to look after his affairs. He and Dr. Steward continued
their affections towards each other, and concurred in
most bitter invectives against sir Edward Herbert, as a
madman, and of that intolerable pride, that it was not
possible for any man to converse with him ; and the
attorney as frankly reproached them all with being men
of no parts, of no understanding, no learning, no princi
ples, and no resolution ; and was so just to them all, as
to contemn every man alike ; and in truth had rendered
himself so grievous to them all, and behaved himself so
insolently towards all, that there was not a man who
desired to be in his company : yet by the knack of his
talk, which was the most like reason, and not it, he
retained still great credit with the duke; who being still
confounded with his positive discourse, thought him to be
wiser than those who were more easy to be understood.
28 The duke upon the receipt of the queen's letters, which
the chancellor delivered to him, resolved upon his journey
to Paris without further delay ; and the chancellor waiting
upon his highness as far as Antwerp, he prosecuted his
journey with the same retinue he had carried with him ;
and was received by his mother without those expostula
tions and reprehensions which he might have expected ;
though her severity was the same towards all those who
she thought had the credit and power to seduce him.
29 The chancellor was now at a little rest again with his
own family in Antwerp ; and had time to be vacant to
his own thoughts and books ; and in the interval to enjoy
the conversation of many worthy persons of his own
nation, who had chosen that place to spend the time of
their banishment in. There was the marquis of New
castle, who having married a young lady, confined himself
most to her company ; and lived as retired as his ruined
condition in England obliged him to ; yet with honour,

250 Character of sir ClvarUs Cavendish: the VI. 29 
and decency, and with much respect paid him by all men,
as well foreigners as those of his own country. The con
versation the chancellor took most delight in was that of
sir Charles Cavendish, brother to the marquis ; who was
one of the most extraordinary persons of that age, in all
the noble endowments of the mind. He had all the dis
advantages imaginable in his person ; which was not only
of so small a size that it drew the eyes of men upon him,
but with such deformity in his little person, and an
aspect in his countenance, that was apter to raise con
tempt than application : but in this unhandsome or
homely habitation, there was a mind and a soul lodged
that was very lovely and beautiful ; cultivated and po
lished by all the knowledge and wisdom that arts and
sciences could supply it with. He was a great philoso
pher, in the extent of it ; and an excellent mathematican;
whose correspondence was very dear to Gassendus and
Descartes ; the last of which dedicated some of his works
to him. He had very notable courage ; and the vigour
of his mind so adorned his body, that being with his
brother the marquis in all the war, he usually went out
in all parties, and was present, and charged the enemy in
all battles with as keen a courage as could dwell in the
heart of man. But then the gentleness of his disposition,
the humility and meekness of his nature, and the vivacity
of his wit was admirable. He was so modest, that he
could hardly be prevailed with to enlarge himself on
subjects he understood better than other men, except he
were pressed by his very familiar friends ; as if he thought
it presumption to know more than handsomer men use
to do. Above all, his virtue and piety was such, that no
temptation could work upon him to consent to any thing
that swerved in the least degree from the precise rules of
honour, or the most severe rules of conscience.
30 When he was exceedingly importuned by those whom
he loved best to go into England, and compound for his

chancellor persuades him to go into England. (1650.) 251
estate, which was very good, that thereby he might be
enabled to help his friends, who were reduced into great
straits ; he refused it, out of apprehension that he might
be required to take the covenant or engagement, or to do
somewhat else which his conscience would not permit him
to do : and when they endeavoured to undervalue that
conscience, and to persuade him not to be governed by it,
that would expose him to famine, and restrain him from
being charitable to his best friends ; he was so offended
with their argumentation, that he would no more admit
any discourse upon the subject. Upon which they applied
themselves to the chancellor ; who they thought had most
credit with him ; and desired him to persuade him to
make a journey into England ; the benefit whereof to
him and themselves was very intelligible ; but informed
him not of his refusal, and the arguments they had used
to convert him.
31 The next time they met, which they usually did once a
day, the chancellor told him, he heard he had a purpose
to make a journey into England ; to which he suddenly
answered, that indeed he was desired to do so, but that
he had positively refused ; and thereupon, with much
warmth and indignation, related what importunity and
what arguments had been used to him, and what he had
answered : and thereupon said, that his present condition
was in no degree pleasant or easy to him, (as in truth it
was not, he being in very visible want of ordinary con
veniences,) but, he protested, that he would rather submit
to nakedness, or starving in the street, than subscribe to
the covenant or engagement, or do any thing else that
might reflect upon his honour or his conscience. To
which the chancellor replied, that his resolution became
him, and was worthy of his wisdom and honesty ; and
that if he found him inclined to do any thing that might
trench upon either, he was so much his friend, that he
would put him in mind of his obligations to both ; that

252 The chancellor persuades sir C. Cavendish VI. 31-
indeed the arguments which had been used to him could
never prevail upon a virtuous mind : however, be told
him, he thought the motion from his friends might be a
little more considered before it was rejected ; and con
fessed to him, that he was desired to confer with him
about it, and to dispose him to it, without being informed
that any attempt had been already made : and then asked
him, whether he did in truth believe that his journey
thither might probably produce those benefits to himself
and his friends as they imagined ; and then it would be
fit to consider, whether those conveniences were to be
purchased at a dearer price than they were worth.
33 He answered, there could be no doubt, but that if he
could go thither with safety, and be admitted to com
pound for his estate, as others did, he could then sell it
at so good a price, that he could not only provide for a
competent subsistence for himself, when he returned, but
likewise assist his friends for their better support; and
that he could otherwise, out of lands that were in trust,
and not known to be his, and so had not been yet se
questered, raise other sums of money, which would be
attended with many conveniences ; and he confessed no
thing of all this could be done without his own presence.
But then that which deprived him of all this was, in the
first place, the apprehension of imprisonment ; which, he
said, his constitution would not bear; but especially, be
cause by their own ordinance nobody was capable to com
pound till he had subscribed to the covenant and engage
ment ; which he would not do to save his life ; and that
in what necessity soever he was, he valued what benefit
he could possibly receive by the journey only as it might
consist with his innocence and liberty to return ; and since
he could not reasonably presume of either, he had no
thought of going.
33 The chancellor told him, that they were both of the
same mind in all things which related to conscience and

to go into England. ( 1 650.) 253
honour; but yet, since the benefits that might result
from this journey were great, and very probable, and in
some degree certain, and the mischiefs he apprehended
were not certain, and possibly might be avoided, he
thought he was not to lay aside all thoughts of the jour
ney, which he was so importuned to undertake by those
who were so dear to him. That he was of the few who
had many friends, and no enemies ; and therefore had no
reason to fear imprisonment, or any other rigour extra
ordinary ; which was seldom used, but to persons under
some notable prejudice. That after he once came to
London, he would not take much pleasure in going
abroad ; but might despatch his business by others, who
would repair to him : and that for the covenant and en
gagement, they were so contrary, that both were rarely
offered to the same person ; and they had now so much
justled and reviled each other, that they were neither in
so much credit as they had been, and were not pressed
but upon such persons against whom they had a par
ticular design ; however, he went well armed, as to that
point, with a resolution not to submit to either ; and the
worst that could happen, was to return without the full
effect of his journey. Whereas if those mischiefs could
be avoided, which the skilful upon the place could only
instruct him in, he would return with great benefit and
satisfaction to himself and his friends ; and if he were
subjected to imprisonment, (which he ought not to ap
prehend, and could be but short,) even in that case his
journey could not be without fruit, by the conference and
transactions with his friends ; though no composition
could be made. Upon revolving these considerations, he
resolved to undertake the journey; and performed it so
happily, without those obstructions he feared, that he
finished all he proposed to himself, and made a competent
provision to support his brother during his distress ;
though when he had despatched it, he lived not to enjoy

254 The queen endeavours to attach VI. 33-
the repose he desired, but died before he could return to
Antwerp : and the marquis ever after publicly acknow
ledged the benefit be received hereby to the chancellor's
advice.
34 As soon as the chancellor had reposed himself at
Antwerp, after so much fatigue, he thought it necessary
to give some account of himself to the king ; and though
the prohibition before his going into Scotland, and the
sending away many of the servants who attended him
thither out of the kingdom, made it unfit for him to
repair thither himself, he resolved to send his secretary,
(a man of fidelity, and well known to the king,) to inform
his majesty of all that had passed, and to bring back his
commands; but when he was at Amsterdam, ready to
embark, upon a ship bound for Scotland, the news arrived
there of his majesty's being upon his march for England ;
upon which he returned to Antwerp ; where he found
the spirits of all the English exalted with the same
advertisement.
35 As soon as the king came to Paris (after his wonderful
deliverance from the bdttle of Worcester,) and knew that
the chancellor of the exchequer was at Antwerp, his majesty
sent to him to repair thither, which he accordingly did;
and for the first four or five days after his arrival, ihe king
spent many hours with him in private ; and informed him
of many particulars of the treatment he had met with in
Scotland ; of his march into England ; of the confusion at
Worcester ; and all the circumstances of his happy escape
and deliverance. Hist, of the Reb. book xiii. par. 108.
36 The chancellor was yet looked upon with no ungracious
eye by her majesty ; only the lord Jermyn knew well he
would never resign himself to be disposed of, which was
the temper that could only endear any man to him : for
besides former experience, an attempt had been lately
made upon him by sir John Berkley ; who told him, that
the queen had a good opinion of him ; and knew well in

the chancellor to her interest. (1651.) 255
how ill a condition he must be, in respect of his subsist
ence ; and that she would assign him such a competent
maintenance, that he should be able to draw his family
to him out of Flanders to Paris, and to live comfortably
together, if she might be confident of his service, and
that he would always concur with her in his advice to
the king. To which he answered, that he should never
fail in performing his duty to the queen, whom he ac
knowledged to be his most gracious mistress, with all
possible integrity : but as he was a servant and counsellor
to the king, so he should always consider what was good
for bis service ; and never decline that Out of any compli
ance whatsoever ; and that he did not desire to be sup
ported from any bounty but the king's ; nor more by his,
than in proportion with what his majesty should be able
to do for his other servants. And shortly after the queen
herself speaking with him, and complaining that she had
no credit with the king ; the chancellor desired her not
to think so ; he knew well the king had great duty for
her, which he would still preserve towards her ; but as it
would not be fit for her to affect such an interest as to
be thought to govern, so nothing could be more disad
vantageous to the king, and to his interest, than that the
world should believe that he was absolutely governed by
his mother ; which he found (though she seemed to con
sent to it) was no acceptable declaration to her. How
ever, she did often employ him to the king, upon such
particulars as troubled or offended her ; as once, for the
removal of a young lady out of the Louvre, who had pro
cured a lodging there without her majesty's consent;
and with whom her majesty was justly offended, for the
iittle respect she shewed towards her majesty : and when
the chancellor had prevailed so far with the king, that
he obliged the lady to remove out of the Louvre, to
satisfy his mother, the queen was well content that the
lady herself and her friends should believe, that she had

256 Of the chancellor's family at Antwerp. VI-37 
undergone that affront merely by the malice and credit
of the chancellor.
37 The king remained at Paris till the year 1654 ; when,
in the month of June, he left France; and passing through
Flanders, went to Spa ; where he proposed to spend two or
three months with his sister, the princess royal. His stay
at Spa was not so long as he intended, the smallpox
breaking out there. His majesty and his sister suddenly
removed to Aix-la-Chapelle. Hist, of the Reb. book xii.
par. 98.
38 At this time there fell out an accident not pertinent
to the public history of that time, but necessary to be
inserted in the particular relation of the chancellor's life ;
which had afterwards an influence upon his fortune, and
a very great one upon the peace and quiet of his mind,
and of his family. When the king resolved, immediately
after the murder of his father, to send the chancellor his
ambassador into Spain, the chancellor, being to begin his
journey from the Hague, sent for his wife and children
to meet him at Antwerp ; and had at that time only four
children, one daughter and three sons; all of so tender
years, that their own discretions could contribute little to
their education. These children, under the sole direction
of a very discreet mother, he left at Antwerp, competently
provided for, for the space of a year or more ; hoping in
that time to be able to send them some further supply ;
and having removed them out of England, to prevent
any inconvenience that might befall them there, upon
any accident that might result from his negotiation in
Spain ; it being in those times no unusual thing for the
parliament, when it had conceived any notable displeasure
against a man who was out of their reach, to seize upon
his wife and children, and to imprison them in what
manner and for what time seemed reasonable to them;
and from this hazard he was willing to preserve his. The
king was in Scotland when the chancellor returned from

— ,-4°- They remove to Breda> (1655.) 257
his embassy to Antwerp, where his family had still re
mained ; his children being grown as much as usually
attends the space of two years, which was the time he
had been absent. The fatal success at Worcester about
this time had put a period to all his majesty's present
designs ; and he had no sooner made his wonderful escape
into France, than he sent for the chancellor; who left
his family, as he had done formerly, and as meanly sup
plied, and made all haste to Paris, where he found the
king ; with whom he remained till his majesty was even
compelled to remove from thence into Germany ; which
was above three years.
39 During that time the princess royal had, out of her
own princely nature and inclination, cultivated by the
civility and offices of the lady Stanhope, conferred a very
seasonable obligation upon him, by assigning a house, that
was in her disposal at Breda, to his wife and children ;
who had thereupon left Antwerp ; and, without the pay
ment of any house-rent, were more conveniently, because
more frugally, settled in their new mansion at Breda ;
where he got liberty to visit them for four or five days,
whilst the king continued his journey to the Spa, and
after another absence of near four years ; finding his
children grown and improved after that rate. The gra
cious inclination in the princess royal towards the chan
cellor's wife and children, (not without some reprehension
from Paris,) and the civilities in the lady Stanhope, had
proceeded much from the good offices of Daniel O'Neile,
of the king's bedchamber ; who had for many years lived
in very good correspondence with the chancellor, and was
very acceptable in the court of the princess royal, and to
those persons who had the greatest influence upon her
councils and affections.
40 The princess met the king her brother at the Spa,
rather for the mutual comfort they took in each other,
than for the use either of them had of the waters ; yet
CLAEENDON LIFE, VOL. I. S

258 The chancellor is urged to solicit VI.
the princess engaged herself to that order and diet that
the waters required ; and after near a month's stay there,
they were forced suddenly to remove from thence, by the
sickness of some of the princess's women of the smallpox,
and resided at Aix-la-Chapelle ; where they had been but
one whole day, when notice came from the Spa, that Mrs.
Killigrew, one of the maids of honour to the princess, was
dead of the smallpox. Mr. O'Neile, who professed much
kindness to the chancellor, and by his friendship with the
lady Stanhope had much credit in the family of the prin
cess, came to him and told him that the princess royal
had a very good opinion of him, and kind purposes to
wards his family ; which she knew suffered much for his
fidelity to the king ; and therefore that she was much
troubled to find that her mother the queen had less kind
ness for him than he deserved ; that by the death of Mrs.
Killigrew there was a place now fallen, which very many
would desire ; and that it would no sooner be known at
Paris, than the queen would undoubtedly recommend
some lady to the princess ; but he was confident that, if
the chancellor would move the king to recommend his
daughter, who was known to the princess, her highness
would willingly receive her. He thanked him for his
particular kindness, but conjured him not to use his in
terest to promote any such pretence ; and [told him] that
" himself would not apply the king's favour to such a re
quest ; that he had but one daughter, (for he had then no
more,) who was all the company and comfort her mother
had in her melancholic retirement, and therefore he was
resolved not to separate them, nor to dispose his daughter
to a court life ;" which he did in truth perfectly detest.
O'Neile, much disappointed with the answer, and believ
ing that the proposition would have been very grateful
to him, confessed, that the princess had been already
moved in it by the lady Chesterfield ; and that it was her
own desire that the king should move it to hereto the

414I- Mrs. Killigrew' s place for his daughter. (1655.) ^59
end that she might be thereby sheltered from the re
proach which she expected from the queen ; but that the
princess herself had so much kindness for his daughter,
that she had long resolved to have her upon the first
vacancy. The chancellor was exceedingly perplexed, and
resolved nothing more, than that his daughter should not
live from her mother ; and therefore renewed his con
jurations to Mr. O'Neile, that he would not further pro
mote it, since it would never be acceptable to him ; and
concluded, that his making no application, and the im
portunity of others who desired the honour, would put an
end to the pretence.
41 The king had heard of the matter from the princess,
and willingly expected when the chancellor would move
him for his recommendation ; which when he saw he for
bore to do, he spake himself to him of it, and asked him
why he did not make such a suit to him : upon which the
chancellor told him all that had passed between O'Neile
and him ; and that for many reasons he declined the re
ceiving that obligation from the princess ; and therefore
he had no use of his majesty's favour in it. The king
told him plainly, that " his sister, upon having seen his
daughter some days, liked her so well, that she desired to
have her about her person ; and had herself spoken to
him to move it to her, for the reason aforesaid, and to
prevent any displeasure from the queen ; and he knew
not how the chancellor could, or why he should, omit
such an opportunity of providing for his daughter in so
honourable a way." The chancellor told him, " he could
not dispute the reasons with him ; only that he could not
give himself leave to deprive his wife of her daughter's
company, nor believe that she could be more advantage
ously bred than under her mother." Hereupon he went
to the princess, and took notice of the honour she was
inclined to do him ; but, he told her, the honour was not
s 2

260 The chancellor's discourse VI. 41 
fit for him to receive, nor the conjuncture seasonable for
her royal highness to confer it ; that she could not but
know his condition, being deprived of his estate ; and if
her highness's bounty had not assigned a house at Breda,
where his wife and family lived rent free, they had not
known how to have subsisted : but by that her favour,
the small supplies his friends in England secretly sent
over to them sustained them in that private retirement
in which they lived ; so that it was not in his power to
make his daughter such an allowance as would enable her
to live in her court in that manner as would become her
relation.
42 The princess would not permit him to enlarge ; but
very generously told him, that she knew well the strait-
ness of his condition, and how it came to be so low ; and
had no thought that he should be at the charge to main
tain his daughter in her service; that he should leave
that to her : and so used many expressions of esteem of
him, and of kindness and grace to his daughter. He,
foreseeing and expecting such generosity, replied to her,
that since her goodness disposed her to such an act of
charity and honour, it became his duty and gratitude to
provide, that she should bring no inconvenience upon
herself; that he had the misfortune (with all the inno
cence and integrity imaginable) to be more in the queen
her mother's disfavour, than any gentleman who had had
the honour to serve the crown so many years in some
trust; that all the application he could make, nor the
king's own interposition, could prevail with her majesty
to receive him into her gracious opinion ; and that he
could not but know, that this unseasonable act of charity,
which her highness would vouchsafe to so ungracious a
family, would produce some resentment and displeasure
from the queen her mother towards her highness, and
increase the weight of her severe indignation against him,

—4-43- W&A the princess royal. (1655.) 261
which so heavily oppressed him already ; and therefore he
resolved to prevent that mischief, which would undoubt
edly befall her highness ; and would not submit to the
receiving the fruits of her favourable condescension.
43 To this the princess answered with some warmth, that
she had always paid that duty to the queen her mother
which was due to her, and would never give her a just
cause to be offended with her : but that she was mistress
of her own family, and might receive what servants she
pleased ; and that she should commit a great fault against
the queen, if she should forbear to do a good and a just
action, to which she was inclined, out of apprehension
that her majesty would be offended at it. She said, she
knew some ill offices had been done him to her mother,
for which she was sorry; and doubted not, but her
majesty would in due time discern that she had been
misinformed and mistaken ; and then she would like and
approve of what her highness should now do. In the
mean time she was resolved to take his daughter, and
would send for her as soon as she returned into Holland.
The chancellor, not in any degree converted, but con
founded with the gracious and frank discourse of the
princess royal, knew not what more to say ; replied only,
that he hoped her highness would think better of what
she seemed to undervalue, and that he left his daughter
to be disposed of by her mother, who he knew would be
very unwilling to part with her ; upon which her highness
answered, "I'll warrant you, my lady and I will agree
upon the matter." To conclude this discourse, which,
considering what fell out afterwards, is not impertinent
to be remembered ; he knew his wife had no inclination
to have her daughter out of her own company; and
when he had by letter informed her of all that had
passed, he endeavoured to confirm her in that resolution :
but when the princess, after her return into Holland,

262 The chancellor's daughter is appointed maid of honour. VI. 43^=
sent to her, and renewed her gracious offer, she, upon
consultation with Dr. Morley, (who upon the old friend
ship between the chancellor and him, chose in his banish
ment, from the murder of the king, to make his residence
for the most part in his family, and was always perfectly
kind to all his interests,) believed it might prove for her
daughter's benefit, and writ to her husband her opinion,
and that the doctor concurred in the same.
44 The chancellor looked upon the matter itself, and all
the circumstances thereof, as having some marks of
divine Providence, which he would not resist, and so
referred it wholly to his wife ; who when she had pre
sented her daughter to the princess, came herself to
reside with her husband, to his great comfort ; and which
he could not have enjoyed if the other separation had
not been made ; and possibly that consideration had the
more easily disposed her to consent to the other. We
have now set down all the passages and circumstances
which accompanied or attended that lady's first promo
tion to the service of the princess royal ; which the
extreme averseness in her father and mother from em
bracing that opportunity, and the unusual grace and
importunity from them who conferred the honour being
considered, there may appear to many an extraordinary
operation of Providence in giving the first rise to what
afterwards succeeded ; though of a nature so transcendent,
as cannot be thought to have any relation to it.
45 After an unsuccessful insurrection of some of the king's
friends in England, Cromwell exercised the utmost severity
and cruelty against them ; putting many to death, and
transporting others as slaves to Barbadoes ; and by his
own authority, and that of his council, made an order, that
all persons who had ever borne arms for, or declared them
selves of, the royal party, should be decimated; that is,
pay a tenth part of all the estate they had left, to support

-,—47- Decimation of the king's party. (1656-1660.) 263
the charge of the commonwealth ; and published a declara
tion to justify his proceedings, (Hist, of the Reb. book xiv.
par. 123—149-) which confidently set down such maxims,
as made it manifest to all who had ever served the king,
or would not submit to Cromwell's power and govern
ment, that they had nothing that they could call their
own, but must be disposed of at his pleasure ; which as
much concerned all other parties as the king's, in the
consequence, though for the present none but that party
underwent that insupportable burden of the decimation,
which brought in a vast incredible sum of money into his
coffers, the greater part whereof was raised upon those
who never did nor ever would have given his majesty
the least assistance, and were only reputed to be of the
king's party, because they had not assisted the rebels to
any considerable proportion, but had a good mind to have
sat neuters, and not to be at any charge with reference to
either party.
46 This declaration, as soon as printed, was sent over to
Cologne, where the king then was, and the chancellor was
commanded by the king to write some discourse upon it,
to awaken the people, and shew them their concernment
in it ; which he did by way of " a Letter to a Friend ;"
which was likewise sent into England, and there printed ;
and when Cromwell called his next parliament, it was
made great use of to inflame the people, and make them
sensible of the destruction that attended them ; and was
thought then to produce many good effects. And so we
conclude this part.
Montpelier, May 27, 1670.
47 The seventh and last part of the manuscript is dated at
Montpelier, August 1, 1670, and continues the history
from the king's residence at Cologne, to the restoration of

624 Conclusion. VI, 47,
the royal family in 1660 ; containing the substance of
what is printed in the two last books of The History of
the Rebellion. The only remarkable circumstance of the
author's life during that period is, that in the year 1657,
while the king was at Bruges, his majesty appointed the
chancellor of the exchequer to be lord high chancellor of
England; and delivered the great seal into his custody
upon the death of sir Edward Herbert, the last lord keeper
thereof. Hist, of the Reb. books xv. xvi.

THE CONTINUATION

OP

THE LIFE
OF
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON;
LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND,
AND
CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD ;
FROM
THE RESTORATION IN 1660 TO HIS BANISHMENT
IN 1667.

Con. i. The author's preface. (1643.) 269

THE CONTINUATION

OF

THE LIFE

OF

EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON.

Moulins, June 8, 1672.
Reflections upon the most material passages which happened
after the king's restoration to the time of the chancellor's
banishment ; out of which his children, for whose information
they are only collected, may add some important passages to
his Life, as the true cause of his misfortunes.
-LHE easy and glorious reception of the king, in the
manner that hath been mentioned, without any other
conditions than what had been frankly offered by himself
in his declaration and letters from Breda ; the parlia
ment's casting themselves in a body at his feet, in the
minute of his arrival at Whitehall, with all the profes
sions of duty and submission imaginable; and no man
having authority there, but they who had either emi
nently served the late king, or who were since grown
up out of their nonage from such fathers, and had
throughly manifested their fast fidelity to his present
majesty ; the rest, who had been enough criminal, shew
ing more animosity towards the severe punishment of
those, who having more power in the late times had

The author's preface. Con. i-j—
jded them in mischief, than care for their own
aemnity : this temper sufficiently evident, and the uni
versal joy of the people, which was equally visible, for
the total suppression of all those who had so many
years exercised tyranny over them, made most men
believe, both abroad and at home, that God had not
only restored the king miraculously to his throne, but
that he had, as he did in the time of Hezekiah, "pre
pared the people, for the thing was done suddenly,"
(2 Chron. xxix. 36.) in such a manner that his authority
and greatness would have been more illustrious than it
had been in any of his ancestors. And it is most true,
and must never be denied, that the people were so ad
mirably disposed and prepared to pay all the subjection,
duty, and obedience, that a just and prudent king could
expect from them, and had a very sharp aversion and de
testation of all those who had formerly misled and cor
rupted them; so that, except the general, who seemed
to be possessed entirely of the affection of the army,
and whose fidelity was now above any misapprehension,
there appeared no man whose power and interest could
in any degree shake or endanger the peace and security
the king was in ; the congratulations for his return being
so universal from all the counties of England, as well as
from the parliament and city; from all those who had
most singularly disserved and disclaimed him, as well as
from those of his own party, and those who were de
scended from them : insomuch as the king was wont
merrily to say, as hath been mentioned before, "that it
could be nobody's fault but his own that he had stayed
so long abroad, when all mankind wished him so heartily
at home." It cannot therefore but be concluded by the
standers-by, and the spectators of this wonderful change
and exclamation of all degrees of men, that there must
be some wonderful miscarriages in the state, or some
unheard of defect of understanding in those who were

The king's council at the restoration. (1660.) 269
trusted by the king in the administration of his affairs ;
that there could in so short a time be a new revolution in
the general affections of the people, that they grew even
weary of that happiness they were possessed of and had
so much valued, and fell into the same discontents and
murmurings which had naturally accompanied them in
the worst times. From what fatal causes these miserable
effects were produced, is the business of this present dis
quisition to examine, and in some degree to discover;
and therefore must be of such a nature, as must be as
tenderly handled, with reference to things and persons, as
the discovery of the truth will permit; and cannot be
presumed to be intended ever for a public view, or for
more than the information of his children of the true
source and grounds from whence their father's misfor
tunes proceeded, in which nothing can be found that can
make them ashamed of his memory.
2 The king brought with him from beyond the seas that
council which had always attended him, and whose advice
he had always received in his transactions of greatest im
portance ; and his small family, that consisted of gentle
men who had for the most part been put about him by
his father, and constantly waited upon his person in all
his distresses, with as much submission and patience
undergoing their part in it as could reasonably be ex
pected from such a people ; and therefore had the keener
appetites, and the stronger presumption to push on their
fortunes (as they called it) in the infancy of their master's
restoration, that other men might not be preferred before
them, who had not " borne the heat of the day," as they
had done.
3 Of the council were the chancellor, the marquis of
Ormond, the lord Colepepper, and secretary Nicholas,
who lived in great unity and concurrence in the com
munication of the most secret counsels. There had

270 Of the lord chancellor. Con.
been more of his council abroad with him, who, accord
ing to the motions he made, and the places he had
resided in, were sometimes with him, but other remained
in France, or in some parts of Holland and Flanders, for
their convenience, ready to repair to his majesty when
they should be called. The four nominated above were
they who constantly attended, were privy to all counsels,
and waited upon him in his return.
4 The chancellor was the highest in place, and thought
to be so in trust, because he was most in private with the
king, had managed most of the secret correspondence in
England, and all despatches of importance had passed
through his hands ; which had hitherto been with the less
envy, because the indefatigable pains he took were very
visible, and it was as visible that he gained nothing by it.
His wants and necessities were as great as any man's, nor
was the allowance assigned to him by the king in the
least degree more, or better paid, than every one of the
council received. Besides, the friendship was so entire
between the marquis of Ormond and him, that no arts
that were used could dissolve it ; and it was enough
known, that as he had an entire and full confidence
from the king, and a greater esteem than any man, so,
that the chancellor so entirely communicated all par
ticulars with him, that there was not the least resolu
tion taken without his privity and approbation. The
chancellor had been employed by the last king in all
the affairs of the greatest trust and secrecy; had been
made privy counsellor and chancellor of the exchequer
in the very beginning of the troubles ; and had been
sent by that king into the west with his son, when he
thought their interest would be best preserved and pro
vided for by separating their persons. A greater tes
timony and recommendation a servant could not receive
from his master, than the king gave of him to the prince,
who from that time treated him with as much affection

Of the marquis of Ormond. (1660.) 271
and confidence as any man, and which (notwithstanding
very powerful opposition) he continued and improved to
this time of his restoration ; and even then rejected some
intimations rather than propositions, which were secretly
made to him at the Hague, that the chancellor was a man
very much in the prejudice of the presbyterian party, as
in truth he was, and therefore that his majesty would
do best to leave him behind, till he should be him
self settled in England : which the king received with
that indignation and disdain, and answered the person,
who privately presumed to give the advice, in such a
manner, that he was troubled no more with the impor
tunity, nor did any man ever own the advice. Yet the
chancellor had besought the king, upon some rumours
which had been spread, that if any exception or prejudice
to his person should be so insisted on, as might delay his
return one hour, he would decline giving him any pro
tection, till he should find it more in his power, after
his arrival in England : which desire of his, though it
found no reception with the king, proceeded from so
much sincerity, that it is well known the chancellor did
positively resolve, that if any such thing had been urged
by any authority, he would render the king's indulgence
and grace of no inconvenience to his majesty, by his
secret and voluntary withdrawing himself, without his
privity, and without the reach of his discovery for some
time : so far he was from being biassed by his own par
ticular benefit and advantage.
5 The marquis of Ormond was the person of the greatest
quality, estate, and reputation, who had frankly engaged
his person and his fortune in the king's service from the
first hour of the troubles, and pursued it with that courage
and constancy, that when the king was murdered, and he
deserted by the Irish, contrary to the articles of the peace
which they had made with him, and when he could make
no longer defence, he refused all the conditions which

272 Of the lord Colepepper and secretary Nicholas. Con. 5
Cromwell offered, who would have given him all his vast
estate, if he would have been contented to have lived
quietly in some of his own houses, without further con
cerning himself in the quarrel ; and transported himself-
without so much as accepting a pass from his authority,
in a little weak vessel into France, where he found the
king, from whom he never parted till he returned with
him into England. And having thus merited as much as
a subject can do from a prince, he had much more credit
and esteem with the king than any other man : and the
lustre the chancellor was in, was no less from the declared
friendship the marquis had for him, than from the great
trust his majesty reposed in him.
6 The lord Colepepper was a man of great parts, a very
sharp and present wit, and an universal understanding;
so that few men filled a place in council with more suffi
ciency, or expressed themselves upon any subject that
occurred with more weight and vigour. He had been
trusted by the late king (who had a singular opinion of
his courage and other abilities) to wait upon the prince
when he left his father, and continued still afterwards
with him, or in his service, and in a good correspondence
with the chancellor.
7 Secretary Nicholas was a man of general good reputa
tion with all men, of unquestionable integrity and long
experience in the service of the crown ; whom the late
king trusted as much as any man to his death. He was
one of those who were excepted by the parliament from
pardon or composition, and so was compelled to leave the
kingdom shortly after Oxford was delivered up, when the
king was in the hands of the Scots. The present king
continued him in the office of secretary of state, which he
had so long held under his father. He was a man of
great gravity, and without any ambitious or private de
signs ; and had so fast a friendship with the chancellor
for many years, that he was very well content, and with-

The temper and spirit of the time. (1660.) 273
out any jealousy for his making many despatches and
other transactions, which more immediately related to his
office, and which indeed were always made with his pri
vity and concurrence.
8 This was the state and constitution of the king's coun
cil and his family, when he embarked in Holland, and
landed at Dover : the additions and alterations which
were after made will be mentioned in their place.
9 It will be convenient here, before we descend to those
particulars which had an influence upon the minds of
men, to take a clear view of the temper and spirit of that
time ; of the nature and inclination of the army ; of the
disposition and interest of the several factions in religion ;
all which appeared in their several colours, without dis
sembling their principles, and with equal confidence de
manded the liberty of conscience they had enjoyed in and
since the time of Cromwell ; and the humour and the
present purpose and design of the parliament itself, to
whose judgment and determination the whole settlement
of the kingdom, both in church and state, stood referred
by the king's own declaration from Breda, which by God's
inspiration had been the sole visible motive to that won
derful change that had ensued. And whosoever takes a
prospect of all those several passions and appetites and
interests, together with the divided affections, jealousies,
and animosities of those who had been always looked upon
as the king's party, which, if united, would in that con
juncture have been powerful enough to have balanced all
the other ; I say, whoever truly and ingenuously considers
and reflects upon all this composition of contradictory
wishes and expectations, must confess that the king was
not yet the master of the kingdom, nor his authority and
security such as the general noise and acclamation, the
bells and the bonfires, proclaimed it to be ; and that
there was in no conjuncture more need, that the virtue
and wisdom and industry of a prince should be evident,
CLAKENDON LIFE, VOL. I. T

274 The king is much annoyed at Canterbury. Con. 9 —
and made manifest in the preservation of his dignity, and
in the application of his mind to the government of his
affairs ; and that all who were eminently trusted by him
should be men of unquestionable sincerity, who with in
dustry and dexterity should first endeavour to compose
the public disorders, and to provide for the peace and
settlement of the kingdom, before they applied them
selves to make or improve their own particular fortunes.
And there is little question, but if this good method had
been pursued, and the resolutions of that kind, which the
king had seriously taken beyond the seas, when he first
discerned his good fortune coming towards him, had been
executed and improved ; the hearts and affections of all
degrees of men were so prepared by their own natural
inclinations and integrity, by what they had seen and
what they had suffered, by their observations and ex
perience, by their fears, or by their hopes ; that they
might have been all kneaded into as firm and constant an
obedience and resignation to the king's authority, and to
a lasting establishment of monarchic power, in all the just
extents which the king could expect, or men of any pub
lic or honest affections could wish or submit to.
10 The first mortification the king met with was as soon
as he arrived at Canterbury, which was within three hours
after he landed at Dover ; and where he found many of
those who were justly looked upon, from their own
sufferings or those of their fathers, and their constant
adhering to the same principles, as of the king's party ;
who with joy waited to kiss his hand, and were received
by him with those open arms and flowing expressions of
grace, calling all those by their names who were known
to him, that they easily assured themselves of the accom
plishment of all their desires from such a generous
prince. And some of them, that they might not lose
the first opportunity, forced him to give them present
audience, in which they reckoned up the insupportable

-ii. Monk presents a list of privy counsellors. (1660.) 275
losses undergone by themselves or their fathers, and some
services of their own; and thereupon demanded the
present grant or promise of such or such an office. Some,
for the real small value of one, though of the first classis,
pressed for two or three with such confidence and im
portunity, and with such tedious discourses, that the king
was extremely nauseated with their suits, though his
modesty knew not how to break from them ; that he no
sooner got into his chamber, which for some hours he
was not able to do, than he lamented the condition to
which he found he must be subject; and did in truth
from that minute contract such a prejudice against the
persons of some of those, though of the greatest quality,
for the indecency and incongruity of their pretences, that
he never afterwards received their addresses with his
usual grace or patience, and rarely granted any thing
they desired, though the matter was more reasonable,
and the manner of asking much more modest.
11 But there was another mortification, which immediately
succeeded this, that gave him much more trouble, and in
which he knew not how to comport himself. The general,
after he had given all necessary orders to his troops, and
sent a short despatch to the parliament of the king's
being come to Canterbury, and of his purpose to stay
there two days, till the next Sunday was passed, he came
to the king in his chamber, and in a short secret audience,
and without any preamble or apology, as he was not a
man of a graceful elocution, he told him, " that he could
not do him better service, than by recommending to him
such persons who were most grateful to the people, and
in respect of their parts and interests were best able to
serve him ;" and thereupon gave him a large paper full of
names, which the king in disorder enough received, and
without reading put it into his pocket, that he might not
enter into any particular debate upon the persons ; and
told him, " that he would be always ready to receive his
t 2

276 The king is much displeased Con.ii-
advice, and willing to gratify him in any thing he should
desire, and which would not be prejudicial to his service."
The king, as soon as he could, took an opportunity, when
there remained no more in his chamber, to inform the
chancellor of the first assaults he had encountered as soon
as he alighted out of his coach, and afterwards of what
the general had said to him ; and thereupon took the
paper out of his pocket and read it. It contained the
names of at least threescore and ten persons, who were
thought fittest to be made privy counsellors; in the
whole number whereof, there were only two who had ever
served the king, or been looked upon as zealously affected
to his service, the marquis of Hertford and the earl of
Southampton ; who were both of so universal reputation
and interest, and so well known to have the very par
ticular esteem of the king, that they needed no such
recommendation. All the rest were either those coun
sellors who had served the king, and deserted him by
adhering to the parliament; or of those who had most
eminently disserved him in the beginning of the rebellion,
and in the carrying it on with all fierceness and animosity,
until the new model, and dismissing the earl of Essex :
then, indeed, Cromwell had grown terrible to them, and
disposed them to wish the king were again possessed
of his regal power ; and which they did but wish. There
were then the names of the principal persons of the
presbyterian party, to which the general was thought to
be most inclined, at least to satisfy the foolish and unruly
inclinations of his wife. There were likewise the names
of some who were most notorious in all the other fac
tions ; and of some who, in respect of their mean qua
lities and meaner qualifications, nobody could imagine
how they could come to be named, except that by the
very odd mixture any sober and wise resolutions and
concurrence might be prevented.
2 The king was in more than ordinary confusion with the

-12. with Monk's list of privy counsellors. (1660.) 277
reading this paper, and knew not well what to think of
the general, in whose absolute power he now was. How
ever, he resolved in the entrance upon his government
not to consent to such impositions, which might prove
perpetual fetters and chains upon him ever after. He
gave the paper therefore to the chancellor, and bade him
" take the first opportunity to discourse the matter with
the general," (whom he had not yet saluted,) " or rather
with Mr. Morrice, his most intimate friend ;" whom he
had newly presented to the king, and " with both whom
he presumed he would shortly be acquainted," though
for the present both were equally unknown to him.
Shortly after, when mutual visits had passed between
them, and such professions as naturally are made between
persons who are like to have much to do with each other,
and Mr. Morrice being in private with him, the chan
cellor told him " how much the king was surprised with
the paper he had received from the general, which at
least recommended (and which would have always great
authority with him) some such persons to his trust, in
whom he could not yet, till they were better known to
him, repose any confidence." And thereupon he read
many of their names, and said, "that if such men were
made privy counsellors, it would either be imputed to
the king's own election, which would cause a very ill
measure to be taken of his majesty's nature and judg
ment; or (which more probably would be the case) to
the inclination and power of the general, which would be
attended with as ill effects." Mr. Morrice seemed much
troubled at the apprehension, and said, " the paper was
of his handwriting, by the general's order, who, he was
assured, had no such intention ; but that he would pre
sently speak with him and return ;" which he did within
less than an hour, and expressed " the trouble the general
was in upon the king's very just exception ; and that the
truth was, he had been obliged to have much commu-

278 Monk's satisfactory explanation. Con. 12 —
nication with men of all humours and inclinations, and so
had promised to do them good offices to the king, and
could not therefore avoid inserting their names in that
paper, without any imaginations that the king would
accept them; that he had done his part, and all that
could be expected from him, and left the king to do
what he had thought best for his own service, which he
would always desire him to do, whatever proposition he
should at any time presume to make to his majesty,
which he would not promise should be always reasonable.
However, he did still heartily wish that his majesty
would make use of some of those persons," whom he
named, and said, " he knew most of them were not his
friends, and that his service would be more advanced by
admitting them, than by leaving them out."
J3 The king was abundantly pleased with this good tem
per of the general, and less disliked those who he dis
cerned would be grateful to him than any of the rest ;
and so the next day he made the general knight of the
garter, and admitted him of the council ; and likewise at
the same time gave the signet to Mr. Morrice, who was
sworn of the council, and secretary of state ; and sir An
thony Ashley Copper, who had been presented by the
general under a special recommendation, was then too
sworn of the council ; and the rather, because having
lately married the niece of the earl of Southampton, (who
was then likewise present, and received the garter, to
which he had been elected some years before,) it was
believed that his slippery humour would be easily re
strained and fixed by the uncle. All this was transacted
during his majesty's stay at Canterbury.
14 Upon the 29th of May, which was his majesty's birth
day, and now the day of his restoration and triumph, he
entered London the highway from Rochester to Black-
heath, being on both sides so full of acclamations of joy,
and crowded with such a multitude of people, that it

His majesty's triumphant entry into London. (1660.) 279
seemed one continued street wonderfully inhabited. Upon
Blackheath the army was drawn up, consisting of above
fifty thousand men, horse and foot, in excellent order and
equipage, where the general presented the chief officers
to kiss the king's hands, which grace they seemed to re
ceive with all humility and cheerfulness. Shortly after,
the lord mayor of London, the sheriffs, and body of the
aldermen, with the whole militia of the city, appeared
with great lustre ; whom the king received with a most
graceful and obliging countenance, and knighted the
mayor, and all the aldermen, and sheriffs, and the prin
cipal officers of the militia : an honour the city had been
without near eighteen years, and therefore abundantly
welcome to the husbands and their wives. With this
equipage the king was attended through the city of Lon
don, where the streets were railed in on both sides, that
the livery of all the companies of the city might appear
with the more order and decency, till he came to White
hall ; the windows all the way being full of ladies and
persons of quality, who were impatient to fill their eyes
with a beloved spectacle, of which they had been so long
deprived. The king was no sooner at Whitehall, but (as
hath been said) the speakers and both houses of par
liament presented themselves with all possible professions
of duty and obedience at his royal feet, and were even
ravished with the cheerful reception they had from him.
The joy was universal ; and whosoever was not pleased at
heart, took the more careto appear as if he was; and no
voice was heard but of the highest congratulation, of ex
tolling the person of the king, admiring his condescen
sions and affability, raising his praises to heaven, and
cursing and detesting the memory of those villains who
had so long excluded so meritorious a prince, and thereby
withheld that happiness from them, which they should
enjoy in the largest measure they could desire or wish.
The joy on all sides was with the greatest excess, so that

280 Character of the house of commons , Con. 14—
most men thought, and had reason enough to think, that
the king was even already that great and glorious prince
which the parliament had wantonly and hypocritically
promised to raise his father to be.
15 The chancellor took his place in the house of peers
with a general acceptation and respect ; and all those
lords who were alive and had served the king his father,
and the sons of those who were dead and were equally
excluded from sitting there by ordinances of parliament,
together with all those who had been created by this
king, took their seats in parliament without the least
murmur or exception. The house of commons seemed
equally constituted to what could be wished ; for though
there were many presbyterian members, and some of all
other factions in religion, who did all promise themselves
some liberty and indulgence for their several parties, yet
they all professed great zeal for the establishing the king
in his full power. And the major part of the house was
of sober and prudent men, who had been long known to
be very weary of all the late governments, and heartily to
desire and pray for the king's return. And there were
many who had either themselves been actual and active
malignants and delinquents in the late king's time, or the
sons of such, who inherited their fathers' virtues. Both
which classes of men were excluded from being capable
of being elected to serve in parliament, not only by for
mer ordinances, but by express caution in the very writs
which were sent out to summon this parliament ; and
were notwithstanding made choice of, and returned by
the country, and received without any hesitation in the
house, and treated by all men with the more civility and
respect for their known malignity: so that the king,
though it was necessary to have patience in the expecta
tions of their resolutions in all important points, which
could not suddenly be concluded in such a popular as
sembly, was very reasonably assured, that he should have

i6t6. particularly of 'the presbyterian party. (1660.) 281
nothing pressed upon him that should be ungrateful, with
reference to the church or state.
16 It is true, the presbyterians were very numerous in the
house, and many of them men of good parts, and had a
great party in the army, and a greater in the city, and,
except with reference to episcopacy, were desirous to
make themselves grateful to the king in the settling all
his interest, and especially in vindicating themselves from
the odious murder of the king by loud and passionate in
veighing against that monstrous parricide, and with the
highest animosity denouncing the severest judgments, not
only against those who were immediately guilty of it, but
against those principal persons who had most notoriously
adhered to Cromwell in the administration of his govern
ment, that is, most eminently opposed them and their
faction. They took all occasions to declare, " that the
power and interest of their party had been the chief
means to bring home the king;" and used all possible
endeavours that the king might be persuaded to think so
too, and that the very covenant had at last done him
good and expedited his return, by the causing it to be
hung up in churches, from whence Cromwell had cast
it out ; and their ministers pressing upon the conscience
of all those who had taken it, " that they were bound by
that clause which concerned the defence of the king's
person, to take up arms, if need were, on his behalf, and
to restore him to his rightful government;" when the
very same ministers had obliged them to take up arms
against the king his father by virtue of that covenant,
and to fight against him till they had taken him prisoner,
which produced his murder. This party was much dis
pleased that the king declared himself so positively on
behalf of episcopacy, and would hear no other prayers in
his chapel than those contained in the Book of Common
Prayer, and that all those formalities and solemnities
were now again resumed and practised, which they had

282 The presbyterians urge an ecclesiastical Con. 16-
caused to be abolished for so many years past. Yet the
king left all churches to their liberty, to use such forms
of devotion which they liked best; and such of their
chief preachers who desired it, or were desired by their
friends, were admitted to preach before him, even with
out the surplice, or any other habit than they made choice
of. But this connivance would not do their business ;
their preaching made no proselytes who were not so be- '
fore ; and the resort of the people to those churches where
the Common Prayer was again introduced was evidence
enough of their inclinations; and they saw the king's
chapel always full of those who had used to possess the
chief benches in their assemblies ; so that it was manifest
that nothing but the supreme authority would be able to
settle their discipline : and therefore, with their usual
confidence, they were very importunate in the house of
commons, " that the ecclesiastical government might be
settled and remain according to the covenant, which had
been practised many years, and so the people generally
well devoted to it ; whereas the introducing the Common
Prayer (with which very few had ever been acquainted or
heard it read) would very much offend the people, and
give great interruption to the composing the peace of the
kingdom." This was urged in the house of commons by
eminent men of the party, who believed they had the
major part of their mind. And their preachers were as
solicitous and industrious to inculcate the same doctrine
to the principal persons who had returned with the king,
and every day resorted to the court as if they presided
there, and had frequent audiences of the king to persuade
him to be of the same opinion ; from whom they received
no other condescensions than they had formerly had at
the Hague, with the same gracious affability and expres
sions to their persons.
17 That party in the house that was in truth devoted to
the king and to the old principles of church and of state,

ri8.[8. settlement agreeable to the covenant. (1660.) 283
which every day increased, thought not fit so to cross the
presbyterians, as to make them desperate in their hopes
of satisfaction ; but, with the concurrence with those who
were of contrary factions, diverted the argument by pro
posing other subjects of more immediate relation to the
public peace, (as the act of indemnity, which every man
impatiently longed for, and the raising money towards
the payment of the army and the navy, without which
that insupportable charge could not be lessened,) to be
first considered and despatched ; and the model for re
ligion to be debated and prepared by that committee
which had been nominated before his majesty's return to
that purpose ; they not doubting to cross and puzzle any
pernicious resolutions there, till time and their own ex
travagant follies should put some end to their destructive
designs.
18 In the mean time there were two particulars which the
king, with much inward impatience, though with little
outward communication, did most desire ; the disbanding
the army, and the settling the revenue, the course and
receipt whereof had been so broken and perverted, and a
great part extinguished by the sale of all the crown lands,
that the old officers of the exchequer, auditors or receivers,
knew not how to resume their administrations. Besides
that the great receipt of excise and customs was not yet
vested in the king ; nor did the parliament make any
haste to assign it, finding it necessary to reserve it in the
old way, and not to divert it from those assignments
which had been made for the payment of the army and
navy; for which, until some other provision could be
made, it was to no purpose to mention the disbanding
the one or the other, though the charge of both was so
vast and insupportable, that the kingdom must in a short
time sink under the burden. For what concerned the
revenue and raising money, the king was less solicitous ;
and yet there was not so much as any assignation made

284 The nature and inclination Con. 18-
for the support of his household, which caused a vast debt
to be contracted before taken notice of, the mischief of
which is hardly yet removed. He saw the parliament
every day doing somewhat in it ; and it quickly dissolved
all bargains, contracts, and sales, which had been of any
of the crown lands, so that all that royal revenue (which
had been too much wasted and impaired in those im
provident times which had preceded the troubles) was
entirely remitted to those to whom it belonged, the king
and the queen his mother ; but very little money was re
turned out of the same into the exchequer in the space of
the first year : so difficult it was to reduce any payments,
which had been made for so many years irregularly, into
the old channel and order. And every thing else of this
kind was done, how slowly soever, with as much expe
dition as [from] the nature of the affair, and the crowd
in which it was necessary to be agitated could reasonably
be expected ; and therefore his majesty was less troubled
for those inconveniences which he foresaw must inevitably
flow from thence.
19 But the delay in disbanding the army, how unavoidable
soever, did exceedingly afflict him, and the more, because
for many reasons he could not urge it nor complain of it.
He knew well the ill constitution of the army, the dis
temper and murmuring that was in it, and how many
diseases and convulsions their infant loyalty was subject
to ; that how united soever their inclinations and accla
mations seemed to be at Blackheath, their affections were
not the same : and the very countenances then of many
officers as well as soldiers did sufficiently manifest, that
they were drawn thither to a service they were not
delighted in. The general, before he had formed any
resolution to himself, and only valued himself upon the
presbyterian interest, had cashiered some regiments and
companies which he knew not to be devoted to his person
and greatness ; and after he found it necessary to fix his

of the army. (1660.) 285
own hopes and dependence upon the king, he had dis
missed many officers who he thought might be willing
and able to cross his designs and purposes when he should
think fit to discover them, and conferred their charges
and commands upon those who had been disfavoured by
the late powers ; and after the parliament had declared
for and proclaimed the king, he cashiered others, and gave
their offices to some eminent commanders who had served
the king ; and gave others of the loyal nobility leave to
list volunteers in companies to appear with them at the
reception of the king, all who had met and joined with
the army upon Blackheath in the head of their regiments
and companies : yet, notwithstanding all this providence,
the old soldiers had little regard for their new officers, at
least had no resignation for them ; and it quickly ap
peared, by the select and affected mixtures of sullen and
melancholic parties of officers and soldiers, that as ill-
disposed men of other classes were left as had been
disbanded; and that much the greater part so much
abounded with ill humours, that it was not safe to ad
minister a general purgation. It is true that Lambert
was close prisoner in the Tower, and as many of those
officers who were taken and had appeared in arms with
him when he was taken were likewise there, or in some
other prisons, with others of the same complexion, who
were well enough known to have the present settlement
that was intended in perfect detestation : but this leprosy
was spread too far to have the contagion quickly or easily
extinguished. How close soever Lambert himself was
secured from doing mischief, his faction was at liberty,
and very numerous ; his disbanded officers and soldiers
mingled and conversed with their old friends and com
panions, and found too many of them possessed with the
same spirit ; they concurred in the same reproaches and
revilings of the general, as the man who had treacherously
betrayed them, and led them into an ambuscade from

286 Disunion of the king's friends. Causes Con. 19 —
whence they knew not how to disentangle themselves.
They looked upon him as the sole person who still sup
ported his own model, and were well assured that if he
were removed, the army would be still the same, and
appear in their old retrenchments; and therefore they
entered into several combinations to assassinate him,
which they resolved to do with the first opportunity. In
a word, they liked neither the mien nor garb nor coun
tenance of the court, nor were wrought upon by the
gracious aspect and benignity of the king himself.
20 All this was well enough known to his majesty, and
to the general, who was well enough acquainted and not
at all pleased with the temper and disposition of his
army, and therefore no less desired it should be disband
ed than the king did. In the mean time, very diligent
endeavours were used to discover and apprehend some
principal persons, who took as much care to conceal
themselves ; and every day many dangerous or suspected
men of all qualities were imprisoned, in all counties:
spies were employed, who for the most part had the same
affections which they were to discover in others, and
received money on both sides to do, and not to do, the
work they were appointed to do. And in this melan
cholic and perplexed condition the king and all his hopes
stood, when he appeared most gay and exalted, and wore
a pleasantness in his face that became him, and looked
like as full an assurance of his security as was possible to
be put on.
21 There was yet added to this slippery and uneasy pos
ture of affairs, another mortification, which made a deeper
impression upon the king's spirit than all the rest, and
without which the worst of the other would have been in
some degree remediable ; that was, the constitution and
disunion of those who were called and looked upon as
his own party, which without doubt in the whole kingdom
was numerous enough, and capable of being powerful

of this previous to the restoration. (1660.) 287
enough to give the law to all the rest ; which had been
the ground of many unhappy attempts in the late time ;
that if any present force could be drawn together, and
possessed of any such place in which they might make a
stand without being overrun in a moment, the general
concurrence of the kingdom would in a short time reduce
the army, and make the king superior to all his enemies ;
which imagination was enough confuted, though not
enough extinguished, by the dearbought experience in
the woful enterprise at Worcester. However, it had
been now a very justifiable presumption in the king, to
believe as well as hope, that he could not be long in
England without such an apparency of his own party,
that wished all that he himself desired, and such a mani
festation of their authority, interest, and power, that
would prevent, or be sufficient to subdue, any froward
disposition that might grow up in the parliament, or more
extravagant demands in the army itself. An apparence
there was of that people, great enough, who had all the
wishes for the king which he entertained for himself.
But they were so divided and disunited by private *
quarrels, factions, and animosities ; or so unacquainted
with each other ; or, which was worse, so jealous of each
other ; the understandings and faculties of many honest
men were so weak and shallow, that they could not be
applied to any great trust ; and others, who wished and
meant very well, had a peevishness, frowardness, and
opiniatrety, that they would be engaged only in what
pleased themselves, nor would join in any thing with
such and such men whom they disliked. The severe and
tyrannical government of Cromwell and the parliament
had so often banished and imprisoned them upon mere
jealousies, that they wrere grown strangers to one another,
without any communication between them: and there
had been so frequent betrayings and treacheries used, so
many discoveries of meetings privately contrived, and of

288 Causes of disunion among the king's friends Con. 21 —
discourses accidentally entered into, and words and ex
pressions rashly and unadvisedly uttered without any
design, upon which multitudes were still imprisoned and
many put to death ; so that the jealousy was so universal,
that few men who had never so good affections for the
king, durst confer with any freedom together.
22 Most of those of the nobility who had with constancy
and fidelity adhered to the last king, and had greatest
authority with all men who professed the same affections,
were dead ; as the duke of Richmond, the earl of Dorset,
the lord Capel, the lord Hopton, and many other excel
lent persons. And of that classis, that is, of a powerful
interest and unsuspected integrity, (for there were some
very good men, who were without any cause suspected
then, because they were not equally persecuted upon all
occasions,) there were only two who survived, the marquis
of Hertford and earl of Southampton ; who were both
great and worthy men, looked upon with great estimation
by all the most valuable men who could contribute most
to the king's restoration, and with reverence by their
greatest enemy, and had been courted by Cromwell him
self till he found it to no purpose. And though the mar
quis had been prevailed with once and no more to give
him a visit, the other, the earl, could never be persuaded
so much as to see him ; and when Cromwell was in the
New Forest, and resolved one day to visit him, he being
informed of it or suspecting it, removed to another house
he had at such a distance as exempted him from that
visitation. But these two great persons had for several
years withdrawn themselves into the country, lived re
tired, sent sometimes such money as they could raise out
of their long-sequestered and exhausted fortunes, by mes
sengers of their own dependence, with advice to the king,
" to sit still, and expect a reasonable revolution, without
making any unadvised attempt;" and industriously de
clined any conversation or commerce with any who were

3J3J3- previous to the restoration. (1660.) 289
known to correspond with the king : so that now, upon
his majesty's return, they were totally unacquainted with
any of those persons who now looked as men to be de
pended upon in any great action and attempt. And for
themselves, as the marquis shortly after died, so the other
with great abilities served him in his most secret and im
portant counsels, but had been never conversant in martial
affairs.
S3 There had been six or eight persons of general good
and confessed reputation, and who of all who were then
left alive had had the most eminent charges in the war,
and executed them with great courage and discretion ; so
that few men could with any reasonable pretence refuse
to receive orders from them, or to serve under their com
mands. They had great affection for and confidence in
each other, and had frankly offered by an express of their
own number, whilst the king remained in France, " that
if they were approved and qualified by his majesty, they
would by joint advice intend the care of his majesty's
service ; and as they would not engage in any absurd and
desperate attempt, but use all their credit and authority
to prevent and discountenance the same, so they would
take the first rational opportunity, which they expected
from the divisions and animosities which daily grew and
appeared in the army, to draw their friends and old
soldiers who were ready to receive their commands to
gether, and try the utmost that could be done, with the
loss or hazard of their lives :" some of them having, beside
their experience in war, very considerable fortunes of their
own to lose, and were relations to the greatest families in
England. And therefore they made it their humble suit,
" that this secret correspondence might be carried on, and
known to none but to the marquis of Ormond and to the
chancellor; and that if any other councils were set on
foot in England by the activity of particular persons, who
CLABENDON LIFE, VOL. I. U

290 Causes of disunion among the king's friends Con. zo-
too frequently with great zeal and little animadversion
embarked themselves in impossible undertakings, his ma
jesty upon advertisement thereof would first communicate
the motives or pretences which would be offered to him,
to them ; and then they would find opportunity to confer
with some sober man of that fraternity," (as there was no
well-affected person in England, who at that time would
not willingly receive advice and direction from most of
those persons,) " and thereupon they would present their
opinion to his majesty ; and if the design should appear
practicable to his majesty, they would cheerfully embark
themselves in it, otherwise use their own dexterity to
divert it." These men had been armed with all necessary
commissions and instructions, according to their own de
sires ; the king consented to all they proposed ; and the
cyphers and correspondence were committed to the chan
cellor, in whose hands, with the privity only of the mar
quis of Ormond, all the intelligence with England, of
what kind soever, was intrusted.
24 Under this conduct, for some years all things succeeded
well ; many unseasonable attempts were prevented, and
thereby the lives of many good men preserved : and
though (upon the cursory jealousy of that time, and the
restless apprehension of Cromwell, and the almost con
tinual commitments of all who had eminently served the
king, and were able to do it again) and so these persons
who were thus trusted, or the major part of them, were
seldom out of prison, or free from the obligation of good
sureties for their peaceable behaviour ; yet all the vigi
lance of Cromwell and his most diligent inquisitors could
never discover this secret intercourse between those con
fidants and the king, which did always pass and was
maintained by expresses made choice of by them, and
supported at their charge out of such monies as were
privately collected for public uses, of which they who

¦2525- previous to tlte restoration. ( 1 660.) 291
contributed most knew little more than the integrity of
him who was intrusted, who did not always make skilful
contributions.
25 It fell out unfortunately, that two of these principal
persons fell out, and had a fatal quarrel, upon a particular
less justifiable than any thing that could result from or
relate to the great trust they both had from the king,
which ought to have been of influence enough to have
suppressed or diverted all passions of that kind : but
the animosities grew suddenly irreconcilable, and if not
divided the affections of the whole knot, at least inter
rupted or suspended their constant intercourse and con
fidence in each other, and so the diligent accounts which
the king used to receive from them. And the cause
growing more public and notorious, though not known in
a long time after to the king, exceedingly lessened both
their reputations with the most sober men ; insomuch as
they withdrew all confidence in their conduct, and all
inclination to embark in the business which was intrusted
in such hands. And which was worse than all this, one
person amongst them, of as unblemished a reputation as
either of them, and of much better abilities and faculties
of mind, either affected with this untoward accident, or
broken with frequent imprisonments and despair of any
resurrection of the king's interest, about this time yielded
to a foul temptation ; and for large supplies of money,
which his fortune stood in need of, engaged to be a spy
to Cromwell, with a latitude which he did not allow to
others of that ignominious tribe, undertaking only to
impart enough of any design to prevent the mischief
thereof, without exposing any man to the loss of his life,
or ever appearing himself to make good and justify any
of his discoveries. The rest of his associates neither sus
pected their companion, nor lessened their affection or
utmost zeal for the king; though they remitted some
u 2

Causes of disunion among the king's friends Con. 26 
of their diligence in his service by the other unhappy
interruption.
26 This falling out during his majesty's abode in Cologne,
he was very long without notice of the grounds of that
jealousy which had obstructed his usual correspondence
and the matter of infidelity being not in the least degree
suspected, he could not avoid receiving advice and pro
positions from other honest men, who were of known
affection and courage, and who conversed much with the
officers of the army, and were unskilfully disposed to
believe that all they, who they had reason to believe did
hate Cromwell, would easily be induced to serve the
king : and many of the officers in their behaviour, dis
courses, and familiarity, contributed to that belief; some
of them, not without the privity and allowance of Crom
well, or his secretary Thurlow. And upon overtures of
this kind, and wonderful confidence of success, even upon
the preparations which were in readiness, of and by his
own party, several messengers were sent to the king;
and by all of them sharp and passionate complaints
against those persons, who were so much and still in the
same confidence with him, as men who were at ease, and
uninclined to venture themselves upon dangerous or
doubtful enterprises. They complained, "that when they
imparted to them, or any one of them," (for they knew
not of his majesty's reference to them, but had of them
selves resorted to them as men of the greatest reputation
for their affections and experience,) " a design which had
been well consulted and deliberated by those who meant
to venture their own lives in the execution of it, they
made so many excuses and arguments and objections
against it, as if it were wholly unadvisable and unprac-
ticable ; and when they proposed the meeting and con
ferring with some of the officers, who were resolved to
serve his majesty, and were willing to advise with them,

——28. previous to the restoration. (1660.) 293
as men of more interest, and who had managed greater
commands, upon the places of rendezvous, and what
method should be observed in the enterprises, making no
scruple themselves to receive orders from them, or to do
all things they should require which might advance his
majesty's service, these gentlemen only wished them to
take heed they were not destroyed, and positively refused
to meet or confer with any of the officers of the army :
and hereupon," they said, " all the king's party was so
incensed against them, that they no more would have
recourse to them, or make any conjunction with them."
They informed his majesty at large of the animosity that
was grown between two of the principal persons, and the
original cause thereof, and therefore desired " that some
person might be sent, to whom they might repair for
orders, until the king himself discerned that all prepara
tions were in such a readiness, that he might reasonably
venture his royal person with them."
27 Though he was not at all satisfied with the grounds of
their expectation and proceedings, and therefore could
not blame the wariness and reservedness of the other,
and thought their apprehension of being betrayed, (which
in the language of that time was called trepanned,) which
befell some men every day, very reasonable ; yet the
confidence of many honest men, who were sure to pay
dear for any rash undertaking, and their presumption in
appointing a peremptory day for a general rendezvous
over the kingdom, but especially the division of his
friends, and sharpness against those upon whom he prin
cipally relied, was the cause of his sending over the lord
Rochester, and of his own concealment in Zealand ; the
success whereof, and the ill consequence of those pre
cipitate resolutions, in the slaughter of many worthy and
gallant gentlemen with all the circumstances of insolence
and barbarity, are mentioned in their proper places.
28 But these unhappy and fatal miscarriages, and the sad

294 Causes of disunion among the king's friends Con. 28-
spectacles which ensued, made not those impressions
upon the affections and spirits of the king's friends as
they ought to have done ; nor rendered the wariness and
discretion of those who had dissuaded the enterprise, and
who were always imprisoned upon suspicion, how inno
cent soever, the more valued and esteemed: on the
contrary, it increased the reproaches against the knot, as
if their lachete and want of appearance and engaging had
been the sole cause of the misfortune. And after some
short fits of dejection and acquiescence, upon the shedding
so much blood of their friends and confederates, and the
notorious discovery of being betrayed by those, who had
been trusted by them, of the army ; they began again to
resume courage, to meet and enter upon new counsels
and designs, imputing the former want of success to the
want of skill and conduct in the undertakers, not to the
all-seeing vigilance of Cromwell and his instruments, or to
the formed strength of his government, not to be shaken
by weak or ill-seconded conspiracies. Young men were
grown up, who inherited their fathers' malignity, and
were too impatient to revenge their death, or to be
even with their oppressors, and so entered into new com
binations, as unskilful, and therefore as unfortunate as
the former ; and being discovered even before they were
formed, Cromwell had occasion given him to make him
self more terrible in new executions, and to exercise
greater tyranny upon the whole party, in imprisonments,
penalties, and sequestrations ; making those who heartily
desired to be quiet, and who abhorred any rash and
desperate insurrection, to pay their full shares for the
folly of the other, as if all were animated by the same
spirit. And this unjust and unreasonable rigour increased
the reproaches and animosities in the king's friends against
each other: the wiser and more sober part, who had
most experience, and knew how impossible it was to
succeed in such enterprises, and had yet preserved or

previous to the restoration. (1660.) 295
redeemed enough of their fortunes to sit still and expect
some hopeful revolution, were unexpressibly offended,
and bitterly inveighed against those, who without reason
disturbed their peace and quiet, by provoking the state
to fresh persecutions of them who had given them nO
offence : and the other stirring and enraged party, with
more fierceness and public disdain, protested against and
reviled those who refused to join with them, as men who
had spent all their stock of allegiance, and meant to
acquiesce with what they had left under the tyranny and
in the subjection of Cromwell. And thus they who did
really wish the same things, and equally the overthrow of
that government, which hindered the restoration of the
king, grew into more implacable jealousies and virulencies
against each other, than against that power that oppress
ed them both, and " poured out their blood like water."
And either party conveyed their apologies and accusations
to the king : one insisting upon the impertinency of all
such attempts ; and the other insisting that they were
ready for a very solid and well-grounded enterprise, were
sure to be possessed of good towns, if, by his majesty's
positive command, the rest, who professed such obedience
to him, would join with them.
29 It was at this time, and upon these reasons, that the
king sent the marquis of Ormond into England, to find
out and discover whether in truth there were any sober
preparations and readiness for action, and then to head
and conduct it ; or if it was not ripe, to compose the se
veral distempers, and unite, as far as was possible, all who
wished well, to concur in the same patience for the pre
sent, and in the same activity when it should be season
able. And he, upon full conference with the principal
persons of the most contradictory judgments, quickly
found that they who were accused to be lazy and un-
active were in truth discreet men, and as ready vigor
ously to appear as the other, when the season should be

296 Causes of disunion among the king's friends Con. 29-
advisable, which he clearly discerned it was not then ;
and that the presumption of the other, upon persons as
well as places, was in no degree to be depended upon.
And so, after he had done what was possible towards
making a good intelligence between tempers and under
standings so different, the marquis had the same good
fortune to retire from thence and bring himself safe to
the king ; which was the more wonderful preservation, in
that, during the whole time of his abode in London, he
had trusted no man more, nor conferred with any man so
much, as with that person of the select knot, who had
been corrupted to give all intelligence to Cromwell : and
as he had now blasted and diverted some ill laid designs,
so he had discovered the marquis's arrival to him, but
could not be prevailed with to inform him of his lodging,
which was particularly known to him upon every change,
or to contrive any way for his apprehension : on the con
trary, as in all his conferences with him he appeared a
man of great judgment and perspicacity, and the most
ready to engage his person in any action that might be
for his majesty's advantage, so he seemed best to under
stand the temper of the time, and the parts, faculties, and
interest of all the king's party; and left the marquis
abundantly satisfied with him, and of the general good
reputation he had with all men : which had afterwards
an ill effect, for it kept the king and those who were
trusted by him from giving credit to the first information
he received, from a person who could not be deceived, of
his tergiversation ; his late fidelity to the marquis of Or
mond weighing down with them all the intimations, until
the evidence was so pregnant that there was no room for
any doubt.
30 After all these endeavours by the king to discoun
tenance and suppress all unseasonable action amongst his
party, and to infuse into them a spirit of peace and quiet
till he himself could appear in the head of some foreign

previous to the restoration. (1660.) 297
forces, which he looked upon as the only reasonable en
couragement that could animate his friends to declare for
him, the generous distemper and impatience of their na
ture was incorrigible. They thought the expectation of
miracles from God Almighty was too lazy and stupid a
confidence, and that God no less required their endeavours
and activity, than they hoped for his benediction in their
success. New hopes were entertained, and counsels suit
able entered upon. Mr. Mordaunt, the younger son and
brother to the earls'of Peterborough, who was too young
in the time of the late war to act any part in it, had lately
undergone, after Cromwell himself had taken great pains
in the examination of him, a severe trial before the high
court of justice ; where by his own singular address and
behaviour, and his friends having wrought by money upon
some of the witnesses to absent themselves, he was by
one single voice acquitted ; and after a longer detention
in prison by the indignation of Cromwell, who well knew
his guilt, and against the rules and forms of their own
justice, he was discharged, after most of his associates
were publicly and barbarously put to several kinds of
death. And he no sooner found himself at liberty, than
he engaged in new intrigues, how he might destroy that
government that was so near destroying him. The state
of the kingdom was indeed altered, and he had encourage
ment to hope well, which former undertakers, and himself
in his, had been without. Cromwell had entered into a
war with Spain ; and the king was received and permitted
to live in Flanders, with some exhibition from that king
for his support, and assurance of an army to embark for
England, (which made a great noise, and raised the
broken hearts of his friends after so many distresses,)
which his majesty was contented should be generally re
puted to be greater and in more forwardness than there
was cause for. He had likewise another advantage, much
superior and of more importance than the other, by the

298 Causes of disunion among the king's friends Con. 30-
death of Cromwell, which fell out without or beyond ex
pectation, which seemed to put an end to all his stra
tagems, and to dissolve the whole frame of government in
the three kingdoms, and to open many doors to the king
to enter upon that which every body knew to be his own.
And though this reasonable hope was, sooner than could
be imagined, blasted and extinguished by an universal
submission to the declaration that Cromwell had made at
his death, " that his son Richard should succeed him ;"
upon which he was declared protector by the council,
army, navy, with the concurrence of the forces of the
three kingdoms, and the addresses of all the counties in
England, with vows of their obedience ; insomuch as he
appeared in the eyes of all men as formidably settled as
his father had been : yet Mr. Mordaunt proceeded with
alacrity in his design, contrary to the opinion and advice
of those with whom he was obliged to consult, who
thought the conjuncture as unfavourable as any that was
past, and looked upon Mr. Mordaunt as a rash young
man, of a daring spirit, without any experience in mili
tary affairs, and upon themselves as unkindly treated by
those about the king, in being exposed to the importunity
of a gentleman who was a stranger to them, and who was
[not] equally qualified with them for the forming any re
solution which they could concur in.
31 But the intermission of the severe persecution which
had been formerly practised against the royal party, in
this nonage of Richard's government, gave more liberty
to communication ; and the Presbyterian party grew more
discontented and daring, and the Independent less con
cerned to prevent any inconvenience or trouble to the
weak son of Oliver, whom they resolved not to obey.
Mr. Mordaunt, who had gained much reputation by his
steady carriage in his late mortification, and by his so
brisk carriage so soon after, found credit with many
persons of great fortune and interest ; as sir George

32.32. previous to the restoration. (1660.) 299
Booth and sir Triemas Middleton, the greatest men in
Cheshire and North Wales, who were reputed Presby
terians, and had been both very active against the king,
and now resolved to declare for him ; sir Horatio Towns-
end, who was newly become of age, and the most powerful
person in Norfolk, where there were many gallant men
ready to follow him ; and many others the most consider
able men in most of the counties of England : who all
agreed, in so many several counties of England, to appear
upon a day, in such bodies as they could draw together ;
many considerable places being prepared for their recep
tion, or too weak to oppose them. And Mr. Mordaunt
secretly transported himself and waited upon the king at
Brussels, with that wariness that he was known to none
but to them with whom he was to consult. The king
received by him a full information of the engagement of
all those persons to do him service with the utmost hazard,
and of the method they meant to proceed in, and the pro
bability, most like assurance, of their being to be possessed
of Gloucester, Chester, Lynne, Yarmouth, all Kent, and
the most considerable places in the west, where indeed
his own friends were very considerable.
32 Upon the whole matter the king thought it so reason
able to approve the whole design, that he appointed the
day, with a promise to be himself, with his brother the
duke of York, concealed at Calais or thereabout, that
they might divide themselves to those parts which should
be thought most proper for the work in hand. Mr. Mor
daunt lamented the wariness and want of confidence in
those persons upon whom the king depended, and ac-
* knowledged them most worthy of that trust, and of much
reputation in the nation ; and imputed their much reser
vation to the troubles and imprisonments which they had
been seldom free from, and their observation how little
ground there had been for former enterprises, without
the least suspicion of want of affection and resolution in
any one of them, and less of integrity. But the king was

300 Unhappy constitution of the king's friends Con. 32..
by this time fully convinced where the treachery was,
without any blemish to any one of the rest, who needed
not to be ashamed of being deceived by a man whom all
the kingdom would have trusted. The ridiculous de
throning of Richard by the army, and the reassembling
that part of the old parliament which was called the
Rump, and which was more terrible than any single
person could be, because they presently returned into
their old track, and renewed their former rigour against
their old more than their new enemies, rather advanced
than restrained this combination ; too much being known
to too many to be secure any other way than by pursuing
it. So the king and duke, according to their former re
solution, went to Calais and Boulogne, and prepared as
well to make a descent into Kent with such numbers of
men as the condition they were in would permit. How
many of those designs came to be wonderfully and even
miraculously disappointed, and sir George Booth defeated
by Lambert, are particularly set down by those who have
taken upon them to mention the transactions of those
times. And from thence the universality of all who
were, or were suspected to be, of the king's party, were,
according to custom, imprisoned, or otherwise cruelly en
treated ; and thereupon a new fire kindled amongst them
selves : they who had done nothing reproaching them who
had brought that storm upon them ; and they who had
been engaged more loudly and bitterly cursing the other,
as deserters of the king, and the cause of the ruin of his
cause through their want of courage, or, what was worse,
of affection. And so all men's mouths were opened wider
to accuse and defame each other, than to defend their
own integrity and their lives.
33 I have thought myself obliged to renew the memory of
all these particulars, that the several vicissitudes and
stages may be known, by which the jealousies, murmurs,
and disaffections in the royal party amongst themselves,
and against each other, had mounted to that height

'. (i66o.) 301
which the king found them at when he returned ; when
in truth very few men of active minds, and upon whom
he could depend in any sudden occasion that might
probably press him, can be named, who had any confi
dence in each other. All men were full of bitter reflec
tions upon the actions and behaviour of others, or of
excuses and apologies for themselves for what they thought
might be charged upon them. The woful vice of drink
ing, from the uneasiness of their fortune, or the necessity
of frequent meetings together, for which taverns were
the most secure places, had spread itself very far in that
classis of men, as well as upon other parts of the nation,
in all counties ; and had exceedingly weakened the parts,
and broken the understandings of many who had formerly
competent judgments, and had been in all respects fit for
any trust; and had prevented the growth of parts in many
young men, who had good affections, but had been from
their entering into the world so corrupted with that
excess, and other license of the time, that they only
made much noise, and, by their extravagant and scan
dalous debauches, brought many calumnies and disestima-
tion upon that cause which they pretended to advance.
They who had suffered much in their fortunes, and by
frequent imprisonments and sequestrations and composi
tions, expected large recompenses and reparations in ho
nours which they could not support, or offices which they
could not discharge, or lands and money which the king
had not to give ; as all dispassioned men who knew the
conditions which the king was obliged to perform, and that
the act of indemnity discharged all those forfeitures which
could have been applied to their benefit : and therefore
they who had been without comparison the greatest suf
ferers in their fortunes, and in all respects had merited
most, never made any inconvenient suits to the king,
but modestly left the memory and consideration of all
they had done or undergone, to his majesty's own gracious

302 Those who merited least are the most importunate, Con. 33.
reflections. They were observed to be most importunate
who had deserved least, and were least capable to per
form any notable service ; and none had more esteem of
themselves, and believed preferment to be more due to
them, than a sort of men, who had most loudly began
the king's health in taverns, especially if for any disorders
which had accompanied it they had suffered imprison
ment, without any other pretence of merit, or running
any other hazard.
34 Though it was very evident, humanly speaking, that
the late combination entered into, and the brave attempt
and engagement of sir George Booth, how unsuccessful
soever in the instant, had contributed very much to the
wonderful change that had since ensued, by the discovery
of the general affections and disposition of the kingdom,
and their aversion from any kind of government that was
not founded upon the old principles ; and the public or
private engagement of very many persons, who had never
been before suspected, whereof, though many of the most
considerable persons had been, by the treachery hereto
fore mentioned, committed to several prisons, yet many
others of equal interest remained still in liberty, and had
agre at influence upon the counsels both in the parlia
ment and army : yet, I say, notwithstanding this was
notorious, a greater animosity had been kindled in the
royal party, and was still pursued and improved amongst
them from that combination and engagement, than from
all the other accidents and occasions, and gave the king
more trouble and perplexity. It had introduced a great
number of persons, who had formerly no pretence of
merit from the king, rather might have been the objects
of his justice, to a just title to the greatest favours the
king could confer ; and which, from that time, they had
continually improved by repeated offices and services,
which, being of a later date, might be thought to cloud
and eclipse the lustre of those actions, which had before

and undervalue the service of others. (1660.) 303
been performed by the more ancient cavaliers, especially
of those who had been observed to be remiss in that
occasion : and therefore they were the more solicitous in
undervaluing the undertaking, and the persons of the
undertakers, whom they mentioned under such characters,
and to whom they imputed such weakness and levities as
they had collected from the several parts of their lives, as
might render them much disadvantage ; and would by no
means admit, " that any of the good that afterwards befell
the king, resulted in any degree from that rash enter
prise ; but that thereby the king's friends were so weak
ened, and more completely undone, that they were dis
abled to appear in that conjuncture when the army was
divided, and in which they might otherwise have been
considerable enough to have given the law to all parties."
35 Mr. Mordaunt, whom the king had created a viscount
before his return into England, and who had been most
eminent in the other contrivances, in a time when a
general consternation had seized upon the spirits of those
who wished best to his majesty ; for when he resumed
his former resolutions, so soon after his head was raised
from the block, and when the blood of his confederates
watered so many streets in the city and the suburbs, the
most trusted by the king had totally withdrawn their
correspondence, and desired, that for some time no ac
count or information might be expected from them ; and
therefore it must not be denied, that his vivacity, courage,
and industry, revived the hearts which were so near
broken before Cromwell's death, and afterwards prevailed
with many to have more active spirits than they had
before appeared to have: this gentleman, I say, most
unjustly underwent the heaviest weight of all their cen
sures and reproaches. He was the butt, at which all
their arrows of envy, malice, and jealousy were aimed
and shot ; he was the object and subject of all their scur
rilous jests, and depraving discourses and relations ; and

304 The king is much perplexed: Con. 35-
they, who agreed in nothing else, were at unity and of
one mind, in telling ridiculous stories to the king himself
of his vanity and behaviour ; and laying those aspersions
upon him, as were most like to lessen the king's opinion
of him ; and to persuade him, that the recompenses he
had already received were abundantly more than the
services he had performed: which kind of insinuations
from several persons, who seemed not to do it by concert,
together with some prejudice the noble person did him
self by some unseasonable importunities, as if he thought
he had deserved very much, did for some time draw a
more ungracious countenance from the king towards
him, than his own nature disposed him to, or than the
other's singular and useful activity, though liable to some
levity or vanity, did deserve ; and which the same persons,
who procured it, made use of against those who were in
most trust about the king, as arguments of the little
esteem they had of those who had done the king most
service, when a man of so eminent merit as Mr. Mordaunt
was so totally neglected ; and did all they could to infuse
the same apprehensions into him. When the truth is,
most men were affected, and more grieved and discon
tented for any honour and preferment which they saw
conferred upon another man, than for being disappointed
in their own particular expectations; and looked upon
every obligation bestowed upon another man, how meri
torious soever, as upon a reproach to them, and an up
braiding of their want of merit.
36 This unhappy temper and constitution of the royal
party, with whom he had always intended to have made a
firm conjunction against all accidents and occurrences
which might happen at home or from abroad, did won
derfully displease and trouble the king ; and, with the
other perplexities, which are mentioned before, did so
break his mind, and had that operation upon his spirits,
that finding he could not propose any such method to

he gives himself up to his pleasures. (1660.) 305
himself, by which he might extricate himself out of those
many difficulties and labyrinths in which he was involved,
nor expedite those important matters which depended
upon the good-will and despatch of the parliament, which
would proceed by its own rules, and with its accustomed
formalities, he grew more disposed to leave all things to
their natural course, and God's providence ; and by de
grees unbent his mind from the knotty and ungrateful
part of his business, grew more remiss in his application
to it, and indulged to his youth and appetite that license
and satisfaction that it desired, and for which he had op
portunity enough, and could not be without ministers
abundant for any such negotiations ; the time itself, and
the young people thereof of either sex having been edu
cated in all the liberty of vice, without reprehension or
restraint. All relations were confounded by the several
sects in religion, which discountenanced all forms of re
verence and respect, as relics and marks of superstition.
Children asked not blessing of their parents ; nor did
they concern themselves in the education of their chil
dren ; but were well content that they should take any
course to maintain themselves, that they might be free
from that expense. The young women conversed without
any circumspection or modesty, and frequently met at
taverns and common eatinghouses ; and they who were
stricter and more severe in their comportment, became
the wives of the seditious preachers, or of officers of the
army. The daughters of noble and illustrious families
bestowed themselves upon the divines of the time, or
other low and unequal matches. Parents had no manner
of authority over their children, nor children any obe
dience or submission to their parents ; but " every one
did that which was good in his own eyesA^TJiiiL?11111^1-1"
ral antipathy had its first rise from the beginning of the
rebellion, when the fathers and sons engaged themselves
jn the contrary parties, the one choosing to serve the
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. X

306 Wickedness of all kinds introduced Con. 36-
king, and the other the parliament ; which division and
contradiction of affections was afterwards improved to
mutual animosities and direct malice, by the help of the
preachers and the several factions in religion, or by the
absence of all religion: so that there were never such
examples of impiety between such relations in any age of
the world, Christian or heathen, as that wicked time, from
the beginning of the rebellion to the king's return; of
which the families of Hoiham and Vane are sufficient in
stances; though other more illustrious houses may be
named, where the same accursed fruit was too plentifully
gathered, and too notorious to the world. The relation
between masters and servants bad been long since dis
solved by the parliament, that their army might be in
creased by the prentices against their masters' consent,
and that they might have intelligence of the secret meet
ings and transactions in those houses and families which
were not devoted to them ; from whence issued the foul
est treacheries and perfidiousness that were ever prac
tised : and the blood of the master was frequently the
¦ price of the servant's villany.
37 Cromwell had been most strict and severe in the form
ing the manners of his army, and in chastising all irregu
larities ; insomuch that sure there was never any such
body of men so without rapine, swearing, drinking, or any
other debauchery, but the wickedness of their hearts : and
all persons cherished by him were of the same leaven, and
to common appearance without the practice of any of
those vices which were most infamous to the people, and
which drew the public hatred upon those who were no
toriously guilty of them. But then he was well pleased
with the most scandalous lives of those who pretended to
be for the king, and wished that all his were such, and
took all the pains he could that they might be generally
thought to be such ; [whereas in truth the greatest part of
those who were guilty of those disorders were young men,

—38. by the late anarchy. (1660.) 307
who had never seen the king, and had been born and bred
in those corrupt times, " when there was no king in Is
rael." He was equally delighted with the luxury and
volnpluousness of the presbyterians, who, in contempt of
the thrift, sordidness, and affected ill-breeding of the in
dependents, thought it became them to live more gene
rously, and were not strict in restraining or mortifying
the unruly and inordinate appetite of flesh and blood, but
indulged it with too much and too open scandal, from
which he reaped no small advantage ; and wished all
those, who were not his friends, should not only be in
fected, but given over to the practice of the most odious
vices and wickedness.
38 In a word, the nation was corrupted from that integrity,
good nature, and generosity, that had been peculiar to it,
and for which it had been signal and celebrated through
out the world ; in the room whereof the vilest craft and
dissembling had succeeded. The tenderness of the bowels,
which is the quintessence of justice and compassion, the
very mention of good nature was laughed at and looked
upon as the mark and character of a fool ; and a rough
ness of manners, or hardheartedness and cruelty, was af
fected. In the place of generosity, a vile and sordid love
of money was entertained as the truest wisdom, and any
thing lawful that would contribute towards being rich.
There was a total decay, or rather a final expiration of all
friendship ;fand to dissuade a man from any thing he af
fected, or to reprove him for any thing he had done amiss,
or to advise him to do any thing he had no mind to do, was
thought an impertinence unworthy a wise man, and re
ceived with reproach and contempBT) These dilapidations
and ruins of the ancient candour and discipline were not
taken enough to heart, and repaired with that early care
and severity that they might have been ; for they were
not then incorrigible ; but by the remissness of applying
remedies to some, and the unwariness in giving a kind of
x 2

308 The old course of justice restored. Con. 38
countenance to others, too much of that poison insinuated
itself into minds not well fortified against such infection :
so that much of the malignity was transplanted, instead of
being extinguished, to the corruption of many wholesome
bodies, which, being corrupted, spread the diseases more
powerfully and more mischievously.
39 That the king might be the more vacant to those
thoughts and divertisements which pleased him best, he
appointed the chancellor and some others to have frequent
consultations with such members of the parliament who
were most able and willing to serve him ; and to concert
all the ways and means by which the transactions in the
houses might be carried with the more expedition, and
attended with the best success. These daily conferences
proved very beneficial to his majesty's service ; the mem
bers of both houses being very willing to receive advice
and direction, and to pursue what they were directed;
and all things were done there in good order, and suc
ceeded well. All the courts of justice in Westminster
hall were presently filled with grave and learned judges,
who had either deserted their practice and profession
during all the rebellious times, or had given full evidence
of their affection to the king and the established laws, in
many weighty instances : and they were then quickly sent
in their several circuits, to administer justice to the people
according to the old forms of law, which was universally
received and submitted to with all possible joy and satis
faction. All commissions of the peace were renewed, and
the names of those persons inserted therein, who had been
most eminent sufferers for the king, and were known to
have entire affections for his majesty and the laws ; though
it was not possible, but some would get and continue in,
who were of more doubtful inclinations, by their not being
known to him, whose province it was to depute them.
Denied it cannot be, that there appeared, sooner than
was thought possible, a general settlement in the civil

4i.i. The chancellor is much consulted by the king. (1660.) 309
justice of the kingdom ; that no man complained without
remedy, and "every man dwelt again under the shadow
of his own vine," without any complaint of injustice and
oppression.
40 The king exposed himself with more condescension
than was necessary to persons of all conditions, heard all
that they had a mind to say to him, and gave them such
answers as for the present seemed full of grace. He was
too well pleased to hear both the men and the women of
all factions and fancies in religion discourse in their own
method, and enlarged himself in debate with them ; which
made every one believe that they were more favoured by
him than they had cause : which kind of liberty, though
at first it was accompanied with acclamations, and ac
knowledgment of his being a prince of rare parts and
affability, yet it was attended afterwards with ill conse
quences, and gave many men opportunity to declare and
publish, that the king had said many things to them
which he had never said; and made many concessions
and promises to them which he had never uttered or
thought upon.
41 The chancellor was generally thought to have most
credit with his master, and most power in the counsels,
because the king referred all matters of what kind soever
to him. And whosoever repaired to him for his direction
in any business was sent to the chancellor, not only
because he had a great confidence in his integrity, having
been with him so many years, and of whose indefatigable
industry he and all men had great experience ; but because
he saw those men, whom he was as willing to trust, and
who had at least an equal share in his affections, more
inclined to ease and pleasure, and willing that the weight
of the work should lie on the chancellor's shoulders, with
whom they had an entire friendship, and knew well that
they should with more ease be consulted by him in all
matters of importance. Nor was it possible for him, at

310 The general is confirmed in the offices Con. 41
the first coming, to avoid the being engaged in all the
counsels, of how distinct a nature soever, because he had
been best acquainted with all transactions whilst the king
was abroad; and therefore communication with him in
all things was thought necessary by those who were to
have any part in them. Besides that, he continued still
chancellor of the exchequer, by virtue of the grant for
merly made to him by the last king, during whose time
he executed that office, but resolved to surrender it into
the king's hand as soon as his majesty should resolve on
whom to confer it ; he proposing nothing to himself, but
to be left at liberty to intend only the discharge of his
own office, which he thought himself unequal to, and
hoped only to improve his talent that way by a most
diligent application, well knowing the great abilities of
those who had formerly sat in that office, and that they
found it required their full time and all their faculties.
And therefore he did most heartily desire to meddle with
nothing but that province, which though in itself and the
constant perquisites of it is not sufficient to support the
dignity of it, yet was then, upon the king's return ; and,
after it had been so many years without a lawful officer,
would unquestionably bring in money enough to be a
foundation to a future fortune, competent to his ambition,
and enough to provoke the envy of many, who believed
they deserved better than he. And that this was the
temper and resolution he brought with him into England,
and how unwillingly he departed from it, will evidently
appear by two or three instances, which shall be given in
their proper place. However, he could not expect that
freedom till the council should be settled, (into which the
king admitted all who had been counsellors to his father,
and had not eminently forfeited that promotion by their
revolt, and many of those who had been and still were
recommended by the general, amongst whom there were
some who would not have been received upon any other

•4*4** assigned him by the parliament. (1660.) 311
title,) and until those officers could be settled, who might
take particular care of their several provinces.
42 The king had upon great deliberation whilst he was
beyond the seas, after his return appeared in view, firmly
resolved to reform those excesses which were known to
be in great offices, especially in those of his household,
whilst the places were vacant, and to reform all extrava
gant expenses there ; and first himself to gratify those,
who had followed and served him, in settling them in
such inferior offices and places, as custom had put in the
disposal of the great officers, when they should become
vacant after their admission. And of this kind he had
made many promises, and given many warrants under his
sign manual to persons who, to his own knowledge, had
merited those obligations. But most of those predeter
minations, and many other resolutions of that kind,
vanished and expired in the jollity of the return, and
new inclinations and affections seemed to be more season
able. The general, who was the sole pillar of the king's
confidence, had by the parliament been invested (before
the king's return) in all the offices and commands which
Cromwell had enjoyed. He was lieutenant of Ireland,
and general of all the armies and forces raised, or to be
raised, in the three kingdoms ; and it was not fit that he
should be degraded from either upon his majesty's arrival :
therefore all diligence was used in despatching grants of
all those commands to him under the great seal of Eng
land. And that he might be obliged to be always near
his majesty's person, he was presently sworn gentleman
of the bedchamber; and might choose what office he
liked best in the court, whilst titles of honour were pre
paring by the attorney, and particulars of land inquired
after by the auditors and receivers, which in all respects
might raise him to that height which would most please
him. He made choice to be master of the horse, and
was immediately gratified with it ; and thereby all those

312 Ormond is made lord steward of the household : Con. 42 
poor gentlemen, who had promises and warrants for
several places, depending upon that great officer, were
disappointed, and offered the king's sign manual to no
purpose for their admission. The general in his own
nature was an immoderate lover of money, and yet would
have gratified some of the pretenders upon his majesty's
recommendation, if the vile good housewifery of his wife
had not engrossed that province, and preferred him who
offered most money before all other considerations or
motives. And hereby, not only many honest men, who
had several ways served the king, and spent the fortunes
they had been masters of, were denied the recompenses
the king had designed to them ; but such men who had
been most notorious in the malice against the crown from
the beginning of the rebellion, or had been employed in
all the active offices to affront and oppress his party, were
for money preferred and admitted into those offices, and
became the king's servants, very much against his will,
and with his manifest regret on the behalf of the honest
men who had been so unworthily rejected. And this
occasioned the first murmur and discontent, which ap
peared after the king's return, amongst those who were
not inclined to it, yet found every day fresh occasions to
nourish and improve it.
43 The settling this great officer in the stables made it
necessary to appoint a lord steward of the household, who
was a necessary officer for the parliament, being by the
statute appointed to swear all the members of the house
of commons ; and to this charge the marquis of Ormond
had been long designed, and was then sworn. And they
had both their tables erected according to the old models,
and all those excesses, which the irregular precedents of
former times had introduced, and which the king had so
solemnly resolved to reform, before it could be said to
trench upon the rights of particular persons. But the
good humour the king was in, and the plenty which

444- the earl of Manchester lord chamberlain. (1660.) 313
generally appeared, how much soever without a fund to
support it, and especially the natural desire his majesty
had to see every body pleased, banished all thoughts of
such providence ; instead whereof, he resolved forthwith
to settle his house according to former rules, or rather
without any rule, and to appoint the officers, who im
patiently expected their promotion. He directed his
own table to be more magnificently furnished than it had
ever been in any time of his predecessors ; which example
was easily followed in all offices.
44 That he might give a lively instance of his grace to
those who had been of the party which had been faulty,
according to his declaration from Breda, he made of his
own free inclination and choice the earl of Manchester
(who was looked upon as one of the principal heads of
the presbyterian party) lord chamberlain of his house ;
who, continuing still to perform all good offices to his
old friends, complied very punctually with all the obliga
tions and duties which his place required, never failed
being at chapel, and at all the king's devotions with all
imaginable decency ; and, by his extraordinary civilities
and behaviour towards all men, did not only appear the
fittest person the king could have chosen for that office
in that time, but rendered himself so acceptable to all
degrees of men, that none, but such who Avere implacable
towards all who had ever disserved the king, were sorry
to see him so promoted. And it must be confessed, that
as he had expressed much penitence for what he had
done amiss, and was mortally hated and persecuted by
Cromwell, even for his life, and had done many acts of
merit towards the king ; so he was of all men, who had
ever borne arms against the king, both in the gentleness
and justice of his nature, in the sweetness and evenness of
his conversation, and in his real principles for monarchy,
the most worthy to be received into the trust and con
fidence in which he was placed. With his, the two other

314 Southampton is made lord high treasurer, Con. .
white staves were disposed of to those, to whom they
were designed, when the king was prince of Wales, by
his father : and all other inferior officers were made, who
were to take care of the expenses of the house, and were
a great part of it.
45 And thus the king's house quickly appeared in its full
lustre, the eating and drinking very grateful to all men,
and the charge and expense of it much exceeding the
precedents of the most luxurious times ; and all this
before there was any provision of ready money, or any
assignation of a future fund to discharge or support it.
All men were ready to deliver their goods upon trust,
the officers too remiss in computing the disbursements ;
insomuch as the debts contracted by those excesses in
less than the first year broke all the measures in that
degree, that they could not suddenly be retrenched for
the future; and the debt itself was not discharged in
many years.
46 The king had in his purpose, long before his return, to
make the earl of Southampton (who was the most valued
and esteemed of all the nobility, and generally thought
worthy of any honour or office) lord high treasurer of
England ; but he desired first to see some revenue settled
by the parliament, and that part of the old, which had
been sold and dispersed by extravagant grants and sales,
reduced into the old channel, and regularly to be received
and paid, and the customs to be put in such order, (which
were not yet granted, and only continued by orders as il
legal as the late times had been accustomed to, and to the
authority whereof he had no mind to administer,) before
he was willing to receive the staff. And so the office of
the treasury was by commission executed by several lords
of the council, whereof the chancellor, as well by the dig
nity of his place, as by his still being chancellor of the
exchequer, was one ; and so engaged in the putting the
customs likewise into commissioners' hands, and settling

-47. and sir A.A.Cooper chancellor of the exchequer. (1660.) 315
all the other branches of the revenue in such manner as
was thought most reasonable ; in all debates whereof his.
majesty himself was still present, and approved the con
clusion. But after a month or two spent in this method,
in the crowd of so much business of several natures, the
king found so little expedition, that he thought it best to
determine that commission, and so gave the staff to the
earl of Southampton, and made him treasurer. And the
chancellor at the same time surrendering his office of
chancellor of the exchequer into the king's hands, his
majesty, upon the humble desire of the earl, conferred
that office upon sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, who had
married his niece, and whose parts well enough qualified
him for the discharge thereof ; though some other quali
ties of his, as well known, brought no advantage to his
majesty by that promotion. And from this time the
chancellor would never intermeddle in the business of
the exchequer, nor admit any applications to him in it :
however, the friendship was so great between the trea
surer and him, and so notorious from an ancient date,
and from a joint confidence in each other in the service of
the last king, that neither of them concluded any matter
of importance without consulting with the other. And
so the treasurer, marquis of Ormond, the general, with (
the two secretaries of state, were of that secret committee
with the chancellor ; which, under the notion of foreign
affairs, were appointed by the king to consult all his af
fairs before they came to a public debate ; and in which
there could not be a more united concurrence of judg
ments and affections.
47 Yet it was the chancellor's misfortune to be thought to
have the greatest credit with the king, for the reasons
mentioned before, and which for some time seemed to be
without envy, by reason of his many years' service of the
crown, and constant fidelity to the same, and his long at
tendance upon the person of his majesty, and the friend-

316 The cliancellor foresees a storm of envy : his daughter's Con. 47—
ship he had with the most eminent persons who had ad
hered to that interest. Yet he foresaw, and told many of
his friends, " that the credit he was thought to have with
the king, and which he knew was much less than it was
thought to be, and his being obliged by the king to con
duct many affairs, which were foreign to those which prin
cipally concerned and related to his office, would in a short
time raise such a storm of envy and malice against him,
that he should not be able to stand the shock." All men's
impatience to get, and immodesty in asking, when the
king had nothing to give, with his majesty's easiness of
access, and that " imbecillitas frontis" which kept him
from denying, together with rescuing himself from the
most troublesome importunities by sending men to the
chancellor, could not but in a short time make him be'
looked upon as the man that obstructed all their pre
tences; in which they were confirmed by his own car
riage towards them, which, though they could not deny
to be full of civility, yet he always dissuaded them from
pursuing the suits they had made to the king, as unfit or
unjust for his majesty to grant, how inclinable soever he
had seemed to them. And so, instead of promising to
assist them, he positively denied so much as to endeavour
it, when the matter would not bear it; but where he
could do courtesies, no man proceeded more cheerfully
and more unasked, which very many of all conditions
knew to be true ; nor did he ever receive recompense or
reward for any such offices. Of which temper of his
there will be occasion to say more hereafter.
48 The first matter of general and public importance, and
which resulted not from any debate in parliament, was
the discovery of a great affection that the duke had for
the chancellor's daughter, who was a maid of honour to
the king's sister, the princess royal of Orange, and of a
contract of marriage between them : with which nobody
was so surprised and confounded as the chancellor him-

—4-48- marriage with the duke of York is discovered. (1660.) 317
self, who being of a nature free from any jealousy, and
very confident of an entire affection and obedience from
all his children, and particularly from that daughter, whom
he had always loved dearly, never had in the least degree
suspected any such thing ; though he knew afterwards,
that the duke's affection and kindness had been much
spoken of beyond the seas, but without the least suspicion
in any body that it could ever tend to marriage. And
therefore it was cherished and promoted in the duke by
those, and only by those, who were declared enemies to
the chancellor, and who hoped from thence, that some sig
nal disgrace and dishonour would befall the chancellor and
his family ; in which they were the more reasonably con
firmed by the manner of the duke's living towards him,
which had never any thing of grace in it, but very much of
disfavour, to which the lord Berkley, and most of his other
servants to please the lord Berkley, had contributed all they
could; and the queen's notorious prejudice to him had made
it part of his duty to her majesty, which had been a very
great discomfort to the chancellor, in his whole adminis
tration beyond the seas. But now, upon this discovery
and the consequence thereof, he looked upon himself as a
ruined person, and that the king's indignation ought to fall
upon him as the contriver of that indignity to the crown,
which as himself from his soul abhorred, and would have
had the presumption of his daughter to be punished with
the utmost severity, so he believed the whole kingdom
would be inflamed to the punishment of it, and to prevent
the dishonour which might result from it. And the least
calamity that he expected upon himself and family, how
innocent soever, was an everlasting banishment out of the
kingdom, and to end his days in foreign parts in poverty
and misery. All which undoubtedly must have come to
pass upon that occasion, if the king had either had that
indignation which had been just in him ; or if he had
withdrawn his grace and favour from him, and left him

318 What led to the chancellor's Con. 4
to be sacrificed by the envy and rage of others ; though
at this time he was not thought to have many enemies,
nor indeed any who were friends to any other honest
men. But the king's own knowledge of his innocence,
and thereupon his gracious condescension and interposi
tion diverting any rough proceeding, and so a contrary
effect to what hath been mentioned having been pro
duced from thence ; the chancellor's greatness seemed to
be thereby confirmed, his family established above the
reach of common envy, and his fortune to be in a growing
and prosperous condition not like to be shaken. Yet
after many years' possession of this prosperity, an unex
pected gust of displeasure took again its rise from this
original, and overwhelmed him with variety and suc
cession of misfortunes.
49 It is very reasonable to relate from before this time all
the passages and circumstances, which accompanied or at
tended that lady's first promotion in the service of the
priucess royal, in which the extreme averseness in her
father and mother from embracing that opportunity, and
the unusual grace and importunity from them who con
ferred the honour, being considered, there may appear to
many an extraordinary operation of Providence, in giving
the first rise to what afterwards succeeded, though of a
nature so transcendent as cannot be thought to have any
relation to it.
5° When the king resolved [as in part vi. par. 38 — 40.]
Mrs. Killigrew was dead of the smallpox.
51 O'Neile came in the instant to the chancellor with
very much kindness, and told him, that if he desired the
king to speak to his sister to receive his daughter into
the place of Mrs. Killigrew, he was most confident she
would do it very willingly, but that she expected the
king should speak to her, because the queen had writ
to bestow the place that should first fall vacant to
another; and when he found him not inclined to move

daughter becoming a maid of honour. (1660.) 319
the king in it, saying, he would not be any occasion to
increase the jealousies which were already between their
majesties, nor to dispose the princess to displease her
mother, he frankly offered to move the king without
the other's appearing in it. Whereupon the chancellor
thought it necessary to deal freely with him, and told
him, that his daughter was the only company and com
fort that her mother had, and who he knew could not
part with her; and that for himself he was resolved,
whilst the king's condition continued so low, he would
not have his daughter in that gayety, which was neces
sary for the court of so young a princess ; and therefore
he conjured him by all the friendship he had for him, since
he saw to what resolution he was fixed, to use all his dex
terity and address to divert the princess from the thought
of a bounty that would prove so inconvenient to her, and
to engage the lady Stanhope in the same office. O'Neile
on the contrary used many arguments to him for his com
pliance with an opportunity that offered itself so much
for [his] daughter's advantage, and which would probably,
by the generosity of such a mistress, be attended with
benefits and advantages which might absolve him from
any further charges for her preferment. He remained
not to be shaken, and the other desisted from his im
portunity. Shortly after, the king took notice of the
vacant place in his sister's family, which he said he
thought might in many respects be convenient for his
daughter, and therefore offered to move his sister in
it on her behalf. The chancellor, after he had acknow
ledged his majesty's goodness, with all humility besought
him not to interpose his authority with his royal sister ;
made him a full relation of all that had passed between
O'Neile and him, and of his resolution not to separate
his daughter from his wife, and that one should not live
in lustre, whilst the other must be necessitated to con
tinue in so much security; and thereupon humbly en-

320 The chancellor is much perplexed Con. 5
treated the king to refuse to interpose in that affair.
The king told him with a very gracious freedom, that
his sister had directly spoken to him to move in it,
because of the letter she had received from the queen;
that she herself had seen his daughter, and was so well
pleased with her nature and her humour, which she had op
portunity to observe a week together, that she had taken
a resolution within herself, and communicated it to the
lady Stanhope, that she would take her into her service
when there should be opportunity ; and therefore his
majesty wished him to consider, whether he would not
accept a benefit with all these circumstances; however
advised him to wait upon his sister, and acknowledge
so much grace, if he did not intend to make use of it.
Though the chancellor was exceedingly perplexed with
the knowledge of all these particulars, and understood
to what misinterpretation and disadvantages this obsti
nacy might make him liable, yet he changed nothing of
his resolution, and waited upon the princess with hope
that he might convert her purely upon the inconveni
ence that might follow upon the conferring a grace, in
that conjuncture, upon a family so inconsiderable to her
service.
52 After he had attended the princess, and with all the
expressions which his gratitude could suggest to him
magnified the many favours he had received from her,
aud the gracious inclination he was informed she had
now for his daughter ; and he knew no better way (he
told her) to return his most dutiful acknowledgments,
than by taking care that she should undergo the least
prejudice by her bounty to him, and therefore that he
was resolved not to receive the honour she was inclined
to bestow upon his daughter : that he had the misfortune
to be ill understood by the queen her mother, who would
be the more incensed against him, and offended with her
highness, if the recommendation she had given on the

on finding his daughter engaged to the duke. (1660.) 321
behalf of another lady should be rejected on his behalf,
and that in truth he was not able to maintain his
daughter in such a condition as that relation did re
quire; and concluded how inconvenient it would be to
separate her from her mother, who would be desolate
without her. Her royal highness, who heard him with
great patience till he had alleged all the arguments why
she should not persist in her gracious disposition, and
why he could not receive the obligations, answered, "that
she knew well the long and faithful service he had per
formed towards the king her father, and the confidence
his majesty had in him at his death ; that he had con
tinued the same fidelity to the king her brother, who was
very sensible of it, and that she was the more troubled,
that her mother had entertained any prejudice towards
him, which she was assured proceeded from some false
information, which would shortly appear to be so ; that
for her own part, she had always paid all duty to her,
and would be ready to gratify any worthy person who
came recommended by her majesty, but that she would
not exclude her own judgment, and be bound to have no
servants about her person but such who should be recom
mended by her mother, who she could not believe could
ever be offended with her for taking the daughter of a
person who had been of so eminent fidelity to the crown :
that for the maintenance of his daughter he should take
no further care ; she well enough knew his condition,
and how it came to be such, and that she took the care
of that upon herself: for what related to his wife's un
willingness to part with her daughter, her highness said,
she was contented to refer it entirely to her ; as soon as
she came home she would send for her to Breda, and if
her mother would not permit her to come to her, she had
done her part, and would acquiesce." There remained
nothing for the chancellor to reply, and he remained
still confident that his wife (to whom he had written to
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. Y

322 The duke informs the king of his attachment Con.
confirm her in her former resolution of having her
daughter still with her) would continue of the mind
she had been of; but when she was informed of all
that had passed, she concluded that all those unusual
circumstances in an affair of that nature were not with
out some instinct of Providence ; and so when the prin
cess royal sent for her daughter, she went herself like
wise, and presented her to her highness ; to which possibly
it was some motive, that there would then remain no
objection against her own residence with her husband;
and so she presently removed to him to Cologne, where
the king then was, and remained for some years. Having
now set down (not improperly I think) the true rise and
story of his daughter's going into that court, with all the
particulars which preceded it, I shall now return to that
place from whence this digression led us, of the public
discovery of the duke's affection, and shall continue the
relation till an end was put to that great affair, by the
consent and approbation of the royal family, and, for
ought appeared to the contrary, to the general satisfac
tion of the kingdom.
53 The chancellor, as soon as the king was at Whitehall,
had sent for his daughter, having a design presently to
marry her ; to which purpose he had an overture from a
noble family, on the behalf of a well-bred hopeful young
gentleman, who was the heir of it. His daughter quickly
arrived at her fathers house, to his great joy, having
always had a great affection for her ; and she being his
eldest child, he had more acquaintance with her than
with any of his children ; and being now of an age fit
for marriage, he was well pleased that he had an oppor
tunity to place her in such a condition, as with God's
blessing was like to yield her much content. She had
not been long in England, when the duke informed the
king "of the affection and engagement that had been
long between them : that they had been long contracted,

—5454- t° Me chancellor's daughter. (1660.) 323
and that she was with child:" and therefore with all
imaginable importunity he begged his majesty's leave and
permission upon his knees, " that he might publicly marry
her, in such a manner as his majesty thought necessary
for the consequence thereof." The king was much troubled
with it, and more with his brother's passion, which was
expressed in a very wonderful manner and with many
tears, protesting, " that if his majesty should not give his
consent, he would immediately leave the kingdom, and
must spend his life in foreign parts." His majesty was
very much, perplexed to resolve what to do : he knew the
chancellor so well, that he concluded that he was not privy
to it, nor would ever approve it ; and yet that it might
draw much prejudice upon him, by the jealousy of those
who were not well acquainted with his nature. He pre
sently sent for the marquis of Ormond and the earl of
Southampton, who he well knew were his bosom friends^
and informed them at large, and of all particulars which
had passed from the duke to him, and commanded them
presently to see for the chancellor to come to his own
chamber at Whitehall, where they would meet him upon
a business of great importance, which the king had com
mended to them for their joint advice. They no sooner
met, than the marquis of Ormond told the chancellor,
" that he had a matter to inform him of, that he doubted
would give him much trouble;" and therefore advised
him to compose himself to hear it : and then told him,
" that the duke of York had owned a great affection for
his daughter to the king, and that he much doubted that
she was with child by the duke, and that the king re
quired the advice of them and of him what he was to
do."
54 The manner of the chancellor's receiving this advertise
ment made it evident enough that he was struck with it
to the heart, and had never had the least jealousy or
apprehension of it. He broke out into a very immoderate
y 2

32 1 The king kindly advises Con. 54
passion against the wickedness of his daughter, and said
with all imaginable earnestness, " that as soon as he came
home he would turn her out of his house, as a strumpet,
to shift for herself, and would never see her again." They
told him, " that his passion was too violent to administer
good counsel to him, that they thought that the duke
was married to his daughter, and that there were other
measures to be taken than those which the disorder he
was in had suggested to him." Whereupon he fell into
new commotions, and said, " if that were true, he was
well prepared to advise what was to be done: that he
had much rather his daughter should be the duke's whore
than his wife : in the former case nobody could blame
him for the resolution he had taken, for he was not
obliged to keep a whore for the greatest prince alive ;
and the indignity to himself he would submit to the good
pleasure of God. But if there were any reason to suspect
the other, he was ready to give a positive judgment, in
which he hoped their lordships would concur with him ;
that the king should immediately cause the woman to be
sent to the Tower, and to be cast into a dungeon, under
so strict a guard, that no person living should be admit
ted to come to her ; and then that an act of parliament
should be immediately passed for the cutting off her
head, to which he would not only give his consent, but
would very willingly be the first man that should propose
it:" and whoever knew the man, will believe that he said
all this very heartily.
55 In this point of time the king entered the room, and
sat down at the table ; and perceiving by his countenance
the agony the chancellor was in, and his swollen eyes
from whence a flood of tears were fallen, he asked the
other lords, " what they had done, and whether they had
resolved on any thing." The earl of Southampton said,
"his majesty must consult with soberer men; that he"
(pointing to the chancellor) " was mad, and had proposed

and consoles the chancellor. (1660.) 325
such extravagant things, that he was no more to be con
sulted with." Whereupon his majesty, looking upon him
with a wonderful benignity, said, " Chancellor, I knew
this business would trouble you, and therefore I appointed
your two friends to confer first with you upon it, before
I would speak with you myself: but you must now lay
aside all passion that disturbs you, and consider that this
business will not do itself ; that it will quickly take air ;
and therefore it is fit that I first resolve what to do, before
other men uncalled presume to give their counsel : tell
me therefore what you would have me do, and I will
follow your advice." Then his majesty enlarged upon
the passion of his brother, and the expressions he had
often used, " that he was not capable of having any other
wife," and the like. Upon which the chancellor arose,
and with a little composedness said, " Sir, I hope I need
make no apology to you for myself, and of my own in this
matter, upon which I look with so much detestation, that
though I could have wished that your brother had not
thought it fit to have put this disgrace upon me, I had
much rather submit and bear it with all humility, than
that it should be repaired by making her his wife ; the
thought whereof I do so much abominate, that I had
much rather see her dead, with all the infamy that is
due to her presumption." And then he repeated all that
he had before said to the lords, of sending her presently
to the Tower, and the rest ; and concluded, " Sir, I do
upon all my oaths which I have taken to you to give you
faithful counsels, and from all the sincere gratitude I
stand obliged to you for so many obligations, renew this
counsel to you ; and do beseech you to pursue it, as the
only expedient that can free you from the evils that this
business will otherwise bring upon you." And observing
by the king's countenance, that he was not pleased with
his advice, he continued and said, " I am the dullest
creature alive, if, having been with your majesty so many

326 The duke's attachment to the chancellor's Con. 55-
years, I do not know your infirmities better than other
men. You are of too easy and gentle a nature to con
tend with those rough affronts, which the iniquity and
license of the late times is like to put upon you, before
it be subdued and reformed. The presumption all kind
of men have upon your temper is too notorious to all
men, and lamented by all who wish you well : and, trust
me, an example of the highest severity in a case that so
nearly concerns you, and that relates to the person who
is nearest to you, will be so seasonable, that your reign,
during the remaining part of your life, will be the easier
to you, and all men will take heed how they impudently
offend you."
56 He had scarce done speaking, when the duke of York
came in ; whereupon the king spake of some other busi
ness, and shortly after went out of the room with his
brother, whom (as was shortly known) he informed of all
that the chancellor had said, who, as soon as he came to
his house, sent his wife to command his daughter to keep
her chamber, and not to admit any visits ; whereas before
she had always been at dinner and supper, and had much
company resorting to her : which was all that he thought
fit to do upon the first assault, and till he had slept upon
it, (which he did very unquietly,) and reflected upon what
was like to be the effect of so extravagant a cause. And
this was quickly known to the duke, who was exceedingly
offended at it, and complained to the king, " as of an
indignity offered to him." And the next morning the
king chid the chancellor for proceeding with so much
precipitation, and required him " to take off that restraint,
and to leave her to the liberty she had been accustomed
to." To which he replied, " that her having not dis
charged the duty of a daughter ought not to deprive him
of the authority of a father ; and therefore he must
humbly beg his majesty not to interpose his commands
against his doing anything that his own dignity required:

—^-57- daughter produces but little discontent. (1660.) 327
that he only expected what his majesty would do upon
the advice he had humbly offered to him, and when he
saw that, he would himself proceed as he was sure would
become him :" nor did he take off any of the restraint he
had imposed. Yet he discovered after, that even in that
time the duke had found ways to come to her, and to
stay whole nights with her, by the administration of those
who were not suspected by him, and who had the excuse,
" that they knew that they were married."
57 This subject was quickly the matter of all men's dis
course, and did not produce those murmurs and discon
tented reflections which were expected. The parliament
was sitting, and took not the least notice of it ; nor could
it be discerned that many were scandalized at it. The
chancellor received the same respects from all men which
he had been accustomed to : and the duke himself, in the
house of peers, frequently sat by him upon the woolsack,
that he might the more easily confer with him upon the
matters which were debated, and receive his advice how
to behave himself; which made all men believe that
there had been a good understanding between them.
And yet it is very true, that, in all that time, the duke
never spake one word to him of that affair. The king
spake every day about it, and told the chancellor, " that
he must behave himself wisely, for that the thing was
remediless; and that his majesty knew that they were
married, which would quickly appear to all men, who
knew that nothing could be done upon it." In this time
the chancellor had conferred with his daughter without
any thing of indulgence, and not only discovered that
they were unquestionably married, but by whom, and
who were present at it, who would be ready to avow it ;
which pleased him not, though it diverted him from
using some of that rigour which he intended. And he
saw no other remedy could be applied, but that which

328 The king carries himself with extraordinary Con. 58
he had proposed to the king, who thought of nothing
like it.
58 At this time there was news of the princess royal's
embarkation in Holland, which obliged the king and the
duke of York to make a journey to Dover to receive her,
who came for no other reason, but to congratulate with
the king her brother, and to have her share in the public
joy. The morning that they began their journey, the
king and the duke came to the chancellor's house ; and
the king, after he had spoken to him of some business
that was to be done in his absence, going out of the
room, the duke stayed behind, and whispered the chan
cellor in the ear, because there were others at a little
distance, " that he knew that he had heard of the business
between him and his daughter, and of which be confessed
he ought to have spoken with him before ; but that when
he returned from Dover, he would give him full satisfac
tion : in the mean time," he desired him, "not to be
offended with his daughter." To which the chancellor
made no other answer, than " that it was a matter too
great for him to speak of."
59 When the princess royal came to the town, there grew
to be a great silence in that affair. The duke said nothing
to the chancellor, nor came nor sent to his daughter, as
he had constantly used to do : and it was industriously
published about the town, that that business was broken
off, and that the duke was resolved never to think more
of it. The queen had before written a very sharp letter
to the duke, full of indignation, that he should have so
low thoughts as to marry such a woman ; to whom he
shewed the letter, as not moved by it. And now she
sent the king word, " that she was on the way to England,
to prevent, with her authority, so great a stain and dis
honour to the crown ;" and used many threats and pas
sionate expressions upon the subject. The chancellor sat

Jiji. grace towards the chancellor (1660.) 329
unconcerned in all the rumours which were spread, " that
the queen was coming with a purpose to complain to the
parliament against the chancellor, and to apply the high
est remedies to prevent so great a mischief."
60 In the mean time it was reported abroad, that the
duke had discovered some disloyalty in the lady, which
he had never suspected, but had now so full evidence of
it, that he was resolved never more to see her ; and that
he was not married. And all his family, whereof the
lord Berkley and his nephew were the chief, who had
long hated the chancellor, spake very loudly and scandal
ously of it. The king carried himself with extraordinary
grace towards the chancellor, and was with him more,
and spake upon all occasions and before all persons more
graciously of him, than ever. He told him with much
trouble, " that his brother was abused ; and that there
was a wicked conspiracy set on foot by villains, which, in
the end, must prove of more dishonour to the duke than
to any body else."
61 The queen was now ready to embark, inflamed and
hastened by this occasion ; and it was fit for the king
and the duke to wait on her at the shore. But before
his majesty's going, he resolved of himself to do a grace
to the chancellor, that should publish how far he was
from beinor shaken in his favour towards him, and to do
it with such circumstances as gave it great lustre. From
the time of his coming into England, he had often offered
the chancellor to make him a baron, and told him, " that
he was assured by many of the lords, that it was most
necessary for his service in the parliament." But he had
still refused it, and besought his majesty " not to think
of it ; that it would increase the envy against him if he
should confer that honour upon him so soon ; but that
hereafter, when his majesty's affairs should be settled,
and he, out of the extraordinary perquisites of his office,
should be able to make some addition to his small for-

330 The king presents the chancellor with 20,0001., Con. 6
tune, he would, with that humility that became him,
receive that honour from him." The king, in few days
after, coming to him, and being alone with him in his
cabinet, at going away gave him a little billet into his
hand, that contained a warrant of his own handwriting
to sir Stephen Fox, to pay to the chancellor the sum of
twenty thousand pounds ; which was part of the money
which the parliament had presented to the king at the
Hague, and for which he had been compelled to take
bills of exchange again from Amsterdam upon London ;
which was only known to the king, the chancellor, and
sir Stephen Fox, who was intrusted to receive it, as he
had done all the king's monies for many years beyond
the seas. This bounty flowing immediately from the
king at such a melancholic conjuncture, and of which
nobody could have notice, could not but much raisa the
spirits of the chancellor. Nor did the king's goodness
rest here ; but the night before he began his journey
towards the queen, he sent for the attorney general,
who he knew to be most devoted to the chancellor, and
told him, " that he must intrust him in an affair that he
must not impart to the chancellor :" and then gave him
a warrant signed for the creation of him a baron, which
he commanded " to be ready to pass the seal against the
hour of his majesty's return, and he would then see it
sealed himself; but if the chancellor came first to know
it, he would use great importunity to stop it." The at
torney said, " it would be impossible to conceal it from
him, because without his privity and direction he knew
not what title to give him for his barony." The king
replied with warmth, " that he should confer with some
of his friends of the way; but that he would take it
ill of him, if there were any delay in it, and if it were
not ready for the seal at the time of his return, which
would be in few days." The attorney came to the chan
cellor and told him, " he would break a trust to do him

and creates him a baron. (1660.) 331
a service ; and therefore he presumed, that he would not
be so unjust to let him suffer by it :" and then told him
all that had passed between the king and him. And the
chancellor confessed, " that the king's manner of proceed
ing was so obliging, and the conjuncture in which this
honour was given," though he had before refused it with
obstinacy, " made it now very grateful to him :" and so
without hesitation, he told him what title he would as
sume. And all was ready against the king's return, and
signed by him, and sealed the same night.
62 The queen had expressed her indignation to the king
and duke, with her natural passion, from the time of their
meeting ; and the duke had asked her pardon " for hav
ing placed his affection so unequally, of which he was
sure there was now an end ; that he was not married,
and had now such evidence of her unworthiness, that he
should no more think of her." And it was now avowedly
said, that sir Charles Berkley, who was captain of his
guard, and in much more credit and favour with the duke
than his uncle, (though a young man of a dissolute life,
and prone to all wickedness in the judgment of all sober
men,) had informed the duke, " that he was bound in
conscience to preserve him from taking to wife a woman
so wholly unworthy of him; that he himself had lain
with her ; and that for his sake he would be content to
marry her, though he knew well the familiarity the duke
had with her." This evidence, with so solemn oaths pre
sented by a person so much loved and trusted by him,
made a wonderful impression in the duke ; and now con
firmed by the commands of his mother, as he had been be
fore prevailed upon by his sister, he resolved to deny that
he was married, and never to see the woman again, who had
been so false to him. And the queen being satisfied with
this resolution, they came all to London, with a full hope
that they should prevail to the utter overthrow of the
chancellor ; the king having, without any reply or debate,

The duchess of York Con. 6s
heard all they said of the other affair, and his mother's
bitterness against him. But when, the very next morn
ing after their arrival at London, they saw the chan
cellor (who had not seen the king) appear in the par
liament in the robes of a peer; they thought it to no
purpose to prosecute their design against him, whom his
majesty was resolved to protect from any unjust perse
cution. But the other resolution was pursued with noise
and much defamation.
63 The next day after the queen's arrival, all the privy
council iu a body waited upon the queen to congratulate
her return into England ; and the chancellor was obliged
to go in the head of them, and was received with the
same countenance that the rest were, which was very
cheerful, and with many gracious expressions. And from
this time he put not himself in her majesty's presence,
nor appeared at all concerned at the scandalous discourses
against his daughter. The earl of St. Alban's, and all who
were near the queen in any trust, and the lord Berkley
and his faction about the duke, lived in defiance of the
chancellor ; and so imprudently, that they did him no
harm, but underwent the reproach of most sober men.
The king continued his grace towards him without the
least diminution, and not only to him, but to many others
who were trusted by him ; which made it evident that he
believed nothing of what sir Charles Berkley avowed, and
looked on him as a fellow of great wickedness: which
opinion the king was long known to have of him before
his coming into England, and after.
64 In the mean time, the season of his daughter's delivery
was at hand. And it was the king's chance to be at his
house with the committee of council, when she fell in
labour : of which being advertised by her father, the king
directed him " to send for the lady marchioness of Or
mond, the countess of Sunderland, and other ladies of
known honour and fidelity to the crown, to be present

is delivered of a son. (1660.) 333
with her:" who all came, and were present till she was
delivered of a son. The bishop of Winchester, in the in
terval of her greatest pangs, and sometimes when they
were upon her, was present, and asked her such questions
as were thought fit for the occasion ; " whose the child
was of which she was in labour," whom she averred, with
all protestations, to be the duke's ; " whether she had
ever knowii any other man ;" which she renounced with
all vehemence, saying, " that she was confident the duke
did not think she had ;" and being asked " whether she
were married to the duke," she answered, " she was, and
that there were witnesses enough, who in due time, she
was confident, would avow it." In a word, her behaviour
was such as abundantly satisfied the ladies who were pre
sent, of her innocence from the reproach ; and they were
not reserved in the declaration of it, even before the per
sons who were least pleased with their testimony. And
the lady marchioness of Ormond took an opportunity to
declare it fully to the duke himself, and perceived in him
such a kind of tenderness, that persuaded her that he did
not believe any thing amiss. And the king enough pub
lished his opinion and judgment of the scandal.
65 The chancellor's own carriage, that is, his doing nothing,
nor saying any thing from whence they might take ad
vantage, exceedingly vexed them. Yet they undertook to
know, and informed the duke confidently, "that the chan
cellor had a great party in the parliament ;" and that " he
was resolved within few days to complain there, and to
produce the witnesses, who were present at the marriage,
to be examined, that their testimony might remain there ;
which would be a great affront to him;" with many other
particulars, which might incense his highness. Where
upon the duke, who had been observed never to have
spoken to him in the house of peers, or any where else,
since the time of his going to meet his sister, finding the
chancellor one day in the privy lodgings, whispered him

334 Sir. C.Berkley confesses the falsehood Con. 65)5
in the ear, " that he would be glad to confer with him in
his lodging," whither he was then going. The other im
mediately followed ; and being come thither, the duke
sent all his servants out of distance ; and then told him
with much warmth, " what he had been informed of his
purpose to complain to the parliament against him, which
he did not value or care for: however, if he should prose
cute any such course, it should be the worse for him ;"
implying some threats, " what he would do before he
would bear such an affront ;" adding then, " that for his
daughter, she had behaved herself so foully, (of which he
had such evidence as was as convincing as his own eyes,
and of which he could make no doubt,) that nobody could
blame him for his behaviour towards her;" concluding
with some other threats, " that he should repent it, if he
pursued his intention of appealing to the parliament."
66 As soon as the duke discontinued his discourse, the
chancellor told him, "that he hoped he would discover
the untruth of other reports which had been made to him
by the falsehood of this, which had been raised without
the least ground or shadow of truth. That though he did
not pretend to much wisdom, yet no man took him to be
such a fool as he must be if he intended to do such an
act as he was informed. That if his highness had done
any thing towards or against him, which he ought not to
have done there was One who is as much above him as his
hignhess was above him, and who could both censure and
punish it. For his own part, he knew too well whose son
he was, and whose brother he is, to behave himself towards
him with less duty and submission than was due to him,
and should be always paid by him." He said, " he was
not concerned to vindicate his daughter from any the
most improbable scandals and aspersions : she had dis
obliged and deceived him too much, for him to be over
confident that she might not deceive any other man : and
therefore he would leave that likewise to God Almighty,

—1—67- of his charge against the duchess. (1660.) 335
upon whose blessing he would always depend, whilst him
self remained innocent, and no longer." The duke replied
not, nor from that time mentioned the chancellor with any
displeasure ; and related to the king, and some other per
sons, the discourse that had passed, very exactly.
67 There did not after all this appear, in the discourses of
men, any of that humour and indignation which was ex
pected. On the contrary, men of the greatest name and
reputation spake of the foulness of the proceeding with
great freedom, and with all the detestation imaginable
against sir Charles Berkley, whose testimony nobody be
lieved ; not without some censure of the chancellor, for
not enough appearing and prosecuting the indignity : but
he was not to be moved by any instances, which he never
afterwards repented. The queen's implacable displeasure
continued in the full height, doing all she could to keep
the duke firm to his resolution, and to give all counte
nance to the calumny. As before the discovery of this
engagement of the duke's affection, the duke of Glouces
ter had died of the smallpox, to the extraordinary grief
of the king and the whole kingdom ; so at this time it
pleased God to visit the princess royal with the same
disease, and of which she died within few days ; having
in her last agonies expressed a dislike of the proceedings
in that affair, to which she had contributed too much.
The duke himself grew melancholic and dispirited, and
cared not for company, nor those divertisements in which
he formerly delighted : which was observed by every body,
and which in the end wrought so far upon the conscience
of the lewd informer, that he, sir Charles Berkley, came
to the duke, and clearly declared to him, " that the gene
ral discourse of men, of what inconvenience and mischief,
if not absolute ruin, such a marriage would be to his royal
highness, had prevailed with him to use all the power he
had to dissuade him from it ; and when he found he could
not prevail with him, he had formed that accusation, which

336 The duke is much pleased at Berkley's Con. 67 —
he presumed could not but produce the effect he wished ;
which he now confessed to be false, and without the least
ground ; and that he was very confident of her virtue :" and
therefore besought his highness " to pardon a fault, that
was committed out of pure devotion to him ; and that he
would not suffer him to be ruined by the power of those
whom he had so unworthily provoked ; and of which he
had so much shame, that he had not confidence to look
upon them." The duke found himself so much relieved
in that part that most afflicted him, that he embraced
him, and made a solemn promise, " that he should not
suffer in the least degree in his own affection, for what
had proceeded so absolutely from his good-will to him ;
and that he would take so much care of him, that in the
compounding that affair, he should be so comprehended,
that he should receive no disadvantage."
68 And now the duke appeared with another countenance,
Writ to her whom he had injured, " that he would speedily
visit her," and gave her charge "to have a care of his
son." He gave the king a full account of all, without
concealing his joy ; and took most pleasure in conferring
with them, who had seemed least of his mind when he
had been most transported, and who had always argued
against the probability of the testimony which had wrought
upon him. The queen was not pleased with this change,
though the duke did not yet own to her that he had al
tered his resolution. She was always very angry at the
king's coldness, who had been so far from that aversion
which she expected, that he found excuses for the duke,
and endeavoured to divert her passions ; and now pressed
the discovery of the truth by sir Charles Berkley's con
fession, as a thing that pleased him. They about her,
and who had most inflamed and provoked her to the
sharpest resentment, appeared more calm in their dis
courses, and either kept silence, or spake to another tune
than they had done formerly, and wished that the busi-

confession, at which the queen is offended. (1660.) 337
ness was well composed ; all which mightily increased
the queen's passion. And having come to know that the
duke had made a visit at the place she most abhorred,
she brake into great passion, and publicly declared, " that
whenever that woman should be brought into Whitehall
by one door, her majesty would go out of it by another
door, and never come into it again." And for several
days her majesty would not suffer the duke to be in her
presence ; at least, if he came with the king, she forbore
to speak to him, or to take any notice of him. Nor could
they, who had used to have most credit with her, speak
to her with any acceptation ; though they were all weary
of the distances they had kept, and discerned well enough
where the matter must end. And many desired to find
some expedient, how the work might be facilitated, by
some application and address from the chancellor to the
queen : but he absolutely refused to make the least ad
vance towards it, or to contribute to her indignation by
putting himself into her majesty's presence. He declared,
" that the queen had great reason for the passion she ex
pressed for the indignity that had been done to her, and
which he would never endeavour to excuse ; and that as
far as his low quality was capable of receiving an injury
from so great a prince, he had himself to complain of a
transgression that exceeded the limits of all justice, divine
and human."
69 The queen had made this journey out of France into
England much sooner than she intended, and only, upon
this occasion, to prevent a mischief she had great reason
to deprecate. And so, upon her arrival, she had declared,
" that she would stay a very short time, being obliged to
return into France for her health, and to use the waters
of Bourbon, which had already done her much good, that
the ensuing season would with God's blessing make per
fect." And the time was now come, that orders were
sent for the ships to attend her embarkation at Ports-
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. Z

338 Her majesty suddenly alters her behaviour. Con. 6c
mouth ; and the day was appointed for the beginning her
journey from Whitehall : so that the duke's affair, which
he now took to heart, was (as every body thought) to be
left in the state it was, at least under the renunciation
and interdiction of a mother. When on a sudden, of
which nobody then knew the reason, her majesty's coun
tenance and discourse was changed ; she treated the duke
with her usual kindness, and confessed to him, " that the
business that had offended her so much, she perceived
was proceeded so far, that no remedy could be applied to
it ; and therefore that she would trouble herself no fur
ther in it, but pray to God to bless him, and that he
might be happy :" so that the duke had now nothing to
wish, but that the queen would be reconciled to his wife,
who remained still at her father's, where the king had
visited her often; to which the queen was not averse,
and spake graciously of the chancellor, and said, " she
would be good friends with him." But both these re
quired some formalities ; and they who had behaved
themselves the most disobligingly, expected to be com
prehended in any atonement that should be made. And
it was exceedingly laboured, that the chancellor would
make the first approach, by visiting the earl of St. Al
ban's ; which he absolutely refused to do : and very well
acquainted with the arts of that court, whereof dissimula
tion was the soul, did not believe that those changes, for
which he saw no reasonable motive, could be real, until
abbot Mountague (who had so far complied with the
faction of that court as not to converse with an enemy)
visited him with all openness, and told him, " that this
change in the queen had proceeded from a letter she had
newly received from the cardinal, in which he had plainly
told her, that she would not receive a good welcome in
France, if she left her sons in her displeasure, and pro
fessed an animosity against those ministers who were
most trusted by the king. He extolled the services done

The cause of this change in the queen. (1660.) 339
by the chancellor, and advised her to comply with what
could not be avoided, and to be perfectly reconciled to
her children, and to those who were nearly related to
them, or were intrusted by them : and that he did this in
so powerful a style, and with such powerful reasons, that
her majesty's passions were totally subdued. And this,"
he said, " was the reason of the sudden change that every
body had observed ; and therefore that he ought to be
lieve the sincerity of it, and to perform that part which
might be expected from him, in compliance with the
queen's inclinations to have a good intelligence with
him."
7° The chancellor had never looked upon the abbot as his
enemy, and gave credit to all he said, though he did little
understand from what fountain that good-will of the car
dinal had proceeded, who had never been propitious to
him. He made all those professions of duty to the queen
that became him, and " how happy he should think him
self in her protection, which he had need of, and did with
all humility implore ; and that he would gladly cast him
self at her majesty's feet, when she would vouchsafe to
admit it." But for the adjusting this, there was to be
more formality ; for it was necessary that the earl of St.
Alban's (between whom and the chancellor there had
never been any friendship) should have some part in this
composition, and do many good offices towards it, which
were to precede the final conclusion. The duke had
brought sir Charles Berkley to the duchess, at whose feet
he had cast himself, with all the acknowledgment and
penitence he could express; and she, according to the
command of the duke, accepted his submission, and pro
mised to forget the offence. He came likewise to the
chancellor with those professions which he could easily
make ; and the other was obliged to receive him civilly.
And then his uncle, the lord Berkley, waited upon the
duchess; and afterwards visited her father, like a man
z 2

340 The chancellor is exhorted to be more cheerful ; Con. 70
(which he could not avoid) who had done very much to
wards the bringing so difficult a matter to so good an end,
and expected thanks from all ; having that talent in some
perfection, that after he had crossed and puzzled any busi
ness, as much as was in his power, he would be thought
the only man who had untied all knots, and made the way
smooth, and removed all obstructions.
71 The satisfaction the king and the duke had in this dis
position of the queen was visible to all men. And they
both thought the chancellor too reserved in contributing
his part towards, or in meeting, the queen's favour, which
he could not but discern was approaching towards him ; and
that he did not entertain any discourses, which had been
by many entered upon to him upon that subject, with that
cheerfulness and serenity of mind that might justly be ex
pected. And of this the duke made an observation, and
a kind of complaint, to the king, who thereupon came one
day to the chancellor's house ; and being alone with him,
his majesty told him many particulars which had passed
between him and the queen, and the good humour her
majesty was in ; " that the next day the earl of St.
Alban's would visit him, and offer him his service in
accompanying him to the queen ; which he conjured
him to receive with all civility, and expressions of the
joy he took in it ; in which," he told him, " he was ob
served to be too sullen, and that when all other men's
minds appeared to be cheerful, his alone appeared to be
more cloudy than it had been when that affair seemed
most desperate ; which was the more taken notice of,
because it was not natural to him."
72 The chancellor answered, " that he did not know that
he had failed in any thing that in good manners or de
cency could be required from him; but he confessed,
that lately his thoughts were more perplexed and trou
blesome to himself than they had ever been before ; and
therefore it was no wonder, if his looks were not the

he is troubled at his liability to envy. (1660.) 341
same they had used to be. That though he had been
surprised to amazement, upon the first notice of that
business, yet he had been shortly able to recollect him
self; and, upon the testimony of his own conscience, to
compose his mind and spirits, and without any reluctancy
to abandon any thought of his daughter, and to leave her
to that misery she had deserved and brought upon herself.
Nor did the vicissitudes which occurred after in that trans
action, or the displeasure and menaces of the duke, make
any other impression upon him, than to know how unable
he was to enter into any contest in that matter, (which
in all respects was too difficult and superior to his under
standing and faculties,) and to leave it entirely to the
direction and disposal of God Almighty : and in this ac
quiescence he had enjoyed a repose with much tranquillity
of mind, being prepared to undergo any misfortune that
might befall him from thence. But that now he was
awakened by other thoughts and reflections, which he
could less range and govern. He saw those difficulties
removed, which he had thought insuperable ; that his
own condition must be thought exalted above what he
thought possible; and that he was far less able to bear
the envy that was unavoidable, than the indignation and
contempt that alone had threatened him. That his
daughter was now received in the royal family, the wife
of the king's only brother, and the heir apparent of the
crown, whilst his majesty himself remained unmarried.
The great trust his majesty reposed in him, infinitely
above and contrary to his desire, was in itself liable to
envy; and how insupportable that envy must be, upon
this new relation, he could not but foresee; together
with the jealousies which artificial men would be able
to insinuate into his majesty, even when they seemed
to have all possible confidence in the integrity of the
chancellor, and when they extolled him most ; and that
how firm and constant soever his majesty's grace and

342 The chancellor proposes to retire from office. Con. 72-
favour was to him at present, (of which he had lately
given such lively testimony,) and how resolved soever
he was to continue it, his majesty himself could not
know how far some jealousies, cunningly suggested by
some men, might by degrees be entertained by him.
And therefore that, upon all the revolvings he had
with himself, he could not think of any thing that could
contribute equally to his majesty's service, and his quiet,
and to the happiness and security of himself, as for him
to retire from the active station he was in, to an absolute
solitude, and visible inactivity in all matters relating to
the state: and which he thought could not be so well,
under any retirement into the country, or any part of
the kingdom, as by his leaving the kingdom, and fixing
himself in some place beyond the seas remote from any
court." And having said all this, or words to the same
effect, he fell on his knees ; and with all possible earnest
ness desired the king, " that he would consent to his re
tirement, as a thing most necessary for his service, and
give his pass, to go and reside in any such place beyond
the seas as his majesty would make choice of."
73 The king heard him patiently, yet with evidence enough
that he was not pleased with what he said ; and when he
kneeled, took him up with some passion; "He did not
expect this from him, and that he had so little kindness
for him, as to leave him in a time when he could not
but know that he was very necessary for his service-
That he had reason to be very well assured, that it could
never be in any man's power to lessen his kindness to
wards him, or confidence in him ; and if any should
presume to attempt it, they would find cause to repent
their presumption." He said, " there were many reasons,
why he could never have designed or advised his brother
to this marriage ; yet since it was past, and all things so
well reconciled, he would not deny that he was glad of it,
and promised himself much benefit from it." He told

-744- &e is visited by the earl of St. Alban's. (1660.) 343
him, " his daughter was a woman of a great wit and ex
cellent parts, and would have a great power with his
brother; and that he knew that she had an entire obedi
ence for him, her father, who he knew would always give
her good counsel ; by which," he said, " he was confident,
that naughty people, which had too much credit with his
brother, and which had so often misled him, would be no
more able to corrupt him ; but that she would prevent all
ill and unreasonable attempts : and therefore he again
confessed that he was glad of it ;" and so concluded with
many gracious expressions ; and conjured the chancellor,
" never more to think of those unreasonable things, but
to attend and prosecute his business with his usual alacrity,
since his kindness could never fail him."
74 The next morning, which was of the last day that the
queen was to stay, the earl of St. Alban's visited the
chancellor with all those compliments, professions, and
protestations, which were natural, and which he did really
believe every body else thought to be very sincere ; for
he had that kindness for himself, that he thought every
body did believe him. He expressed " a wonderful joy,
that the queen would now leave the court united, and all
the king's affairs in a very hopeful condition, in which
the queen confessed that the chancellor's counsels had
been very prosperous, and that she was resolved to part
with great and a sincere kindness towards him ; and that
he had authority from her to assure him so much, which
she would do herself when she saw him :" and so offered
" to go with him to her majesty, at such an hour in the
afternoon as she should appoint." The other made such
returns to all the particulars as were fit, and " that he
would be ready to attend the queen at the time she
should please to assign :" and in the afternoon the earl of
St. Alban's came again to him ; and they went together
to Whitehall, where they found the queen in her bed
chamber, where many ladies were present, who came

¦344 The queen is reconciled to the duchess Con. 75 
then to take their leave of her majesty, before she begun
her journey.
75 The duke of York had before presented his wife to his
mother, who received her without the least show of re
gret, or rather with the same grace as if she had liked it
from the beginning, and made her sit down by her.
When the chancellor came in, the queen rose from her
chair, and received him with a countenance very serene.
The ladies, and others who were near, withdrawing, her
majesty told him, " that he could not wonder, much less
take it ill, that she had been much offended with the
duke, and had no inclination to give her consent to his
marriage ; and if she had, in the passion that could not
be condemned in her, spake any thing of him that he
had taken ill, he ought to impute it to the provocation
she had received, though not from him. She was now
informed by the king, and well assured, that he had no
hand in contriving that friendship, but was offended with
that passion that really was worthy of him. That she
could not but confess, that his fidelity to the king her
husband was very eminent, and that he had served the
king her son with equal fidelity and extraordinary suc
cess. And therefore, as she had received his daughter as
her daughter, and heartily forgave the duke and her, and
was resolved ever after to live with all the affection of a
mother towards them ; so she resolved to make a friend
ship with him, and hereafter to expect all the offices from
him which her kindness should deserve." And when the
chancellor had made all those acknowledgments which
he ought to do, and commended her wisdom and indigna
tion in a business, " in which she could not shew too
much anger and aversion, and had too much forgotten
her own honour and dignity if she had been less of
fended;" and magnified her mercy and generosity, "in
departing so soon from her necessary severity, and par
doning a crime in itself so unpardonable ;" he made those

-77- '• of York and to the chancellor. (1660.) 345
professions of duty to her which were due to her, and
" that he should always depend upon her protection as
his most gracious mistress, and pay all obedience to her
commands." The queen appeared well pleased, and said,
" she should remain very confident of his affection," and
so discoursed of some particulars ; and then opening a
paper that she had in her hand, she recommended the
despatch of some things to him, which immediately re
lated to her own service and interest, and then some
persons, who had either some suits to the king or some
controversies depending in chancery. And the evening
drawing on, and very many ladies and others waiting
without to kiss her majesty's hand, he thought it time
to take his leave ; and after having repeated some short
professions of his duty, he kissed her majesty's hand : and
from that time there did never appear any want of kind
ness in the queen towards him, whilst he stood in no
need of it, nor until it might have done him good.
76 Thus an intrigue, that without doubt had been entered
into and industriously contrived by those who designed
to affront and bring dishonour upon the chancellor and
his family, was, by God's good pleasure, turned to their
shame and reproach, and to the increase of the chancel
lor's greatness and prosperity. And so we return to the
time from whence this digression led us, and shall take a
particular view of all those accidents which had an influ
ence upon the quiet of the kingdom, or which were the
cause of all the chancellor's misfortunes ; which, though
the effect of them did not appear in many years, were
discerned by himself as coming and unavoidable, and
foretold by him to his two bosom friends, the marquis of
Ormond and the earl of Southampton, who constantly ad
hered to him with all the integrity of true friendship.
77 The greatness and power of the chancellor, by this
marriage of his daughter, with all the circumstances which
had accompanied and attended it, seemed to all men to

346 The chancellor it not elated by his daughter's marriage ; Con. 77 
have established his fortune, and that of his family ; I
say, to all men but to himself, who was not in the least
degree exalted with it. He knew well upon how slippery
ground he stood, and how naturally averse the nation
was from approving an exorbitant power in any subject.
He saw that the king grew every day more inclined to
his pleasures, which involved him in expense, and company
that did not desire that he should intend his business, or
be conversant with sober men. He knew well that the
servants who were about the duke were as much his
enemies as ever, and intended their own profit only, by
what means soever, without considering his honour ; that
they formed his household, officers, and equipage, by the
model of France, and against all the rules and precedents
of England for a brother of the crown ; and every day
put into his head, " that if he were not supplied for all
those expenses, it was the chancellor's fault, who could
effect it if he would." Nor was he able to prevent those
infusions, nor the effects of them, because they were so
artificially administered, as if their end was to raise a
confidence in him of the chancellor, not to weaken it;
though he knew well that their design was to create by
degrees in him a jealousy of his power and credit with
the king, as if it eclipsed his. But this was only in their
own dark purposes, which had been all blasted, if they
had been apparent ; for the duke did not only profess a
very great affection for the chancellor, but gave all the
demonstration of it that was possible, and desired nothing
more, than that it should be manifest to all men, that he
had an entire trust from the king in all his affairs, and
that he would employ all his interest to support that
trust : whilst the chancellor himself declined all the occa
sions, which were offered for the advancement of his
fortune, and desired wholly to be left to the discharge of
his office, and that all other officers might diligently look
to their own provinces, and be accountable for them;

-7-79. nor has he an inordinate desire to be rich. (1660.) 347
and detested nothing more than that title and appella
tion, which he saw he should not always be able to avoid,
of principal minister or favourite, and which was never
cast on him by any designation of the king, (who abhorred
to be thought to be governed by any single person,) but
by his preferring his pleasures before his business, and so
sending all men to the chancellor to receive advice. And
hereby the secretaries of state, not finding a present
access to him, when the occasions pressed, resorted to
the chancellor, with whom his majesty spent most time,
to be resolved by him ; which method exceedingly griev
ed him, and to which he endeavoured to apply a remedy,
by putting all things in their proper channel, and by pre
vailing with the king, when he should be a little satiated
with the divertisements he affected, to be vacant to so
much of his business as could not be managed and con
ducted by any body else.
78 And here it may be seasonable to insert at large some
instances, which I promised before, and by which it will
be manifest, how far the chancellor was from an immo
derate appetite to be rich, and to raise his fortune, which
he proposed only to do by the perquisites of his office,
which were considerable at the first, and by such bounty
of the king as might hereafter, without noise or scandal,
be conferred on him in proper seasons and occurrences;
and [that he was] as far from affecting such an unlimited
power as he was believed afterwards to be possessed of,
(and of which no footsteps could ever be discovered in
any of his actions, or in any one particular that was the
effect of such power,) or that he did desire any other
extent of power than was agreeable to the great office he
held, and which had been enjoyed by most of those who
had been his predecessors in that trust.
79 The king had not been many weeks in England, when
the marquis of Ormond came to him with his usual
friendship, and asked him, "whether it would not be

348 The chancellor refuses Con. 79 —
now time to think of making a fortune, that he might
be able to leave to his wife and children, if he should
die?" And when he found that he was less sensible of
what he proposed than he expected, and that he only
answered, " that he knew not which way to go about it,"
the marquis told him, "that he thought he could com
mend a proper suit for him to make to the king ; and if
his modesty would not permit him to move the king for
himself, he would undertake to move it for him, and was
confident that the king would willingly grant it :" and
thereupon shewed him a paper, which contained the king's
just title to ten thousand acres of land in the Great Level
of the Fens, which would be of a good yearly value ; or
they, who were unjustly possessed of it, would be glad to
purchase the king's title with a very considerable sum of
money. And, in the end, he frankly told him, " that he
made this overture to him with the king's approbation,
who had been moved in it, and thought at the first sight,
out of his own goodness, that it might be fit for him, and
wished the marquis to propose it to him."
80 When the chancellor had extolled the king's gene
rosity, that he could, in so great necessities of his own,
think of dispensing so great a bounty upon a poor servant,
who was already recompensed beyond what he could be
ever able to deserve, he said, " that he knew very well
the king's title to that land, of which he was in possession
before the rebellion began, which the old and new ad
venturers now claimed by a new contract, confirmed by
an ordinance of parliament, which could not deprive the
crown of its right ; which all the adventurers (who for
the greatest part were worthy men) well knew, and would
for their own sakes not dispute, since it would inevitably
produce a new inundation, which all their unity and
consent in maintaining the banks would and could with
difficulty enough but prevent. That he would advise
his majesty to give all the countenance he could to the

— !_8o. a considerable offer of crown-lands. (1660.) 349
carrying on and perfecting that great work, which was
of great benefit as well as honour to the public, at the
charge of private gentlemen, who had paid dear for the
land they had recovered ; but that he would never advise
him to begin his reign with the alienation of such a parcel
of land from the crown to any one particular subject,
who could never bear the envy of it. That his majesty
ought to reserve that revenue to himself, which was
great, though less than it was generally reputed to be ;
at least till the value thereof should be clearly understood,
(and the detaining it in his own hands for some time
would be the best expedient towards the finishing all the
banks, when the season should be fit, which else would
be neglected by the discord among the adventurers,) and
the king knew what he gave. He must remember, that
he had two brothers," (for the duke of Gloucester was
yet alive,) " who were without any revenue, and towards
whom his bounty was to be first extended ; and that this
land would be a good ingredient towards an appanage for
them both. And that till they were reasonably provided
for, no private man in his wits would be the object of
any extraordinary bounty from the king, which would
unavoidably make him the object of an universal envy
and hatred. That, for his own part, he held by the king's
favour the greatest office of the kingdom in place ; and
though it was not near the value it was esteemed to be,
and that many other offices were more profitable, yet it
was enough for him, and would be a good foundation to
improve his fortune : so that," he said, " he had made a
resolution to himself, which he thought he should not
alter, not to make haste to be rich. That it was the
principal part or obligation of his office, to dissuade the
king from making any grants of such a nature, (except
where the necessity or convenience was very notorious,)
and even to stop those which should be made of that
kind, and not to suffer them to pass the seal, till he had

350 The chancellor declines being made Con. 80—
again waited upon the king, and informed him of the evil
consequence of those grants ; which discharge of his duty
could not but raise him many enemies, who should not
have that advantage, to say that he obstructed the king's
bounty towards other men, when he made it very profuse
towards himself. And therefore, that he would never
receive any crown-lands from the king's gift, and did not
wish to have any other honour or any advantage, but
what his office brought him, till seven years should pass ;
in which all the distractions of the kingdom might be
composed, and the necessities thereof so provided for,
that the king might be able, without hurting himself, to
exercise some liberality towards his servants who had
served him well." How he seemed to part from this
resolution in some particulars afterwards, and why he did
so, maybe collected out of what hath been truly set down
before.
81 When the marquis of Ormond had given the king a
large account of the conference between him and the
chancellor, and " that he absolutely refused to receive
that grant;" his majesty said, "he was a fool for his
labour, and that he would be much better in being en
vied than in being pitied." And though the inheritance
of those lands was afterwards given to the duke, yet there
were such estates granted for years to many particular
persons, most whereof had never merited by any service,
that half the value thereof never came to his highness.
82 As soon as the king and duke returned from Ports
mouth, where they had seen the queen embarked for
France, the king had appointed a chapter, for the elect
ing some knights of the garter into the places vacant.
Upon which the duke desired him " to nominate the
chancellor," which his majesty said " he would willingly
do, but he knew not whether it would be grateful to him ;
for he had refused so many things, that he knew not what
he would take ;" and therefore wished him " to take a

—82. a knight of the garter. (1661.) 351
boat to Worcester-house, and propose it to him, and he
would not go to the chapter till his highness returned."
The duke told the chancellor what had passed between
the king and him, and " that he was come only to know
his mind, and could not imagine but that such an honour
would please him." The chancellor, after a million of
humble acknowledgments of the duke's grace and of the
king's condescension, said, " that the honour was indeed
too great by much for him to sustain ; that there were
very many worthy men, who well remembered him of
their own condition, when he first entered into his father's
service, and believed that he was advanced too much be
fore them." He besought his highness. " that his favours
and protection mi^ht not expose him to envy, that would
D?eakT^ri tn pipfps " He asked " what knights the king
meant to make ;" the duke named them, all persons very
eminent : the chancellor said, " no man could except
against the king's choice ; many would justly, if he were
added to the number." He desired his highness " to put
the king in mind of the earl of Lindsey, lord high cham
berlain of England," (with whom he was known to have
no friendship ; on the contrary, that there had been dis
gusts between them in the last king's time ;) " that his
father had lost his life with the garter about his neck,
when this gentleman, his son, endeavouring to relieve
him, was taken prisoner ; that he had served the king to
the end of the war with courage and fidelity, being an
excellent officer : for all which, the king his father had
admitted him a gentleman of his bedchamber, which
office he was now without : and not to have the garter
now, upon his majesty's return, would in all men's eyes
look like a degradation, and an instance of his majesty's
disesteem ; especially if the chancellor should supply the
place, who was not thought his friend :" and, upon the
whole matter, entreated the duke " to reserve his favour
towards him for some other occasion, and excuse him to

352 Tlie chancellor unwillingly consents Con. 82 
the king for the declining this honour, which he could
not support." The duke replied, with an offended coun
tenance, " that he saw he would not accept any honour
from the king, that proceeded by his mediation ;" and so
left him in apparent displeasure. However, at that chap
ter the earl of Lindsey was created knight of the garter,
with the rest ; and coming afterwards to hear by what
chance it was, he ever lived with great civility towards
the chancellor to his death.
83 And when the chancellor afterwards complained to his
majesty " of his want of care of him, in his so easily grati
fying his brother in a particular that would be of so much
prejudice to him," and so enlarged upon the subject, and
put his majesty in mind of Solomon's interrogation, "Who
can stand against envy?" the king said no more, than
""that he did really oelieve, when he sent his brother,
that he would refuse it ;" and added, " I tell you, chan
cellor, that you are too strict and apprehensive in those
things ; and trust me, it is better to be envied than
pitied." The duke did not dissemble his resentment, and
told his wife, " that he took it very ill ; that he desired
that the world might take notice of his friendship to her
father, and that, after former unkindness, he was heartily
reconciled to him ; but that her father cared not to have
that believed, nor would have it believed that his interest
in the king was not enough, to have no need of good
offices from the duke :" which discourse he used likewise
to the marquis of Ormond and others, who he thought
would inform the chancellor of it. And the duchess was
much troubled at it, and took it unkindly of her father,
who thought himself obliged to wait upon his royal high
ness, and to vindicate himself from that folly he was
charged with ; in which he protested to him, " that he so
absolutely and entirely depended upon his protection, that
he would never receive any favour from the king, but by
his mediation and interposition :" to which the duke an-

¦8484. to be made an earl. (1661.) 353
swered, " that he should see whether he would have that
deference to him shortly."
84 And it was not long before the day for the coronation
was appointed, when the king had appointed to make
some barons, and to raise some who were barons to
higher degrees of honour ; most of whom were men
not very grateful, because they had been faulty, though
they had afterwards redeemed what was past, by having
performed very signal services to his majesty, and were
able to do him more : upon which the king had resolved
to confer those honours upon them, and in truth had
promised it to them, or to some of their friends, before he
came from beyond the seas. At this time the duke came to
the chancellor, and said, "he should now discover whether
lie would be as good as his word ;" and so gave him a
paper, which was a warrant under the king's sign manual
to the attorney general, to prepare a grant, by which tlie
chancellor should be created an earl. To which, upon
the reading, he began to make objections ; when the
duke said, "My lord, I have thought fit to give you
this earnest of my friendship ; you may reject it, if you
think fit ;" and departed. And the chancellor, upon
recollection, and conference with his two friends, the
treasurer and the marquis of Ormond, found he could
not prudently refuse it. And so, the day or two before
the coronation, he was with the others created an earl
by the king in the banqueting-house ; and, in the very
minute of his creation, had an earnest of the envy that
would ensue, in the murmurs of some, who were ancienter
barons, at the precedence given to him before them, of
which he was totally ignorant, it being resolved by the
king upon the place, and the view of the precedents
of all times, when any officers of state were created
with others. Yet one of the lords concerned swore in
the ears of two or three of his friends, at the same time,
" that he would be revenged for that affront ;" which
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. A a

354 The chancellor is urged to assume Con. 84-
related not to the chancellor's precedence, for the other
was no baron, but for the precedence given to another,
whom he thought his inferior, and imputed the partiality
to his power, who had not the least hand in it, nor knew
it before it was determined. Yet the other was as good
as his word, and took the very first opportunity that was
offered for his revenge.
85 I will add one instance more, sufficient, if the other were
away, to convince all men how far he was from being trans
ported with that ambition, of which he was accused, and for
which he was condemned. After the firm conjunction in
the royal family was notorious, and all the neighbour princes
had sent their splendid embassies of congratulation to the
king, and desired to renew all treaties with this crown,
and the parliament proceeded, how slowly soever, with
great duty and reverence towards the king; the mar
quis of Ormond (whom the king had by this time made
duke of Ormond) came one day to him, and, being in
private, said, " he came to speak to him of himself,
and to let him know, not only his own opinion, but the
opinion of his best friends, with whom he had often con
ferred upon the argu ment ; and that they all wondered,
that he so much affected the post he was in, as to con
tinue in the office of chanceflor. which took up most of
his time, especially -aU-ihe mornings, in bugngss that
many other men could discharge as wpII n,^TiP Whereas
he ought to leave that to such a man as he thought fit for
it, and to betake himself to that province which nobody
knew so well how to discharge. That the credit he had
with the king was known to all men, and that he did in
truth remit that province to him, which he would not
own, and could not discharge, by the multiplicity of the
business of his office, which was not of that moment.
That the king every day took less care of his affairs, and
affected those pleasures most, which made him averse
from the other. That he spent most of his time with

the character of prime minister. (1661.) 355
confident young men, who abhorred all discourse that
was serious, and, in the liberty they assumed in drollery
and raillery, preserved no reverence towards God or man,
but laughed at all sober men, and even at religion itself;
and that the custom of this license, that did yet only make
the king merry for the present, by degrees would grow
acceptable to him ; and that these men would by degrees
have the presumption (which yet they had not, nor would
he in truth then suffer it) to enter into his business, and
by administering to those excesses, to which his nature
and constitution most inclined him, would not only power
fully foment those inclinations, but intermeddle and ob
struct his most weighty counsels. That, for the prevention
of all this mischief, and the preserving the excellent nature
and understanding of'Qhe king from being corrupted by
such lewd instruments, who had only a scurrilous kind of
wit to procure laughter, but had no sense of religion, or
reverence for the laws ;*)there was no remedy in view, but
his giving up his office, and betaking himself wholly to
wait upon the person of the king, and to be with him in
those seasons, when that loose people would either abstain
from coming, or, if they were present, would not have the
confidence to say or do those things which they had been
accustomed to do before the king. By this means, he
would firid frpq^PTit opportunities to inform th^-Hmj of
the r.rewo4a,tp nf hjp affairs, anr| the danger he incurred,
by not throughly understanding them, and by being
thought to be nepligefit in t.hp rintips— n* rnljgiorj^and
settling the distractions in the church ; at least, he
would do some good in all these particulars, or keep
the license from spreading further, which in time it
would do, to the robbing him of the hearts of his
peopled That the king, from the long knowleclge of
his fidelity, and jfche esteem he had of his virtue, re
ceived any advertisements and animadversions, and even
suffered reprehensions, from him, better than from any
?*•'" A a 2

356 The chancellor declines Con. 85-
other man ; therefore he would be able to do much
good, and to deserve more than ever he had done from
the whole kingdom. And he did verily [believe] that
this would be acceptable to the king himself, who knew
he could not enough [attend to] the many things, which,
being left undone, must much disorder the whole machine
of his government, or, being ill done, would in time dis
solve it ; and that his majesty would assign such a liberal
allowance for this service, that he should find himself well
rewarded, and a great gainer by accepting it and putting
off his office."
86 He concluded, " that was the desire and advice of all
his friends; and that the duke was so far of the same
judgment, that he resolved to be very instant with him
upon it, and only wished that he should first break the
matter to him, that he might not be surprised when his
royal highness entered upon the discourse." And he
added, " that this province must inevitably -at last be
committed to some one man, who probably would be
without that affection to the king's person, that expe
rience in affairs, and that knowledge of the laws and con
stitution of the kingdom, as all men knew to be in the
chancellor."
87 When the marquis had ended, with the warmth of
friendship which was superior to any temptation, and in
which no man ever excelled him, nor delivered what he
had a mind to say more clearly, or with a greater weight
of words ; the chancellor said, " that he did not much
wonder that many of his friends, who had not the oppor
tunity to know him enough, and who might propose to
themselves some. benefit from his unlimited greatness,
might in truth, out of their partiality to him, and by their
not knowing the king's nature, believe, that his wariness
and integrity, and his knowledge of the constitution of
the government and the nature of the people, would con
duct the king's counsels in such a way as would lead best

the office of prime minister. (1661.) 357
to his power and greatness, and to the good and happiness
of the nation, which would be the only secure support of
his power and authority. But that he, who knew both
the king and him so well, that no man living- knew either
of them so well, should be of that opinion he had ex
pressed, was matter of admiration and surprisal to him."
He appealed to him, " how often he had heard him say
to the king in France, Germany, and Flanders, when they
two took all the pains they could to fix the king's mind
to a lively sense of his condition ; that he must not think
now to recover his three kingdoms by the dead title of
his descent and right, which had been so notoriously
baffled and dishonoured, but by the reputation of his vir
tue, courage, piety, and industry; that all these virtues
must centre in himself, for that his fate depended upon
his person ; and Hhat the English nation would sooner
submit to the government of Cromwell, than to any other
subject who should be thought to govern the king. That
England would not bear a favourite, nor any one man,
who should out of his ambition engross to himself the
disposal of the public affairs."^
88 He said, " he was more now of the same mind, and was
confident that no honest man, of a competent understand
ing, would undertake that province ; and that for his own
part, if a gallows were erected, and if he had only the choice
to be hanged or to execute that office, he would rather
submit to the first than the last. In the one, he should
end his life with the reputation of an honest man ; in the
btherThe should die_with disgrace_and infamy, let his in-
nocehce be what it would." He put the marquis in mind,
''now far the king was from observing the rules he had
prescribed to himself before he came from beyond the
seas; and_wn,ri "in t^tnl'y ""^"^ frnm h™ "nsinpss and
addicted to pleasures, that the people_generally_ began to
tak^~Trotice"^I!jt7^hat there was little care taken to re
gulate expenses, even when he was absolutely without

358 The chancellor's reasons for declmiaig Con. 88
supply ; that he would on a sudden be overwhelmed with
such debts, as would disquiet him, and dishonour his
counsels ;" of which the lord treasurer was so sensible, that ,
he was already weary of his staff, before it had been in
his hands three months. " That the confidence the king
harMn himT besides the asSUr^fP Iip had nf his intflnrrir.y
and industry, proceeded more from his aversion to be
troublecLivTtiTtbe intricacies 6T his~ah:airs, than from any
violence of affection, which was not so fixed in his nature
as to be like totransporc him to any one person-: and

that as he could not, in so short a time, be acquainted
with many men, whom in his judgment he could prefer
before the chancellor for the managery of his business,
who had been so long acquainted with it ; so he would,
in a short time, be acquainted with many, who would, by
finding fault with all that was done, be thought much
wiser men ; it being one of his majesty's greatest in
firmities, that he was apt to think too well of men at the
first or second sight."
89 He said, " whilst he kept the office he had, (which
could better bear the envy of the bulk of the affairs than
any other qualification could,) and that it supported him
in the execution of it, the king felt not the burden of it ;
because little of the profit of it proceeded out of his own
purse, and, if he were dead to-morrow, the place still
must be conferred upon another. Whereas, if he gave
over that administration, and had nothing to rely upon
for the support of himself and family, but an extra
ordinary pension out of .the exchequer, under no other
title or pretence but off being first minister, (a title so
newly translated out of French into English, that it was
not enough understood to be liked, and every man would
detest it for the burden it was attended with/) the king
himself, who was not by nature immoderately inclined to
give, would be quickly weary of so chargeable an officer,
and be very willing to be freed from the reproach of being

the office of prime minister. (.1661.) 359
governed by any, (the very suspicion whereof he doth ex
ceedingly abhor,) at the price and charge of the man who
had been raised by him to that inconvenient height above
other men. That whilst he had that seal, he could have
admission to his majesty as often as he desired, because it
was more ease to receive an account of his business from
him, than to be present at the whole debate of it ; and he
well knew, the chancellor had too much business to desire
audiences from his majesty without necessary reason. But
if the nffif>p wbtb in n.Tinr,hftr na.nd, and hp shnn Id-haunt
his presence with the same importunity as a. spy upon his
pleasures, and a distilir"^ "f *"p jnllitips nf hk_mppting.g ;
his majesty would qninVly be nnr"fQntr,rl ™"fl1 hia "/"1r,pnny,
which for the present he liked in some seasons ; and they,
who for the present had submitted to some constraint by
the gravity of his countenance, would quickly discover
that their talents were more acceptable, and by degrees
make him appear grievous to his majesty, and soon after
ridiculous. That all his hope was, that the king would
shortly find some lady fit to be his wife, which all honest
men ought to persuade him to, and that being married,
he made no doubt he would decline many of those de
lights to which he was yet exposed, and which exposed
him too much ; and till that time he could not think that
his best servants could enjoy any pleasant lives. That he
presumed the parliament would, after they had raised
money enough to disband the armies, and to pay off the
seamen," (towards both which somewhat was every day
done, and both which amounted to an incredible and in
supportable charge,) "settle such a revenue upon the crown,
as the king might conform his expense to ; and that it
should not be in any body's power to make that revenue
be esteemed by him to be greater than in truth it would
be. That when these two things should be brought to
pass, he did hope, that the king would take pleasure in
making himself master of every part of his business, and

360 Commissioners are sent to the king. Con. 89-
not charge any one man with a greater share of it than he
can discharge, or than will agree with his own dignity and
honour. In the mean time," he besought the marquis,
" that he would convert the duke of York and all other
persons from that opinion, which could not but appear er
roneous to himself, by the reasons he had heard ; and that
if he could be brought to consent to what had been pro
posed to him, (and which rather than he would do, he
would suffer a thousand deaths,) as it would inevitably
prove his own ruin and destruction, so it would bring an
irreparable damage to the king." And therefore he con
jured him " to invite the king by his own example, and by
assuming his own share of the work," which for some time
he had declined since the return into England ; " and by
being himself constantly with his majesty, to whom he
was acceptable at all hours, he would obstruct the opera
tion of that ill company, which neither knew how to be
have themselves, nor could reasonably propose so much
benefit to themselves, as by the propagation of their follies
and villanies, and by degrees induce his majesty more pro-
portionably to mingle his business with his pleasures, which
he could not yet totally abandon."
90 The marquis could not deny, but that many of the
reasons alleged by the chancellor were of that weight
as ought to prevail with him ; and therefore forbore ever
after to press him upon the same particular. And the
duke of York shortly undertook a conference with him
upon the same argument, upon which the other durst not
enlarge with the same freedom as he had done to the
marquis ; both because his eyes could not bear the pro
spect of so many things at once, as likewise that he knew
he communicated with some persons, who, whatever they
pretended, had nothing like good affection for him: so
that he rather pacified his royal highness upon that sub
ject, and diverted him from urging it, than satisfied him
with his grounds. And others who wished well to him,

 92. The state of Scotland. (1661.) 361
and better to the public, acquiesced with his peremptory
resolution, without believing that he resolved well either
for his own particular or the king's affairs ; and did always
think that he might have prevented his own fate, if he had
at that time submitted to the judgment of his best friends ;
though himself remained so positive to the contrary, that
he often said, " that he would not have redeemed himself
by that expedient ; and that he could never have borne
that fate with that tranquillity of mind, which God enabled
him to do, if he had passed to it through that province."
91 Whilst the general affairs of England, by the long de
bates in parliament, remained thus unsettled, the king
was no less troubled and perplexed how to compose his
two other kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland ; from both
which there were several persons of the best condition
of either kingdom sent, with the tender and presentation
of their allegiance to his majesty, and expected his imme
diate direction to free them from the distractions they
were in ; and by taking the government upon himself,
into his own hands, to be freed from those extraordinary
commissions, under which they had been both governed
with a rod of iron by the late powers ; the shifting of
which from one faction to another had administered no
kind of variety to them, but they had remained still
under the same full extent of tyranny.
92 The whole frame of the ancient government of Scotland
had been so entirely confounded by Cromwell, and new
modelled by the laws and customs of England, that is,
those laws and customs which the commonwealth had
established ; that he had hardly left footsteps by which
the old might be traced out again. The power of the
nobility was so totally suppressed and extinguished, that
their persons found no more respect or distinction from
the common people, than the acceptation they found
from Cromwell, and the credit he gave them by some
particular trust, drew to them. Their beloved presbytery

362 State of Scotland. Con. 92-
was become a term of reproach, and ridiculous ; the pride
and activity of their preachers subdued, and reduced to
the lowest contempt ; and the standard of their [religion]
remitted to the sole order and direction of their com
mander in chief. All criminal cases (except where the
general thought it more expedient to proceed by martial
law) were tried and punished before judges sent from
England, and by the laws of England ; and matters of
civil interest before itinerant judges, who went twice a
year in circuits through the kingdom, and determined all
matters of right by the rules and customs which were
observed in England. They had liberty to send a par
ticular number, that was assigned to them, to sit in the
parliament of England, and to vote there with all liberty ;
which they had done. And in recompense thereof, all
such monies were levied in Scotland, as were given by
the parliament of England, by which such contributions
were raised, as were proportionable to the expense, which
the army and garrisons which subdued them put the king
dom of England to. Nor was there any other authority
to raise money in Scotland, but what was derived from
the parliament or general of England.
93 And all this prodigious mutation and transformation
had been submitted to with the same resignation and
obedience, as if the same had been transmitted by an
uninterrupted succession from king Fergus : and it might
well be a question, whether the generality of the nation
was not better contented with it, than to return into the
old road of subjection. But the king would not build
according to Cromwell's models, and had many reasons
to continue Scotland within its own limits and bounds,
and sole dependance upon himself, rather than unite it
to England, with so many hazards and dangers as would
inevitably have accompanied it, under any government
less tyrannical than that of Cromwell. And the reset
tling that kingdom was to be done with much less diffi-

 94- Of the earl of Selkirk. (1661.) 363
culty than the other of Ireland, by reason that all who
appeared concerned in it or for it, as a committee for
that kingdom, were**united between themselves, and did,
or did pretend to desire the same things. They all ap
peared under the protection and recommendation of the
general ; and their dependance was the more upon him,
because he still commanded those garrisons and forces in
Scotland which kept them to their obedience. And he
was the more willing to give them a testimony of their
affection to the king, and that without their help he
could not have been able to have marched into England
against Lambert, that they might speak the more con
fidently, " that they gave him that assistance, because
they were well assured that his intention was to serve
the king :" whereas they did indeed give him only what
they could not keep from him, nor did they know any of
his intentions, or himself at that time intend any thing
for the king. But it is very true, they were all either
men who had merited best from the king, or had suffered
most for him, or at least had acted least against him,
and (which they looked upon as the most valuable quali
fication) they were all, or pretended to be, the most im
placable enemies to the marquis of Argyle ; which was
the " shibboleth" by which the affections of that whole
nation were best distinguished.
94 The chief of the commissioners was the lord Selkirk, a
younger son of the marquis of Douglass, who had been
known to the king in France, where he had been bred a
Roman catholic, which was the religion of his family, but
had returned into Scotland after it had been subdued by
Cromwell ; and being a very handsome young man, was
easily converted from the religion of his father, in which
he had been bred, to that of his elder brother the earl of
Angus, that he might marry the daughter and heir of
James duke Hamilton, who from the battle of Worcester,
where her uncle duke William was killed, had inherited

364 Of the earl of Glencarne. Con. 94-
the title of duchess, with the fair seat of Hamilton, and
all the lands which belonged to her father. And her
husband now, according to the custom of Scotland, as
sumed the same title with her, and appeared in the head
of the commissioners under the style of duke Hamilton,
with the merit of having never disserved the king, and
with the advantage of whatsoever his wife could claim by
the death of her father, which deserved to wipe out the
memory of whatever had been done amiss in his life.
95 The earl of Glencarne was another of the commission
ers, a man very well born and bred, and of very good
parts. As he had rendered himself very acceptable to
the king, during his being in Scotland, by his very good
behaviour towards him, so even after that fatal blow at
Worcester he did not dissemble his affection to his ma
jesty ; but withdrawing himself into the Highlands, during
the time that Cromwell remained in Scotland, he sent
over an express to assure the king of his fidelity, and that
he would take the first opportunity to serve him. And
when upon his desire Middleton was designed to com
mand there, he first retired into the Highlands, and drew
a body of men together to receive him. He was a man
of honour, and good principles as well with reference to
the church as to the state, which few others, even of
those which now appeared most devoted to the king,
avowed to be ; for the presbytery was yet their idol.
From the time that he had received a protection and
safeguard from general Monk, after there was little hope
of doing good by force, he lived quietly at his house, and
was more favoured by the general than any of those
who spoke most loudly against the king, and was most
trusted by him when he was at Berwick upon his march
into England ; and was now presented by him to the
king, as a man worthy of his trust in an eminent post
of that kingdom.
96 With these there were others of less name, but of good

—*r-s)6. Of the earl of Lautherdale. (1661.) 865
affections and abilities, who came together from Scotland
as commissioners ; but they found others in London as
well qualified to do their country service, and whose
names were wisely inserted in their commission by those
who assumed the authority to send the other. The earl
of Lautherdale, who had been very eminent in contriving
and carrying on the king's service, when his majesty was
crowned in Scotland, and thereby had wrought himself
into a very particular esteem with the king, had marched
with him into England, and behaved himself well at
Worcester, where he was taken prisoner ; had, besides
that merit, the suffering an imprisonment from that very
time with some circumstances of extreme rigour, being a
man against whom Cromwell had always professed a more
than ordinary animosity. And though the scene of his
imprisonment had been altered, according to the altera
tion of the governments which succeeded, yet he never
found himself in complete liberty, till the king was pro
claimed by the parliament, and then he thought it not
necessary to repair into Scotland for authority or recom
mendation ; but sending his advice thither to his friends,
he made haste to transport himself with the parliament
commissioners to the Hague, where he was very well
received by the king, and left nothing undone on his part
that might cultivate those old inclinations, being a man
of as much address and insinuation, in which that nation
excels, as was then amongst them. He applied himself
to those who were most trusted by the king with a mar
vellous importunity, and especially to the chancellor, with
whom, as often as they had ever been together, he had a
perpetual war. He now magnified his constancy with
loud elogiums, as well to his face as behind his back ;
remembered " many sharp expressions formerly used by
the chancellor, which he confessed had then made him
mad, though upon recollection afterwards he had found
them to be very reasonable." He was very polite in all

366 Many offices in Scotland disposed of. Con. 96
his discourses ; called himself and his nation "a thousand
traitors and rebels ;" and in his discourses frequently said,
" When I was a traitor," or " When I was in rebellion ;"
and seemed not equally delighted with any argument, as
when he scornfully spake of the covenant, upon which he
brake a hundred jests. In sum, all his discourses were
such as pleased all the company, who commonly believed
all he said, and concurred with him. He renewed his
old acquaintance and familiarity with Middleton, by all
the protestations of friendship ; assured him " of the una
nimous desire of Scotland to be under his command ;"
and declared to the king, "that he could not send any
man into Scotland, who would be able to do hirf so much
service in the place of commissioner as Middleton ; and
that it was in his majesty's power to unite that whole
kingdom to his service as one man." All which pleased
the king well : so that, by the time that the commission
ers appeared at London, upon some old promise in Scot
land, or new inclination upon his long sufferings, which
he magnified enough, the king gave him the signet, and
declared him to be secretary of state of that kingdom ;
and at the same time declared that Middleton should be
his commissioner ; the earl of Glencarne his chancellor ;
the earl of Rothes, who was likewise one of the commis
sioners, and his person very agreeable to the king, pre
sident of the council ; and conferred all other inferior
offices upon men most notable for their affection to the
old government of church and state.
97 And the first proposition that the commissioners made
after their meeting together, and before they entered
upon debate of the public, was, " that his majesty would
add to the council of Scotland, which should reside near
his person, the chancellor and treasurer of England, the
general, the marquis of Ormond, and secretary Nicholas,
who should be always present when any thing should be
debated and resolved concerning that kingdom :" which

—5-98. The marquis of Argyle is sent to the Tower. (1661.) 367
desire, so different from any that had been in times past,
persuaded the king that their intentions were very sin
cere. Whatever appearance there was of unity amongst
them, for there was nothing like contradiction, there was a
general dislike by them all of the power Lautherdale had
with the king, who they knew pressed many things with
out communication with them, as he had prevailed that
the earl of Crawford Lindsey should continue in the
office he formerly had of being high treasurer of that
kingdom, though he was known to be a man incorrigible
in his zeal for the presbytery, and all the madness of
kirk, and not firm to other principles upon which the
authority of the crown must be established ; so that they
could not so much as consult in his presence of many
particulars of the highest moment and importance to the
public settlement. Yet his having behaved himself well
towards the king, whilst he was in that kingdom, and his
having undergone great persecution under Cromwell, and
professing now all obedience to his majesty, prevailed
that he should not be displaced upon his majesty's first
entrance upon his government, but that a new occasion
should be attended to, which was in view, and when the
king resolved, without communicating his purpose to
Lautherdale, to confer that office upon Middleton, when
he should have proceeded the first stage in his commis
sion ; and of this his resolution he was graciously pleased
to inform him.
98 The marquis of Argyle, (without mentioning of whom
there can hardly be any mention of Scotland,) though he
was not of this fraternity, yet thought he could tell as
fair a story for himself as any of the rest, and contribute
as much to the king's absolute power in Scotland. And
therefore he had no sooner unquestionable notice of the
king's being in London, but he made haste thither with
as much confidence as the rest. But the commissioners,
who were before him, wrought so far with the king, that

368 Character of ihe marquis of Argyle : Con. 99
in the very minute of his arrival he was arrested by a
warrant under the king's hand, and carried to the Tower,
upon a charge of high treason.
99 He was a man like Drances in Virgil,
Largus opum, et lingua melior, sed frigida bello
Dextera, consiliis habitus non futilis auctor,
Seditione potens.
Without doubt he was a person of extraordinary cunning,
well bred ; and though, by the ill-placing of his eyes, he
did not appear with any great advantage at first sight, yet
he reconciled even those who had aversion to him very
strangely by a little conversation : insomuch as after so
many repeated indignities (to say no worse) which he had
put upon the late king, and when he had continued the
same affronts to the present king, by hindering the Scots
from inviting him, and as long as was possible kept him
from being received by them ; when there was no remedy,
and that he was actually landed, no man paid him so
much reverence and outward respect, and gave so good
an example to all others, with what veneration their king
ought to be treated, as the marquis of Argyle did, and in
a very short time made himself agreeable and acceptable
to him. His wit was pregnant, and his humour gay and
pleasant, except when he liked not the company or the
argument. And though he never consented to any one
thing of moment, which the king asked of him ; and even
in those seasons in which he was used with most rudeness
by the clergy, and by some barbarity by his son the lord
Lome, whom he had made captain of his majesty's guard,
to guard him from his friends, and from all who he desired
should have access to him, the marquis still had that
address, that he persuaded him all was for the best. When
the other faction prevailed, in which there were likewise
crafty managers, and that his counsels were commonly
rejected, he carried himself so, that they who hated him
most were willing to compound with him, and that his

he is sent into Scotland to be tried. (1661.) 369
majesty should not withdraw his countenance from him.
But he continued in all his charges, and had a very great
party in that parliament that was most devoted to serve
the king ; so that his majesty was often put to desire his
help to compass what he desired. He did heartily oppose
the king's marching with his army into England ; the ill
success whereof made many men believe afterwards, that
he had more reasons for the counsels he gave, than they
had who were of another opinion. And the king was so far
from thinking him his enemy, that when it was privately
proposed to him by those he trusted most, that he might
be secured from doing hurt when the king was marched
into England, since he was so much against it ; his ma
jesty would by no means consent to it, but parted with
him very graciously, as with one he expected good service
from. All which the commissioners well remembered,
and were very unwilling that he should be again admitted
into his presence, to make his own excuses for any thing
he could be charged with. And his behaviour afterwards,
and the good correspondence he had kept with Cromwell,
but especially some confident averments of some parti
cular words or actions which related to the murder of his
father, prevailed with his majesty not to speak with him ;
which he laboured by many addresses, in petitions to the
king, and letters to some of those who were trusted by
him, which were often presented by his wife and his son,
and in which he only desired " to speak with the king or
with some of those lords," pretending, "that he should
inform and communicate somewhat that would highly
concern his majesty's service." But the king not vouch
safing to admit him to his presence, the English lords
had no mind to have any conference with a man who had
jso dark a character, or to meddle in an affair that must
be examined and judged by the laws of Scotland : and
so it was resolved, that the marquis of Argyle should be
sent by sea into Scotland, to be tried before the parlia-
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. B b

370 Lautherdale artfully obstructs the reeslablishment Con. 99-
ment there when the commissioner should arrive, who
was despatched thither with the rest of the lords, as soon
as the seals and other badges of their several offices could
be prepared. And what afterwards became of the mar
quis is known to all men ; as it grew quickly to appear,
that what bitterness soever the earl of Lautherdale had
expressed towards him in his general discourses, he had
in truth a great mind to have preserved him, and so kept
such a pillar of presbytery against a good occasion ; which
was not then suspected by the rest of the commissioners.
100 The lords of the English council, who were appointed
to sit with the Scots, met with them to consult upon the
instructions which were to be given to the king's com
missioner, who was now created earl of Middleton. The
Scots seemed all resolute and impatient to vindicate their
country from the infamy of delivering up the last king,
(for all things relating to the former rebellion had been
put in oblivion by his late majesty's act of indemnity, at
his last being in Scotland,) and strictly to examine who of
that nation had contributed to his murder, of which they
were confident Argyle would be found very guilty. Mid
dleton was very earnest, " that he might, for the humilia
tion of the preachers, and to prevent any unruly proceed
ing of theirs in their assembly, begin with rescinding the
act of the covenant, and all other acts which had invaded
the king's power ecclesiastical, and then proceed to the
erecting of bishops in that kingdom, according to the an
cient institution :" and with him Glencarne, Rothes, and
all the rest (Lautherdale only excepted) concurred ; and
averred, " that it would be very easily brought to pass,
because the tyrannical proceedings of the assemblies and
their several presbyteries had so far incensed persons of
all degrees, that not only the nobility, gentry, and com
mon people, would be glad to be freed from them, but
that the most learned and best part of the ministers de
sired the same, and to be subject again to the bishops ;

-102. of episcopacy in Scotland. (1661.) 371
and that there would be enough found of the Scots clergy,
very worthy and very willing to supply those charges."
101 Lautherdale, with a passion superior to the rest, in
veighed against the covenant ; called it " a wicked, trai
torous combination of rebels against their lawful sovereign,
and expressly against the laws of their own country ; pro
tested his own hearty repentance for the part he had acted
in the promotion thereof, and that he was confident that
God, who was witness of his repentance, had forgiven him
that foul sin : that no man there had a greater reverence
for the government by bishops than he himself had ; and
that he was most confident, that the kingdom of Scotland
could never be happy in itself, nor ever be reduced to a
perfect submission and obedience to the king, till the epi
scopal government was again established there. The scru
ple that only remained with him, and which made him
differ with his brethren, was, of the manner how it should
be attempted, and of the time when it should be endea
voured to be brought to pass." And then with his usual
warmth, when he thought it necessary to be warm, (for at
other times he could be as calm as any man, though not
so naturally,) he desired, " that the commissioner might
have no instruction for the present to make any approach
towards either; on the contrary, that he might be re
strained from it by his majesty's special direction: for
though his own prudence, upon the observation he should
quickly make when he came thither, would restrain him
from doing any thing which might be inconvenient to his
majesty's service ; yet without that he would hardly be
able to restrain others, who for want of understanding, or
out of ill-will to particular men, might be too forward to
set such a design on foot."
102 He desired, " that in the first session of parliament no
further attempt might be made, than in pursuance of
what had been first mentioned, the vindicating their coun
try from all things which related to the murder of the late
B b 2

372 Lautherdale artfully obstructs the establishment Con. 102 
king, which would comprehend the delivery up of his per
son, the asserting the king's royal power, by which all fu
ture attempts towards rebellion would be prevented, and
the trial of the marquis of Argyle ; all which would take
up more time than parliaments in that kingdom, till the
late ill times, had used to continue together. That after
the expiration of the first session, in which a good judg
ment might be made of the temper of that kingdom, and
the commissioner's prudence might have an influence upon
many leading men to change their present temper, such
further advance might be made for the reformation of the
kirk as his majesty should judge best ; and then he made
no doubt, but all would by degrees be compassed in that
particular which could be desired, and which was the more
resolutely to be desired, because he still confessed that the
king could not be secure, nor the kingdom happy, till the
episcopal government could be restored. But he under
took to know so well the nature of that people," (though
he had not been in that kingdom since his majesty left it,)
" that if it were undertaken presently, or without due cir
cumstances in preparing more men than could in a short
time be done, it would not only miscarry, but with it his
majesty be^disappointed of many of the other particulars,
which he would'otherwise be sure to obtain."
103 He namedfmany of the nobility and leading men, who
he said, " were still so infatuated with the covenant, that
they|would with equal patience hear of the rejection of
the four Evangelists, who yet, by conversation, and other
information, and application, might in time be wrought
upon." He frequently appealed to the king's own memory
and observation, when he was in that kingdom, " how su
perstitious they who were most devoted to do him service,
and were at his disposal in all things, were towards the
covenant : that all they did for him, which was all that
he desired them to do, was looked upon as the effects of
those obligations which the covenant had laid upon them."

of episcopacy in Scotland. (1661.) 373
He appealed to the general, (who, he said, knew Scotland
better than any one man of that nation could pretend to
do,) whether he thought this a proper season to attempt
so great a change in that kingdom, before other more
pressing acts were compassed ; and whether he did not
know, that the very pressing the obligations in the cove
nant lately in England had not contributed very much to
the restoration of the king, which the London ministers
confidently urged at present as an argument for his indul
gence towards them. " And," he said, " though he well
knew that his majesty was fully resolved to maintain the
government of the church of England in its full lustre,
(which he thanked God for, being in his judgment the
best government ecclesiastical in the world,) yet he could
not but observe, that the king's prudence had yet forborne
to make any new bishops, and had upon the matter sus
pended the English Liturgy by not enjoining it, out of
indulgence to dissenters, and to allow them time to con
sider, and to be well informed and instructed in those
forms, which had been for so many years rejected or dis
continued, that the people in general and many ministers
had never seen or heard it used : so that the presbyterians
here remained still in hope of his majesty's favour and
condescension, that they should be permitted to continue
their own forms, or no forms, in their devotions and pub
lic worship of God. In consideration of all which, he
thought it very incongruous, and somewhat against his
majesty's dignity, suddenly and with precipitation to begin
and attempt such an alteration in Scotland, against a go
vernment that had more antiquity there, and was more
generally submitted to and accepted, than it had been in
England, before he himself had declared his own judgment
against it in this kingdom ; which he presumed he would
shortly do, and which would be the best introduction to
the same in Scotland, where all the king's actions and de
terminations would be looked upon with the highest ve^.
neration."

374 Lautherdale 's real intention in reference to episcopacy Con. 104-
104 He concluded, " that if the other more vigorous course
should be resolved upon, the marquis of Argyle would be
very glad of it ; for though he was generally odious to all
degrees of men, yet he was not so much hated as the
covenant was beloved and worshipped : and that when
they should discern that they must be deprived of that,
they would rather desire to preserve both. And there
fore," he said, " his advice still was, that he should be
first out of the way, who was looked upon as the up
holder of the covenant and the chief pillar of the kirk,
before any visible attempt should be made against the
other, which would assuredly be done by degrees."
105 Many particulars in this discourse confidently urged,
and with more advantage of elocution than the fatness
of his tongue, that ever filled his mouth, usually was
attended with, seemed reasonable to many, and worthy
to be answered ; and his frequent appeals to the king,
in which there were always some ridiculous instances of
the use made of the covenant, with reference to the
power of the preachers in the domestic affairs of other
men, and the like, (which, though it made it the more
odious, was still an argument of the reverence that was
generally paid to it, all which instances were well re
membered by the king, who commonly added others of
the same standard from his own memory,) made his
majesty in suspense, or rather inclined that nothing
should be attempted that concerned the kirk, till the
next session of parliament, when Lautherdale himself
confessed it might be securely effected. To this the
general seemed to incline, not a little moved by what
had been said of Argyle, to whom he was no friend,
but much more by the disadvantage which might arise,
by a precipitate proceeding in Scotland, to the presby-
terian party here, and especially to the preachers, to
whom he wished well for his wife's sake, or rather for
his own peace with his wife, who was deeply engaged
to that people for their seasonable determination of

-1-106, discovered by Middleton. (1661.) 375
some nice cases of conscience, whereby he had been
induced to repair a trespass he had committed, by
marrying her ; which was an obligation never to be
forgotten.
106 Middleton, and most of the Scots lords, were highly
offended by the presumption of Lautherdale, in under
taking to know the spirit and disposition of a kingdom
which he had not seen in ten years; and easily dis
cerned that his affected raillery and railing against the
covenant, and his magnifying episcopal government, were
but varnish to cover the rottenness of his intentions,
till he might more securely and efficaciously manifest
his affection to the one, and his malignity to the other.
They contradicted positively all that he had said of
the temper and affections of Scotland, and named many
of those lords, who had been mentioned by him as the
most zealous assertors of the covenant, " who," they un
dertook, "should, upon the first opportunity, declare
their abomination of it to the world ; whereof they
knew there were some who had written against it, and
were resolved to publish it as soon as they might do it
with safety." They advised his majesty, that he would
not choose to do his business by halves, when he might
with more security do it all together, and the di
viding it would make both the more difficult. How
ever," they besought him, " to put no such restraint, as
had been so much pressed, upon his commissioner, that
though he should find the parliament most inclined to
do that now, which every body confessed necessary to
be done at some time, he should not accept their good
will, but hinder them from pursuing it, as very ungrate
ful to the king ; which," they said, " would be a greater
countenance to, and confirmation of, the covenant, than
it had ever yet received, and a greater wound to epi
scopacy." And that indeed was consented to by all.
And thereupon the king resolved to put nothing like

376 The state of Ireland : commissioners Con. 106
restraint upon his commissioner from effecting that he
wished might be done to-morrow if it could be, but to
leave it entirely to his prudence to judge of the con
juncture, with caution " not to permit it to be attempted,
if he saw it would be attended with any ill consequence
or hazard to his service." And so the commissioner,
with the other officers for Scotland, were dismissed to
their full content; and therewith the king was at pre
sent eased, by having separated one very important affair
from the crowd of the rest, which remained to perplex
him.
107 That in Ireland was much more intricate, and the in
tricacy in many respects so involved, that nobody had a
mind to meddle with it. The chancellor had made it his
humble suit to the king, " that no part of it might ever
be referred to him ;" and the duke of Ormond (who was
most concerned in his own interest that all men's interests
in that kingdom might be adjusted, that he might enjoy
his, which was the greatest of all the rest) could not see
any light in so much darkness, that might lead him to
any beginning. The king's interest had been so totally
extinguished in that kingdom for many years past, that
there was no person of any consideration there, who pre
tended to wish that it were revived. At Cromwell's
death, and at the deposition of Richard, his younger son
Harry was invested in the full authority, by being lieu
tenant of Ireland. The two presidents of the two pro
vinces, were the lord Broghill in that of Munster, and sir
Charles Coote in that of Connaught ; both equally de
pending upon the lieutenant : and they more depended
upon him and courted his protection, by their not loving
one another, and being of several complexions and con
stitutions, and both of a long aversion to the king by
multiplications of guilt. When Richard was thrown out,
the supreme power of the militia was vested in Ludlow,
and all the civil jurisdiction in persons who had been

from the different parties. (1661.) 377
judges of the king, and possessed ample fortunes, which
they could no longer hold than their authority should be
maintained. But the two presidents remained in their se
veral provinces with their full power, either because they
had not deserved to be suspected, or because they could
not easily be removed, being still subject to the commis
sioners at Dublin. The next change of government re
moved Ludlow and the rest of that desperate crew, and
committed the government to others of more moderate
principles, yet far enough from wishing well to the king.
In those revolutions sir Charles Coote took an opportunity
to send an express to the king, who was then at Brussels,
with the tender of his obedience, with great cautions as
to the time of appearing ; only desired " to have such
commissions in his hands as might be applied to his ma
jesty's service in a proper conjuncture ;" which were sent
to him, and never made use of by him. He expressed
great jealousy of Broghill, and an unwillingness that he
should know of his engagement. And the alterations
succeeded so fast one upon another, that they both chose
-rather to depend upon general Monk than upon the king,
imagining, as they said afterwards, "that he intended
nothing but the king's restoration, and best knew how to
effect it." And by some private letter, for there was no
order sent, to Coote and some other officers there, " that
they would adhere to his army for the service of the par
liament against Lambert," Coote found assistance to seize
upon the castle of Dublin, and the persons of those who
were in authority, who were imprisoned by them, and the
government settled in that manner as they thought most
agreeable to the presbyterian humour, until the general
was declared lieutenant of Ireland, who then, sent com
missioners to the same persons, who, as soon as the king
was proclaimed, sent their commissioners to the king,
who were called commissioners from the state, and brought
a present of: money to the king from the same, with, all

378 Commissioners from the Con. 108-
professions of duty which could be expected from the
best subjects.
108 These were the lord Broghill, sir Audly Mervin, sir
John Clotworthy, and several other persons of quality,
much the greater number whereof had been always no
torious for the disservice they had done the king; but
upon the advantage of having been discountenanced, and
suffered long imprisonment and other damages, under
Cromwell, they called themselves the king's party, and
brought expectations with them to be looked upon and
treated as such. Amongst them was a brother, and other
friends, made choice of and more immediately trusted by
sir Charles Coote, who remained in the castle of Dublin,
and presided in that council that supplied the government,
and was thought to have the best interest in the army as
well as in his own province. " And these men," he said,
" had been privy to the service he meant to have done
the king, and expected the performance of several pro
mises he had then made them by virtue of some authority
had been sent to him to assure those, who should join
with him to do his majesty service." All these commis
sioners from the state had instructions, to which they
were to conform in desiring nothing from the king, but
" the settling his own authority amongst them, the order
ing the army, the reviving the execution of the laws, and
settling the courts of justice," (all which had been dis
solved in the late usurpation,) " and such other parti
culars as purely related to the public." And their public
addresses were to this and no other purpose. But then
to their private friends, and such as they desired to make
their friends, most of them had many pretences of merit,
and many expedients by which the king might reward
them, and out of which they would be able liberally to
gratify their patrons. And by this means all who served
the king were furnished with suits enough to make their
fortunes, in which they presently engaged themselves

— -i 09. different parties in Ireland. (1661.) 379
with very troublesome importunity to the king himself,
and to all others who they thought had credit or power
to advance their desires. Nor was there any other art
so much used by the commissioners in their secret con
ferences, as to deprave one another, and to discover the
ill actions they had been guilty of, and how little they
deserved to be trusted, or had interest to accomplish.
f The lord Broghill was the man of the best parts, and ~\
had most friends by his great alliance to promise for him.
And he appeared very generous, and to be without the
least pretence to any advantage for himself, and to be so
wholly devoted to the king's interest, and to the esta
blishing of the government of the church, that he quickly
got himself believed. And having free access to the
king, by mingling apologies for what he had done, with
promises of what he would do, and utterly renouncing all
those principles as to the church or state, (as he might
with a good conscience do,) which made men unfit for
trust, he made himself so acceptable to his majesty, that
he heard him willingly, because he made all things easy
to be done and compassed ; and gave such assurances to
the bedchamber men, to help them to good fortunes in
Ireland, which they had reason to despair of in England,
that he wanted not their testimony upon all occasions,
nor their defence and vindication, when any thing was
reflected upon to his disadvantage or reproach.
109 2. There were many other deputies of several classes in
Ireland, who thought their pretences to be as well ground
ed, as theirs who came from the state. There were yet
some bishops alive of that kingdom, and other grave di
vines, all stripped of their dignities and estates, which had
been disposed of by the usurping power to their creatures.
And all they (some whereof had spent time in banishment
near the king, and others more miserably in their own
country and in England, under the charity of those who
for the most part lived by the charity of others) expected,

380 Commissioners from the different parties in Ireland : Con. 109-
as they well might, to be restored to what in right be
longed to them; and besought his majesty "to use all
possible expedition to establish the government of that
church as it had always been, by supplying the empty sees
with new prelates in the place of those who were dead,
that all the schisms and wild factions in religion, which
were spread over that whole kingdom, might be extir
pated and rooted out." All which desires were grateful
to the king, and according to his royal intentions, and
were not opposed by the commissioners from the state,
who all pretended to be well wishers to the old govern
ment of the church, and the more by the experience they
had of the distractions which were introduced by that
which had succeeded it, and by the confusion they were
now in without any. Only sir John Clotworthy (who, by
the exercise of very ordinary faculties in several employ
ments, whilst the parliament retained the supreme power
in their hands, had exceedingly improved himself in un
derstanding and ability of negotiation) dissembled not his
old animosity against the bishops, the cross, and the sur
plice, and wished that all might be abolished ; though he
knew well that his vote would signify nothing towards it.
And that spirit of his had been so long known, that it was
now imputed to sincerity and plain-dealing, and that he
would not dissemble, (which many others were known to
do, who had the same malignity with him,) and was the
less ill thought of, because in all other respects he was of
a generous and a jovial nature, and complied in all designs
which might advance the king's interest or service.
a 3. There appeared likewise a committee deputed by
the adventurers to solicit their right, which was the more
numerous by the company of many aldermen and citizens
of the best quality, and many honest gentlemen of the
country ; who all desired " that their right might not be
disturbed, which had been settled by an act of parliament
ratified by the last king before the troubles ; and that if

.-Hi. a committee from the adventurers. (1661.) 381
it should be thought just, that any of the lands of which
they stood possessed should be taken from them, upon
what title soever, they might first be put into the posses
sion of other lands of equal value, before they should be
dispossessed of what they had already." All that they
made claim to seemed to be confirmed by an act of par
liament. The case was this : When the rebellion first
brake out in Ireland, the parliament then sitting, and
there being so much money to be raised and already
raised for the payment of and disbanding two armies, and
for the composing or compounding the rebellion of Scot
land, where the king was at that time ; it had been pro
pounded, " that the war of Ireland might be carried on at
the charges of particular men, and so all imposition upon
the people might be prevented, if an act of parliament
were passed for the satisfaction of all those who would
advance monies for the war, out of the lands which should
become forfeited."
hi And this proposition being embraced, an act was pre
pared to that purpose ; in which it was provided, " that the
forfeited lands in Leinster, Munster, Connaught, and Ul
ster, should be valued at such several rates by the acre,
and how many acres in either should be assigned for the
satisfaction of one hundred pounds, and so proportionally
for greater sums. That for all monies which should be
subscribed within so many days (beyond which time there
should be no more subscriptions) for that service, one
moiety thereof should be paid to the treasurer appointed,
within few days, for the present preparations ; and the
other moiety be paid within six months, upon the penalty
of losing all benefit from the first payment. That when
God should so bless their armies, (which they doubted not
of,) that the rebels • should be so near reduced, that they
should be without any army or visible power to support
their rebellion; there should a commission issue out,
under the great seal of England, to such persons as should

382 Of t fie adventurers, whose advances were to be satisfied Con.
be nominated by the parliament, who should take the
best way they could in their discretion think fit, to be in
formed, whether the rebels were totally subdued, and so
the rebellion at an end. And upon their declaration, that
the work was fully done and the war finished, other com
missions should likewise issue out, in the same manner,
for the convicting and attainting all those who were guilty
of the treason and rebellion by which their estates were
become forfeited ; and then other commissions, for the
distribution of the forfeited lands to the several adven
turers, according to the sums of money advanced by them.
The king was to be restrained from making any peace
with the Irish rebels, or cessation, or from granting par
don to any of them ; but such peace, cessation, or pardon,
should be looked upon as void and null."
! This act the king had consented to and confirmed in
the year 1641, and in the agony of many troubles which
that rebellion had brought upon him, thinking it the only
means to put a speedy end to that accursed rebellion, the
suppression whereof would free him from many difficul
ties. And upon the security of this act, very many per
sons, of all qualities and affections, subscribed and brought
in the first moiety of their money, and were very properly
styled adventurers. Great sums of money were daily
brought in, and preparations and provisions and new levies
of men were made for Ireland. But the rebellion in Eng
land being shortly after fomented by the parliament, they
applied very much of that money brought in by the ad
venturers, and many of the troops which had been raised
for that service, immediately against the king : which
being notoriously known, and his majesty complaining of
it, many honest gentlemen, who had subscribed and paid
one moiety, refused to pay in the other moiety at the
time, and so were liable to lose the benefit of their ad
venture ; which they preferred before suffering their
money to be applied to the carrying on the rebellion

— i — 1 14. out of the forfeited lands in Ireland. (1661.) 383
against the king, which they abhorred. And by this
means Ireland was unsupplied ; and the rebellion spread
and prospered with little opposition for some time. And
the parliament, though the time for subscribing was ex
pired, enlarged it by ordinances of their own to a longer
day, and easily prevailed with many of their own party,
principally officers and citizens, to subscribe and bring in
their money; to which it was no small encouragement,
that so many had lost the benefit of their whole adventure
by not paying in the second payment, which would make
the conditions of the new adventurers the less hazardous.
"3 When the success of the parliament had totally sub
dued the king's arms, and himself was so inhumanly
murdered, neither the forces in Ireland under the king's
authority, nor the Irish, who had too late promised to
submit to it, could make any long resistance ; so that
Cromwell quickly dispersed them by his own expedi
tion thither; and by licensing as many as desired it to
transport as many from thence, for the service of the
two crowns of France and Spain, as they would con
tract for, quickly made a disappearance of any army in
that kingdom to oppose his conquests. And after the
defeat of the king at Worcester, he seemed to all men
to be in as quiet a possession of Ireland as of England,
and to be as much without enemies in the one as the
other kingdom ; as in a short time he had reduced Scot
land to the same exigent.
114 Shortly after that time, when Cromwell was invested
with the office of protector, all those commissions were
issued out, and all the formality was used that was pre
scribed by that act for the adventurers. Not only all
the Irish nation (very few excepted) were found guilty
of the rebellion, and so to have forfeited all their estates ;
but the marquis of Ormond, the lord Inchiquin, and all
the English catholics, and whosoever had served the king,
were declared to be under the same guilt ; and the lands

384 Of the adventurers, whose advances were to be satisfied Con. 114 
seized upon for the benefit of the state. There were very
vast arrears of pay due to the army, a great [part] of
which (now the war was ended) must be disbanded ; for
the doing whereof no money was to be expected out of
England, but they must be satisfied out of the forfeitures
of the other kingdoms. The whole kingdom was admea
sured ; the accounts of the money paid by the adventurers
within the time limited, and what was due to the army
for their pay, were stated ; and such proportions of acres
in the several provinces were assigned to the adventurers
and officers and soldiers, as were agreeable to the act of
parliament, by admeasurement. Where an officer of name
had been likewise an adventurer, his adventure and his
pay amounted to the more. And sometimes the whole
company and regiment contracted for money with their
captains or colonels, and assigned their interest in land to
them ; and possession was accordingly delivered, without
any respect to any titles by law to former settlements, or
descents of any persons soever, wives or children ; except
in some very few cases, where the wives had been great
heirs, and could not be charged with any crime, such pro
portions were assigned as were rather agreeable to their
own conveniences, than to justice and the right of the
claimers.
IJ5 And that every body might with the more security
enjoy that which was assigned to him, they had found
a way to have the consent of many to their own undoing.
They found the utter extirpation of the nation (which
they had intended) to be in itself very difficult, and to
carry in it somewhat of horror, that made some impres
sion upon the stone-hardness of their own hearts. After
so many millions destroyed by the plague which raged
over the kingdom, by fire, sword, and famine ; and after
so many millions transported into foreign parts, there re
mained still such a numerous people, that they knew not
how to dispose of : and though they were declared to be

out of the forfeiture of lands in Ireland. (1661.) 385
all forfeited, and so to have no title to any thing, yet
they must remain somewhere. They therefore found this
expedient, which they called an act of grace. There was
a large tract of land, even to the half of the province of
Connaught, that was separated from the rest by a long
and a large river, and which by the plague and many
massacres remained almost desolate. Into this space
and circuit of land they required all the Irish to retire
by such a day, under the penalty of death ; and all who
should after that time be found in any other part of the
kingdom, man, woman, or child, should be killed by any
body who saw or met them. The land within this circuit,
the most barren in the kingdom, was out of the grace and
mercy of the conquerors assigned to those of the nation
who were enclosed, in such proportions as might with
great industry preserve their lives. And to those persons,
from whom they bad taken great quantities of land in
other provinces, they assigned the greater proportions
within this precinct; so that it fell to some men's lot,
especially when they were accommodated with houses, to
have a competent livelihood, though never to the fifth
part of what had been taken from them in a much
better province. And that they might not be exalted
with this merciful donative, it was a condition that ac
companied this their accommodation, that they should all
give releases of their former rights and titles to the land
that was taken from them, in consideration of what was
now assigned to them ; and so they should for ever bar
themselves and their heirs from ever laying claim to their
old inheritance. What should they do? they could not
be permitted to go out of this precinct to shift for them
selves elsewhere ; and without this assignation they must
starve here, as many did die every day of famine. In this
deplorable condition, and under this consternation, they
found themselves obliged to accept or submit to the
hardest conditions of their conquerors, and so signed
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. C C

386 Of the unjust appropriation Con. n(
such conveyances and releases as were prepared for them,
that they might enjoy those lands which belonged to other
men.
n6 And by this means the plantation (as they called it) of
Connaught was finished, and all the Irish nation enclosed
within that circuit ; the rest of Ireland being left to the
English ; some to the old lords and just proprietors, who
being all protestants, (for no Roman catholic was ad
mitted,) had either never offended them, or had served
them, or had made composition for their delinquencies
by the benefit of some articles ; some to the adventurers
and soldiers. And a good and great part (as I remem
ber, the whole province of Tipperary) Cromwell had re
served to himself, as a demesne (as he called it) for
the state, and in which no adventurer or soldier should
demand his lot to be assigned, and no doubt intended
both the state and it for the making great his own
family. It cannot be imagined in how easy a method,
and with what peaceable formality, this whole great
kingdom was taken from the just lords and proprie
tors, and divided and given amongst those who had
no other right to it but that they had power to keep
[it] ; no men having so [great] shares as they who
had been instruments to murder the king, and were
not like willingly to part with it to his successor.
Where any great sums of money for arms, ammuni
tion, or any merchandise, had been so long due that
they were looked upon as desperate, the creditors sub
scribed all those sums as lent upon adventure, and
had their satisfaction assigned to them as adventurers.
Ireland was the great capital, out of which all debts
were paid, all services rewarded, and all acts of bounty
performed. And which is more wonderful, all this
[was] done and settled, within little more than two
years, to that degree of perfection, that there were
many buildings raised for beauty as well as use, orderly

—i-i 1 8 of lands in Ireland. (1661.) 387
and regular plantations of trees, and fences and enclosures
raised throughout the kingdom, purchases made by one
from the other at very valuable rates, and jointures made
upon marriages, and all other conveyances and settle
ments executed, as in a kingdom at peace within itself,
and where no doubt could be made of the validity of
titles. And yet in all this quiet, there were very few
persons pleased or contented.
"7 And these deputies for the adventurers, and for those
who called themselves adventurers, came not only to ask
the king's consent and approbation of what had been
done, (which they thought in justice he could not deny,
because all had been done upon the warrant of a legal
act of parliament,) but to complain, " that justice had
not been equally done in the distributions ; that this man
had received much less than was his due, and others as
much more than was their due ; that one had had great
quantities of bogs and waste land assigned to him as
tenantable, and another as much allowed as bogs and
waste, which in truth were very tenantable lands." And
upon the whole matter, they all desired " a review might
[be made], that justice might be done to all ;" every
man expecting an addition to what he had already, not
suspecting that any thing would be taken from him, to
be restored to the true owner.
118 And this agitation raised another party of adventurers,
who thought they had at least as good a right as any of
the other ; and that was, they, or the heirs and executors
of them, who upon the first making of the act of parlia
ment, had subscribed several good sums of money, and
paid in their first moieties ; but the rebellion coming on,
and the monies already paid in being notoriously and
visibly employed contrary to the act, and against the
person of the king himself, they had out of conscience
forborne to [pay] the second moiety, lest it might also
[be] so employed ; whereby, according to the rigour of
c c 2

388 A committee from the army, and Con. 1 18 —
the law, they lost the benefit of the first payment. And
they had hitherto sustained that loss, with many other,
without having ever applied themselves for relief. " But
now, when it had pleased God to restore the king, and
so many who had not deserved very well desired help
from the king upon the equity of that act of parliament,
where the letter of the law would do them no [good], they
presumed to think, that by the equity of the law they
ought to be satisfied for the money they did really pay ;
and that they should not undergo any damage for not
paying the other moiety, which out of conscience and for
his majesty's service they had forborne to do." No man
will doubt but that the king was very well inclined to
gratify this classis of adventurers when he should find it
in his power. But it is time to return to the committee
and deputies of the other parties in that distracted
kingdom.
"9 4. There was a committee sent from the army that
was in present pay in Ireland, "for the arrears due to
them," which was for above a year's pay ; most of those
who had received satisfaction in land for what was then
due to them, as well officers as soldiers, being then dis
banded, that they might attend their plantations and
husbandry, but in truth because they were for the most
part of the presbyterian faction, and so suspected by
Cromwell not to be enough inclined to him. The army
now on foot, and to whom so great arrears were due, con
sisted for the greatest part of independents, anabaptists,
and levellers, who had corresponded with and been di
rected by the general, when he marched from Scotland
against Lambert : and therefore he had advised the king
to declare, " that he would pay all arrears due to the
army in Ireland, and ratify the satisfaction that had been
given to adventurers, officers, and soldiers there ;" which
his majesty had accordingly signified by his declaration
from Breda. And whoever considers the temper and

—120 one from the officers who had served the king. (1661.) 389
constitution of that army then on foot in that kingdom,
and the body of presbyterians that had been disbanded,
and remained still there in their habitations, together
with the body of adventurers, all presbyterians or ana
baptists ; and at the same time remembers the disposition
and general affection of the army in England, severed
from their obedience to the general and the good affec
tion of some few superior officers ; will not wonder that
the king endeavoured, if it had been possible, rather to
please all, than by any unseasonable discovery of a reso
lution, how just soever, to make any party desperate ;
there being none so inconsiderable, as not to have been
able to do much mischief.
120 5. The satisfaction that the officers and soldiers had
received in land, and the demand of the present army,
had caused another committee to be sent and employed
by those reformed officers, who had served the king under
the command of the marquis of Ormond, from the begin
ning of the rebellion to the end thereof, with courage
and fidelity ; and had since shifted beyond the seas, and
some of them in his majesty's service, or suffered patiently
in that kingdom under the insolence of their oppressors ;
who, because they had always fought against the Irish,
were by articles, upon their laying down their arms when
they could no longer hold them in their hands, permitted
to remain in their own houses, or such as they could get
within that kingdom. These gentlemen thought it a
very incongruous thing, " that they who had constantly
fought against the king's father and himself, should re
ceive their pay and reward by his majesty's care, bounty,
and assignation; and that they, who had as constantly
fought for both, should be left to undergo all want and
misery now his majesty was restored to his own." And
they believed their suit to be the more reasonable, at
least the easier to be granted, by having brought an ex
pedient with them to facilitate their satisfaction. There

390 A committee from Con. 1 20-
had been some old order or ordinance, that was looked
upon as a law, whereby it was provided, that all houses
within cities or corporate towns, which were forfeited,
should be reserved to be specially disposed of by the
state, or in such a manner as it should direct, to the end
that all care might be taken what manner of men should
be the inhabitants of such important places : and there
fore such houses had not been, nor were to be, promiscu
ously assigned to adventurers, officers, or soldiers, and so
remained hitherto undisposed of. And these reformed
officers of the king made it their suit, that those houses
might be assigned to them in proportions, according to
what might appear to be due to their several conditions
and degrees in command. And to this petition, which
might seem equitable in itself, the commissioners from
the state gave their full approbation and consent, being
ready to take all the opportunities to ingratiate them
selves towards those whom they had oppressed as long
as they were able, and to be reputed to love the king's
party.
t 6. Lastly, there was a committee for, or rather the
whole body of, the Irish catholics, who, with less modesty
than was suitable to their condition, demanded in justice
to be restored to all the lands that had been taken from
them : alleging, " that they were all at least as innocent
as any of them were, to whom their lands had been as
signed." They urged " their early submission to the king,
and the peace they had first made with the marquis of
Ormond, by which an act of indemnity had been granted
for what offences soever had been committed, except such
in which none of them were concerned." They urged
" the peace they had made with the marquis of Ormond
upon this king's first coming to the crown, wherein a
grant of indemnity was again renewed to them ;" and
confidently, though very unskilfully, pressed, "that the
benefit of all those articles which were contained in that

.—121. the Roman Catholics. (1661.) 391
peace might still be granted and observed to them, since
they had done nothing to infringe or forfeit them, but
had been oppressed and broken, as all his majesty's other
forces had been." They urged "the service they had
done to the king beyond the seas, having been always
ready to obey his commands, and stayed [in] or left
France or Spain as his majesty had commanded them,
and were for the last two years received and listed as his
own troops, and in his own actual service, under the duke
of York." They pressed "the intolerable tyranny they
had suffered under, now almost twenty years ; the massa
cres and servitude they had undergone ; such devastation
and laying waste their country, such bloody cruelty and
executions inflicted on them, as had never been known
nor could be paralleled amongst Christians : that their
nation almost was become desolated, and their sufferings
of all kinds [had been] to such an extent, that they hoped
had satiated their most implacable enemies." And there
fore they humbly besought his majesty, " that in this ge
neral joy for his majesty's blessed restoration, and in which
nobody could rejoice more than they, when all his ma
jesty's subjects of his two other kingdoms (whereof many
were not more innocent than themselves) had their mouths
filled with laughter, and had all their hearts could desire,
the poor Irish alone might not be condemned to perpetual
weeping and misery by his majesty's own immediate act."
Amongst these, with the same confidence, they who had
been transplanted into Connaught appeared, related the
circumstances of the persecution they had undergone, and
"how impossible it had been for them to refuse their
submission to that they had no power to resist ; and there
fore that it would be against all conscience to allege their
own consent, and their releases, and other grants, which
had they not consented to in that point of time, they,
their wives, and children, could not have lived four and
twenty hours." All these particulars were great motives

392 The king is much perplexed Con. 121 —
to compassion, and disposed his majesty's heart to wish
that any expedient might be found, which might consist
with justice and necessary policy, that might make them,
though not very happy, yet might preserve them from
misery, until he should hereafter find some opportunity to
repair their condition according to their several degrees
and merit.
122 These several addresses being presented to his majesty
together, before any thing was yet settled in England,
and every party of them finding some friends, who filled
the king's ears with specious discourses on their behalf
for whom [they] spake, and with bitter invectives against
all the rest ; he was almost confounded how to begin, and
in what method to put the examination of all their pre
tences, that he might be able to take such a view of them,
as to be able to apply some remedy, that might keep the
disease from increasing and growing worse, until he could
find some cure. He had no mind the parliament should
interpose and meddle in it, which would have been grate
ful to no party ; and by good fortune they were so full of
business that they thought concerned them nearer, that
they had no mind to examine or take cognizance of this
of Ireland, which they well knew properly depended upon
the king's own royal pleasure and commands. But these
addresses were all of so contradictory a nature, so incon
sistent with each other, and so impossible to be reconciled,
that if all Ireland could be sold at its full value, (that is,
if kingdoms could be valued at a just rate,) and find a fit
chapman or purchaser to disburse the sum, it could not
yield half enough to satisfy half their demands ; and yet
the king was not in a condition positively to deny any one
party that which they desired.
723 The commissioners from the state, in respect of their
quality, parts, and interest, and in regard of their mission
and authority, seemed the most proper persons to be
treated with, and the most like to be prevailed upon not

by so many addresses. (1661.) 393
to insist upon any thing that was most profoundly unrea
sonable. They had all their own just fears, if the king
should be severe; and there would have been a general
concurrence in all the rest, that he should have taken a
full vengeance upon them : but then they who had most
cause to fear, thought they might raise their hopes highest
from that power that sent them, and which had yet inter
est enough to do good and hurt ; and they thought them
selves secure in the king's declaration from Breda, and
his offer of indemnity, which comprehended them. Then
they were all desirous to merit from the king ; and their
not loving one another, disposed them the more to do any
thing that might be grateful to his majesty. But they
were all united and agreed in one unhappy extreme, that
made all their other devotion less applicable to the public
peace, that is, their implacable malice to the Irish : inso
much as they concurred in their desire, that they might
gain nothing by the king's return, but be kept with the
same rigour, and under the same incapacity to do hurt,
which they were till then. For which instance they were
not totally without reason, from their barbarous behaviour
in the first beginning of the rebellion, which could not be
denied, and from their having been compelled to submit
to and undergo the most barbarous servitude, that could
not be forgotten. And though eradication was too foul
a word to be uttered in the ears of a Christian prince, yet
it was little less or better that they proposed in other
words, and hoped to obtain : whereas the king thought
that miserable people to be as worthy of his favour as
most of the other parties ; and that his honour, justice,
and policy, as far as they were unrestrained by laws and
contracts, obliged him more to preserve them, at least as
much as he could. And yet it can hardly be believed,
how few men, in all other points very reasonable, and who
were far from cruelty in their nature, cherished that in
clination in the king ; but thought it in him, and more in

394 The general continues Con. 123 —
his brother, to proceed from other reasons than they pub
lished : whilst others, who pretended to be only moved
by Christian charity and compassion, were more cruel to
wards them, and made them more miserable, by extorting
great engagements from them for their protection and in
tercession, which being performed would leave them in as
forlorn a condition as they were found.
124 In this intricacy and perplexity, the king thought it
necessary to begin with settling his own authority in one
person over that kingdom, who should make haste thither,
and establish such a council there, and all courts of justice,
and other civil officers, as might best contribute towards
bringing the rest in order. And to this purpose he made
choice of several persons of the robe, who had been known
by or recommended to the marquis of Ormond, but of
more by the advice and promotion of Daniel O'Neile of
his bedchamber, who preferred a friend of his, and an
Irishman, to the office of attorney general, (a place in
that conjuncture of vast importance to the settlement,)
and many other to be judges. And all this list was
made and settled without the least communication with
the chancellor, who might have been presumed to be
easily informed of that rank of men. But to find a
person fit to send thither in the supreme authority was
long deliberated by the king, and with difficulty to be
resolved. The general continued lord lieutenant of
Ireland, which he had no mind to quit, for he had a
great estate there, having for some time been general
of that army, and received for the arrears of his pay,
and by Cromwell's bounty, and by some purchases he
made of the soldiers, an estate of at least four thousand
pounds per annum, which he thought he could best pre
serve in the supreme government ; though he was willing
to have it believed in the city and the army, that he retain
ed it only for the good of the adventurers, and that the
soldiers might be justly dealt with for their arrears. What-

.-1-125. lord lieutenant of Ireland. (1661.) 395
soever his reason was, as profit was the highest reason
always with him, whoever was to be deputy must be sub
ordinate to him ; which no man of the greatest quality
would be, though he was to have his commission from the
king, and the same jurisdiction in the absence of the lieu
tenant. There were some few fit for the employment,
who were not willing to undertake it; and many who
were willing to undertake it, but were not fit.
125 Upon the view of those of all sorts, the king most
inclined to the lord Roberts, who was a man of more
than ordinary parts, well versed in the knowledge of the
laws, and esteemed of integrity not to be corrupted by
money. But then he was a sullen morose man, intolerably
proud, and had some humours as inconvenient as small
vices, which made him hard to live with, and which were
afterwards more discovered than at that time foreseen.
He had been in the beginning of the rebellion a leading
man in their councils, and a great officer in their army,
wherein he expressed no want of courage. But after the
defeat of the earl of Essex's army in Cornwall, which was
imputed to his positiveness and undertaking for his county,
the friendship between him and that earl was broken.
And from that time he did not only quit his command in
the army, but declined their councils, and remained for
the most part in the country; where he censured their
proceedings, and had his conversation most with those
who were known to wish well to the king, and who
gave him a great testimony, as if he would be glad to
serve his majesty upon the first opportunity. The truth
is, the wickedness of the succeeding time was so much
superior and overshadowed all that had been done before,
that they who had only been in rebellion with the earl of
Essex looked upon themselves as innocent, and justified
their own allegiance, by loading the memory of Cromwell
with all the reproaches and maledictions imaginable. The
greatest exception that the king had to the lord Roberts,

396 Of the lord Roberts, who is Con. 125
who was already of the privy council, by the recommenda
tion and instance of the general, was, that he was gene
rally esteemed a presbyterian, which would make him
unfit for that trust for many reasons ; besides that, he
would not cheerfully act the king's part in restoring and
advancing the government of the church, which the king •
was resolved to settle with all the advantages which he
could contribute towards it. Nor did the lord Roberts
profess to be an enemy to episcopacy.
126 Before the king would make any public declaration of
his purpose, he sent the lord treasurer and the chancellor,
who were most acquainted with him, to confer freely with
him, and to let him know the good esteem his majesty
had of him, and of his abilities to serve him. " That the
government of Ireland would require a very steady and a
prudent man : that the general did not intend to go into
that kingdom, and yet would remain lieutenant thereof;
from which office his majesty knew not how, nor thought
it seasonable, to remove him, and therefore that the place
must be supplied by a deputy ; for which office the king
thought him the most fit, if it were not for one objection,
which he had given them leave to inform him of parti
cularly, there being but one person more privy to his ma
jesty's purpose, who was the marquis of Ormond; and
that he might conclude, that the king was desirous to
receive satisfaction to his objection, by the way he took
to communicate it to him :" and then they told him,
" that he had the reputation of being a presbyterian ; and
that his majesty would take his own word, whether he
was or was not one."
127 He answered without any kind of ceremony, to which
he was not devoted, or so much as acknowledging the
king's favour in his inquiry, "that no presbyterian thought
him to be a presbyterian, or that he loved their party.
He knew them too well. That there could be no reason
to suspect him to be such, but that which might rather

—1-128. made deputy of Ireland. (1661.) 397
induce men to believe him to be a good protestant, that
he went constantly to church as well in the afternoons as
forenoons on the Sundays, and on those days forbore to
use those exercises and recreations which he used to do
all the week besides." He desired them, " to assure the
king, that he was so far from a presbyterian, that he be.
lieved episcopacy to be the best government the church
could be subject to." They asked him then, " whether
he would be willing to receive that government of deputy
of Ireland, if the king were willing to confer it upon
him." There he let himself to fall to an acknowledg
ment of the king's goodness, " that he thought him wor
thy of so great an honour :" but he could not conceal
the disdain he had of the general's person, nor how un
willing he was to receive orders from him, or to be an
officer under his command. They told him, " that there
would be a necessity of a good correspondence between
them, both whilst they stayed together in England, and
when he should be in Ireland ; but beyond that there
would be no obligation upon him, for that he was to
receive his commission immediately from the king, con
taining as ample powers as were in the lieutenant's own
commission : that he was not the lieutenant's deputy,
but the king's; only that his commission ceased when
the lieutenant should be upon the place, which he was
never like to be." Upon the whole matter, though it
appeared that the superiority was a great mortification to
him, he said, "that he referred himself wholly to the
king, to be disposed of as he thought best for his service,
and that he would behave himself with all possible fidelity
to him."
128 Upon this report made to the king, shortly after his
majesty in council declared, " that he had made the lord
Roberts deputy of Ireland," and then charged him, "that
he would prepare as soon as was possible for his journey
thither, when those officers, who were designed by him

398 Transactions in parliament Con. i 28>
for the civil justice of the kingdom, should be ready to
attend upon him ; and in the mean time, that he would
send the commissioners, and all others who solicited any
thing that had reference to Ireland, to wait upon him, to
the end that he, being well informed of the nature and
consistency of the several pretences, and of the general
state of the kingdom, might be the better able to advise
his majesty upon the whole matter, and to prescribe, for
the entering upon it by parts, such a method, that his
majesty might with less perplexity give his own deter
mination in those particulars, which must chiefly depend
upon himself and his direction." Thus the king gave
himself a little ease, by referring the gross to the lord
deputy, in whose hands we shall for the present leave it,
that we may take a view of the other particulars, that
more immediately related to England; though we shall"
be shortly called back again [to] Ireland, which enjoyed
little repose in the hands in which it was put.
129 The parliament spent most of the time upon the act of
indemnity, in which private passions and animosities pre
vailed very far ; one man contending to preserve this
man, who, though amongst the foulest offenders, had
done him some courtesy in the time of his power ; and
another, with as much passion and bitterness, endeavour
ing to have another condemned, who could not be dis
tinguished from the whole herd by any infamous guilt,
and who had disobliged him, or refused to oblige him,
when it was in his power to have done it. The king had
positively excepted none from pardon, because he was to
refer the whole to them; but had clearly enough ex
pressed, that he presumed that they would not suffer any
of those who had sat as judges upon his father, and con
demned him to be murdered, to remain alive. And the
guilty persons themselves made so little doubt of it, that
they made what shift they could to make their escape
into the parts beyond the seas, and many of them had

i;-i3°- concerning the act of indemnity. (1661.) 399
transported themselves ; whilst others lay concealed for
other opportunities; and some were apprehended when
they endeavoured to fly, and so were imprisoned.
13° The parliament published a proclamation, " that all
who did not render themselves by a day named, should
be judged as guilty, and attainted of treason ;" which
many consented to, conceiving it to amount to no more
than a common process at law to bring men to justice.
But it was no sooner out, than all they who had concealed
themselves in order to be transported, rendered them
selves to the speaker of the house of commons, and were
by him committed to the Tower. And the house con
ceived itself engaged to save those men's lives, who had
put themselves into their power upon that presumption.
The house of peers insisted upon it in many conferences,
that the proclamation could bear no such interpretation ;
but as it condemned all who by flying declined the justice
of the kingdom, so it admitted as many as would appear
to plead their own innocence, which if they could prove
they would be safe. But the guilty, and with them the
house of commons, declared, " that they could not but
understand, that they who rendered themselves should be
in a better condition than they who fled beyond the seas,
which they were not in any degree, if they were put upon
their trial ; for to be tried and to be condemned was the
same thing, since the guilt of all was equally notorious
and manifest." And this kind of reasoning prevailed
upon the judgments and understandings of many, who
had [all] manner of detestation for the persons of the
men. In the end, the house of peers, after long contests,
was obliged to consent, " that all the persons who were
fled, and those who had not rendered themselves, should
be brought to a trial and attainted according to law, to
gether with those who were or should be taken ;" where
by they would forfeit all their estates to the king : " but
for those who had rendered themselves upon the faith of

400 The king is concerned at the Con.
the parliament," as they called it, " they should remain
in such prisons as his majesty thought fit during their
lives, and neither of them be put to death without con
sent of parliament."
131 But then as by this means too many of those impious
persons remained alive, and some others who were as bad
as any were, upon some testimony of the general, and by
other interpositions of friends upon the allegation of merit
and services, preserved, with the king's consent too easily
obtained, so much as from attainder; so to make some
kind of amends for this unhappy lenity, they resolved to
except a multitude of those they were most angry with
from pardon as to their estates, and to fine others in great
sums of money ; when worse men, at least as bad, of either
classis were exempted, as included, by the power of their
friends who were present in the debate. And this con
tradiction and faction brought such a spirit into the house,
as disturbed all other counsels ; whilst men, who wished
well enough to the matter proposed, opposed the passing
it, to cross other men who had refused to agree with them
in the pardoning or not pardoning of persons : which dis
sension divided the house into great animosities. And
without doubt, the king's credit and authority was at that
time so great in the house of commons, that he could have
taken full vengeance upon many of those with whom he
had reason to be offended, by causing them to be ex
empted from pardon, or exposed to some damage of
estate. And there wanted not many, who used all the
credit they had, to inflame the king to that retaliation
and revenge.
132 And it was then and more afterwards imputed to the
chancellor, that there were no more exceptions in the act
of indemnity, and that he laboured more for expedition of
passing it, and for excluding any extraordinary excep
tions ; which reproach he neither then nor ever after was
solicitous to throw off. But his authority and credit,

—1-132. delays in passing tlie act of indemnity. (1661.) 401
though he at that time was generally esteemed, could
not have prevailed in that particular, (wherein there were
few men without some temptation to anger and indigna
tion, and none more than he, who had undergone injuries
and indignities from many men then alive,) but that it
was very evident to the king himself, and to all dispas-
sioned men, that no person was so much concerned, though
all were enough, that there should be no longer delay in
passing the act of indemnity, as the king himself was ;
there being no progress made in any other business, by
the disorder and ill humour that grew out of that. There
was no attempt to be made towards disbanding the army,
until the act of indemnity should be first passed ; nor could
they begin to pay off the navy, till they were ready to
pay off the arrears of the army. This was the " remora"
in all the counsels ; whilst there wanted not those, who
infused into the minds of the soldiers the jealousy of the
cities, " that the king had no purpose ever to consent to
the act of indemnity," which was looked upon as the only
universal security for the peace of the nation : and till
that was done, no man could say that he dwelt at home,
nor the king think himself in any good posture of security.
And therefore no man was more impatient, and more
instant in council and parliament, to remove all causes
which obstructed that work [than the chancellor]. And
he put the king in mind, " how much he had opposed
some clauses and expressions which were in the declara
tion and letters from Breda," which notwithstanding were
inserted, as most agreeable to the general's advice ; and
that he then said to his majesty, in the presence of those
who were consulted with, " that it would come to his turn
to insist upon the performance of those concessions, which
he was against the making of, when many others would
oppose them, which may be at that present would advise
much larger:" which his majesty acknowledged to be
true, and confessed upon many occasions. And the chan-
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. D d

402 The king at length succeeds in Con. 132.-
cellor did in truth conceive, that the king's taking advan
tage of the good inclinations of the house to him, to dis
pose them to fall upon many persons, who were men of
another classis to those he desired might be excepted,
(and of which prospect there could be no end, every man
having cause to fear his own security by what he saw his
neighbour suffer, who was as innocent,) was directly con
trary to the sense and integrity of his declaration, and
therefore to be avoided ; and that all things were to be
done by him that might facilitate and advance the dis
banding, that so the peace of the kingdom might again
depend upon the civil justice and magistrates thereof.
And all men who understood in how ticklish a condition
it then stood, concurred in that advice.
J33 And this was the reason that the king used his au
thority, and they who were trusted by him their credit
and interest, for the suppressing those animosities, which
had irreconciled many persons between themselves who
were of public affections, by the nomination of particular
persons whose estates should be made liable to penalties,
the imposing of which must again depend upon the par
liament ; which, besides the consumption of time, which
was very precious, would renew and continue the same
spirit of division, which already had done too much mis
chief, and would inevitably have done much more. But
by this temper and composition the act of indemnity was
finished, passed the house of peers, and received the royal
assent, to the wonderful joy of the people. And present
orders were given for the disbanding the army and pay
ment of the navy, as fast as money came in, for which
several acts of parliament were formerly passed. And by
the former delays, the intolerable burden both of army
and navy lay upon the kingdom near six months after the
king's return, and amounted not to so little as one hun
dred thousand pounds by the month ; which raised a vast
debt, that was called the king's, who had incessantly de-

-1-135' getting the act of indemnity passed. (i66t.) 403
sired to have it prevented from the first hour of his ar
rival.
J34 After the bill of indemnity was passed, with some other
as important acts for the public peace, (as the preserving
those proceedings, which had been in courts of justice for
near twenty years, from being ravelled into again as void
or invalid, because they had been before judges not legally
qualified, which would have brought an intolerable burden
upon the subject ; and some other acts,) the parliament
was willing to adjourn for some time ; that their mem
bers, who were appointed to attend the disbanding the
army in several places, and the payment of the navy,
migh be absent with less inconvenience : and the king
was as willing to have some ease. And so it was ad
journed for a month or six weeks ; in which time, and
even in the middle of the disbanding, there happened
a very strange accident, that was evidence enough of the
temper or distemper of the time.
*35 The trial of those infamous persons who were in prison
for the murder of the king (and who were appointed by
the act of indemnity to be proceeded against with rigour,
and who could not be tried till that vote was passed) was
no sooner over, and the persons executed, with some of
the same crew, who being in Holland and Flanders were,
by the permission and connivance of those magistrates,
taken by the king's ministers there, and brought into
England, and put to death with their companions; but
the people of that classis who were called Fanatics, dis
covered a wonderful malignity in their discourses, and
vows of revenge for their innocent friends. They caused
the speeches they had made at their deaths to be printed,
in which there was nothing of repentance or sorrow for
their wickedness, but a justification of what they [had]
done for the cause of God ; and had several meetings to
consult of the best way to attempt their revenge, and of
bringing themselves into the same posture of authority
d d2

404 Tenner raises an insurrection Con. 135-
and power which they formerly had. The disbanding
the army seemed a good expedient to contribute to
their ends : and they doubted not, but as fast as they
disbanded they would repair to them, which they could
not so well do till then, because of the many new officers
who had been lately put over them ; and to that purpose
they had their agents in several regiments to appoint
rendezvouses. They had ( conference of assassinating the
general, "who," they said, "had betrayed them, and was
the only person who kept the army together."
136 Matters being in this state, and some of their com
panions every day taken and imprisoned upon discovery
of their purposes, the king being gone to Portsmouth,
and the parliament adjourned, they appointed a rendez
vous in several places of London at twelve of the clock
in the night ; the same being assigned to their friends in
the country. They had not patience to make use of the
silence of the night, till they could draw their several
bodies together. But their several rendezvouses no
sooner met, than they fell into noise and exclamations,
" that all men should take arms to assist the Lord
Jesus Christ ;" and when the watch came towards them,
they resolutely defended themselves, and killed many
of those who came to assault them : so that the alarum
was in a short time spread over the city, and from thence
was carried to Whitehall, where the duke of York was and
the general, with a regiment of guards and some horse,
which were quickly drawn together.
137 Sir Richard Browne was then lord mayor of London, a
very stout and vigilant magistrate, who was equally feared
and hated by all the seditious party, for his extraordinary
zeal and resolution in the king's service. Nor was there
any man in England who did raze out the memory of
what he had formerly done amiss with a more signal ac
knowledgment, or a more frank and generous engagement
against all manner of factions, whici\ opposed or obstructed

— 1-138. of the fanatics in London. (1661.) 405
his majesty's service ; which made him terrible and odious
to all ; and to none more than to the presbyterians, who
had formerly seduced him. Upon the alarum, which of
itself had scattered many of the conspirators as they were
going to or were upon the places to which they were as
signed, he was quickly upon his horse, accompanied with
as many soldiers, officers, and friends, as he could speedily
draw together ; and with those marched towards that place
where the most noise was made ; and in his way met many
who ran from the fury of those, " who," they said, " were
in arms;" and reported "their numbers to be very great;
and that they killed all who opposed them." And true it
was they had killed some, and charged a body of the train
bands with so much courage, that it retired with dis
order. Yet when the mayor came, he found the number
so small, not above thirty men, that he commanded them
to lay down their arms ; which when they refused to
do, he charged them briskly. And they defended them
selves with that courage and despair, that they killed and
wounded many of his men ; and very few of them yielded
or would receive quarter, till they were overborne with
numbers or fainted with wounds, and so were taken and
laid hands on.
J38 Their captain, who was to command the whole party
in London, and had for his device in his ensign these
words, The Lord God and Gideon, was a wine
cooper, of a competent estate, a very strong man, who
defended himself with his sword, and killed some of
those who assaulted him, till he fell with his wounds,
as some others about him did ; all whom he had per
suaded, that they should be able to do as much upon
their enemies as Jonathan and his armour-bearer did
upon the Philistines, or any others in the Old Testament
had upon those whom the Lord delivered into their
hands. Nor could they find, upon all his examinations,
that there was any other formed design, than what must

406 Vmner and his associates are executed. Con. 138—
probably attend the declaration of the army, of which he
was assured. He and the other hurt men were committed
to the gaol, and to the special charge of the surgeons,
that they might be preserved for a trial.
J39 The next morning the council met early, and having
received an account of all that had passed, they could not
but conclude, that this so extravagant an attempt could
not be founded upon the rashness of one man, who had
been always looked upon as a man of sense and reason.
And thereupon they thought it necessary to suspend the
disbanding the general's regiment of foot, which had the
guard of Whitehall, and was by the order of parliament
to have been disbanded the next day ; and writ to the
king " to approve of what they had done, and to appoint
it to be continued till further order ;" which his majesty
consented to. And this was the true ground and occa
sion of the continuing and increasing the guard for his
majesty's person ; which no man at that time thought to
be more than was necessary. Order was given for the
speedy trial of Venner and his accomplices; many where
of, with himself, would have died of their wounds, if their
trial had been deferred for many days : but the surgeons'
skill preserved [them] till then ; where they made no
other defence for themselves than what is before men
tioned ; nor did then, or at their deaths, (there being ten
or a dozen executed,) make the least show of sorrow for
what they had attempted.
J4° There is no occasion of mentioning more of the parti
cular proceedings of this parliament ; which though it
met afterwards at the time appointed, and proceeded with
all duty to the king, in raising great sums of money for
the army and the navy, and for the payment of other
great debts, which they thought themselves concerned to
discharge, and which had never been incurred by the
king ; and likewise passed many good acts for the settling
a future revenue for the crown, and a vote that they

— 141. Remarks on the proceedings of parliament. (1661.) 407
would raise that revenue to twelve hundred thousand
pounds yearly : yet they gave not any thing to the king
himself (all the rest was received and paid by those who
were deputed by them to that purpose) but seventy thou
sand pounds towards the discharge of his coronation,
which he had appointed to be in the beginning of May
following. And this seventy thousand pounds was all
the money the king received, or could dispose of, in a
full year after his coming to London ; so that there
could not but be a very great debt contracted in that
time ; for the payment whereof he must afterwards pro
vide as well as he could. I say, I shall not mention more
of the particulars of that parliament, because it was fore
seen by all, that though their meeting had produced all
those good effects, in the restoring the king, disbanding
the army, and many other things, which could be wished ;
yet that the lasting validity of all they had done would
depend upon another parliament, to be legally summoned
by the king, with all those formalities which this wanted ;
and the confirmation of that parliament would be neces
sary for the people's security, that they should enjoy all
that this had granted : so that when I shall speak again
of the proceedings of parliament, it will be of that par
liament which will be called by his majesty's writ.
141 Only before we dissolve this, and because there hath
been so little said of the license and distemper in religion,
which his majesty exceedingly apprehended would have
received some countenance from the parliament, we shall
remember, that the king having by his declaration from
Breda referred the composing and settling all that related
to the government of the church to the parliament, he
could do nothing towards it himself: but by his gracious
reception of the old bishops who were still alive, and his
own practice in his devotions and the government of his
royal chapel, [he] declared sufficiently what should be
done in other places. The party of the presbyterians

408 Declaration concerning ecclesiastical affairs. Con. 141 —
was very numerous in the house of commons ; and had
before the king's return made a committee to devise such
a government for the church, as might either totally ex
clude bishops, or make them little superior to the rest of
the clergy. But the spirit of the time had of itself elect
ed many members, notwithstanding the injunctions sent
out with the writs, and expressly contrary to such [in
junctions], of a very different allay ; who, together with
such as were chosen after his majesty's return, were nu
merous enough to obstruct and check any prevalence of
that party, though not of power enough to compel them
to consent to sober counsels. And so the business was
kept still at the committee, now and then getting ground,
and then cast back again, as the sober members attended ;
so that no report was brought to the house from thence,
which might have given the king some trouble. And by
degrees the heads of that party grew weary of the warmth
of their prosecution, which they saw not like to produce
any notable fruit that they cared for. The king desired
no more, than that they should do nothing ; being sure
that in a little time he should himself do the work best.
And so in September, when he adjourned them, he took
notice, " that they had offered him no advice towards the
composing the dissensions in religion ; and therefore he
would try, in that short adjournment of the parliament,
what he could do towards it himself."
142 And thereupon he was himself present many days, and
for many hours each day, at a conference between many
of the London ministers, who were the heads of the pres
byterian party, with an equal number of the orthodox
clergy, who had been for so many years deprived of all
that they had : which conference was held at Worcester
house in the chancellor's lodgings, to consider what cere-
monies'should be retained in the church, and what altera
tions should be made in the liturgy that had been formerly
used ; and the substance of this conference was afterwards

— 1-143* Disingenuity of the presbyterian ministers. (1661.) 409
published in print. The king upon this published a de
claration concerning ecclesiastical affairs, wherein he took
notice " of the conference that had been in his own pre
sence, and that he had commanded the clergy of both
sides to meet together at the Savoy, in the master's lodg
ings, and, if it were possible, to agree upon such an act
of uniformity, that might be confirmed in parliament."
And in the mean time he signified his pleasure, " that
nobody should be punished for not using The Book of
Common Prayer which had been formerly established, or
for discontinuing the surplice and the sign of the cross ;
and that all who desired to conform to the old practice in
the using them all, should be at the same liberty :" which
declaration was read to, and put into the hands of the
divines of both sides for some days ; and then they were
again heard before his majesty at Worcester [house].
And though it cannot be denied, that either party did
desire that somewhat might be put in, and somewhat left
out, in neither of which they were gratified ; yet it is
most true, they were both well content with it, or seemed
so. And the declaration was published in his majesty's
name before the return of the parliament.
143 Here I cannot but instance two acts of the presby
terians, by which, if their humour and spirit were not
enough discovered and known, their want of ingenuity
and integrity would be manifest ; and how impossible it
is for men who would not be deceived to depend on
either. When the declaration had been delivered to the
ministers, there was a clause in it, in which the king de
clared "his own constant practice of The Common Prayer;
and that he would take it well from those who used it in
their churches, that the common people might be again
acquainted with the piety, gravity, and devotion of it ;
and which he thought would facilitate their living in a
good neighbourhood together ;" or words to that effect.
When they had considered the whole some days, Mr. Ca-

410 Instances of the disingenuity Con. 143 
lamy and some other ministers, deputed by the rest, came
to the chancellor to redeliver it to his hands. They ac
knowledged " the king had been very gracious to them
in his concessions ; though he had [not] granted all that
some of their brethren wished, yet they were contented :"
only desired him, " that he would prevail with the king,
that the clause mentioned before might be left out;
which," they protested, " was moved by them for the
king's own end, and that they might shew their obedi
ence to him, and resolution to do him service. For they
were resolved themselves to do what the king wished ;
and first to reconcile the people, who for near twenty
years had not been acquainted with that form, by inform
ing them that it contained much piety and devotion, and
might be lawfully used ; and then that they would begin
to use it themselves, and by degrees accustom the people
to it : which," they said, " would have a better effect,
than if the clause were in the declaration ; for they
should be thought in their persuasions to comply only
with the king's recommendation, and to merit from his
majesty, and not to be moved from the conscience of the
duty ; and so they should [take] that occasion to manifest
their zeal to please the king. And they feared there
would be other ill consequences from it, by the wayward
ness of the common people, who were to be treated with
skill, and would not be prevailed upon all at once." The
king was to be present the next morning, to hear the de
claration read the last time before both parties ; and then
the chancellor told him, in the presence of all the rest,
what the ministers had desired ; which they again en
larged upon with the same protestations of their resolu
tions, in such a manner, that his majesty believed they
meant honestly; and the clause was left out. But the
declaration was no sooner published, than, observing that
the people were generally satisfied with it, they sent their
emissaries abroad : and many of their letters were inter-

— 145- of the presbyterian ministers. (1661.) 411
cepted ; and particularly a letter from Mr. Calamy to a
leading minister in Somersetshire ; whereby he advised
and entreated him, " that he and his friends would con
tinue and persist in the use of The Directory ; and by no
means admit The Common Prayer in their churches ; for
that he made no question but that they should prevail
further with the king than he had yet consented to in
his declaration."
144 The other instance was, that as soon as the declaration
was printed, the king received a petition in the name of
the ministers of London, and many others of the same
opinion with them, who had subscribed that petition;
amongst whom none of those who had attended the king
in those conferences had their names. They gave his
majesty humble thanks " for the grace he had vouchsafed
to shew in his declaration, which they received as an
earnest of his future goodness and condescension in grant
ing all those other concessions, which were absolutely
necessary for the liberty of their conscience ;" and desired,
with much importunity and ill manners, " that the wear
ing the surplice, and the using the cross in baptism, might
be absolutely abolished out of the church, as being scan
dalous to all men of tender consciences." From those
two instances, all men may conclude, that nothing but a
severe execution of the law can ever prevail upon that
classis of men to conform to government.
MS When the parliament came together again after their
adjournment, they gave the king public thanks for his
declaration, and never proceeded further in the matter of
religion; of which the king was very glad : only some of
the leaders brought a bill into the house " for the making
that declaration a law ;" which was suitable to their other
acts of ingenuity, to keep the church for ever under the
same indulgence, and without any settlement ; which
being quickly perceived, there was no further progress in
it. And the king, upon the nine and twentieth of De-

412 A new parliament is summoned. Con. 145-
cember, after having given them an ample testimony of
their kindness towards him, which he magnified with
many gracious expressions, and his royal thanks for the
settling his revenue, and payment of the public debts,
promised " to send out writs for the calling another par
liament, which he doubted not would confirm all that
they had done ; and in which he hoped many of them
would be elected again to serve :" and so dissolved the
present parliament with as general an applause as hath
been known; though it was quickly known, that the
revenue they had settled was not in value equal to what
they had computed. Nor did the monies they granted
in any degree arise to enough to pay either the arrears to
the army or the debts to the navy ; both which must be
the work of the ensuing parliament ; which was directed
to meet upon the eighth of May following : before which
time, the king made choice of worthy and learned men
to supply the vacant sees of bishops, which had been void
so many years, and who were consecrated accordingly
before the parliament met. And before we come to that
time, some particular occurrences of moment must be
first inserted.
146 When the king arrived in England, monsieur Bordeaux
was there ambassador from the king of France, and had
resided ambassador there about three years in Cromwell's
time, and lived in marvellous lustre, very acceptable and
dear to Cromwell, having treated all the secret alliance
between the cardinal and him ; and was even trusted by
the protector in many of his counsels, especially to dis
cover any conspiracy against him ; for he lived jovially,
made great entertainments to lords and ladies without
distinction, and amongst them would frequently let [fall]
some expressions of compassion and respect towards the
king. After Cromwell's death, his credentials were
quickly renewed to Richard his successor, with whom all
the former treaties were again established. And when

¦ — 147. Of Bordeaux, the French ambassador. (1661.) 413
he was put down, he was not long without fresh credit to
the commonwealth that succeeded : and so upon all vi
cissitudes was supplied with authority to endear his mas
ter's affection to the present powers, and to let them know,
" how well the cardinal was disposed to join the power of
France to their interest." And his dexterity had been
such towards all, that the cardinal thought fit to send him
new credentials against the time of the king's coming to
London. And within few days after, when he had pro
vided a new equipage to appear in more glory than he
had ever yet done, he sent to desire an audience from the
king.
147 The earl of St. Alban's was newly come from France ;
and to him Bordeaux had applied himself, who was al
ways very ready to promote any thing that might be
grateful to that crown. But the king would not resolve
any thing in the point, till he had conferred upon it with
the council : where it being debated, there was an unani
mous consent, (the earl of St. Alban's only excepted, who
exceedingly laboured the contrary,) " that it could not
stand with his majesty's honour to receive him as ambas
sador, who had transacted so many things to his disad
vantage, and shifted his face so often, always in conjunc
tion with his greatest enemies ; and that it was a great
disrespect in the crown of France towards his majesty in
sending such a person, who they could not believe (with
out great undervaluing the king) could be acceptable to
him." The king himself was of that opinion ; and instead
of assigning him a day for his audience, as was desired, he
sent him an express command to depart the kingdom.
And when he afterwards, with much importunity, desired
only to be admitted as a stranger to see his majesty, and
to speak to him, his majesty as positively refused to admit
him to his presence. All which was imputed principally
to the chancellor, who had with some warmth opposed
his being received as ambassador ; and when he sent by a

414 The French ambsssador is dismissed. Con. 147-
person well enough esteemed by the chancellor, " that he
would receive a visit from him," he expressly refused to
see him. Whoever gave the advice, the king had great
honour by it in France itself, which declared no kind of
resentment of it ; and gave poor Bordeaux such a recep
tion, after having served them five years with notable
success, and spent his whole estate in the service, that in
a short time he died heart-broken in misery, and unin-
quired after. And forthwith that king sent the count of
Soissons, the most illustrious person in France, very nobly
accompanied and bravely attended, as his ambassador, to
congratulate his majesty's happy restoration, with all the
compliments of friendship and esteem that can be ima
gined.
148 There was another ambassador at the same time in
London, who might be thought to stand in the same pre
dicament with Bordeaux, though in truth their cases were
very different, and who received a very different treat
ment. That was the ambassador of Portugal, who had
been sent by that crown to finish a treaty that had been
begun by another ambassador with Cromwell, who had
been so ill used, that they had put his brother publicly to
death for a rash action in which a gentleman had been
killed ; upon which he had got leave from his master to
quit the kingdom. And this other ambassador had been
sent in his [room] ; and was forced to consent and sub
mit to very hard conditions, as a ransom for that king's
generosity in assisting the king in his lowest condition, by
receiving prince Rupert with his majesty's fleet in Lisbon,
and so preserving them from a fleet much superior in
number and goodness of the ships, that pursued him by
commission from Cromwell : who took that action so to
heart, that he made war upon that kingdom, took their
ships, obstructed their trade, and blocked up all their
ports; whilst the Spanish army invaded them at land,
and took their towns in the very heart of the kingdom.

T-s-150. Of the ambassador from Portugal. (1661.) 415
And to redeem that poor king from that terrible persecu
tion, that treaty had been submitted to ; in which, besides
the yearly payment of a great sum of money from Portu
gal, which was to continue for many years, other great
advantages in trade had been granted to England. The
king made no scruple of receiving this ambassador with a
very good countenance ; and as soon as he got his cre
dentials, gave him a public audience, with all the for
mality and ceremony that in those cases are usual and
necessary.
J49 And because in some time after a negotiation was set
on foot of the highest importance, and [had] its effect in
the king's marriage with the queen ; and because, how
acceptable soever both that treaty and conclusion of it
was then to the whole kingdom, that affair was afterwards
imputed to the chancellor, and in the opinion of many
proved to be the cause and ground of all his misfortunes ;
I shall here set down all the particulars that introduced
and attended that negotiation and treaty, with all the cir
cumstances, some whereof may appear too light, and yet
are not without weight, to make it appear to all the world,
how far the chancellor was from being the author of that
counsel, (and if he had been, there was no reason to be
ashamed of it,) and that he did nothing before, in, or after
that treaty, but what was necessary for a man in his con
dition, and what very well became a person of that trust
and confidence he was in with his master.
150 It hath been remembered before, that upon the pub
lication of the duke's marriage, and the reconciliation
upon that affair, the chancellor was very solicitous that
the king himself would marry ; that he desired the mar
quis of Ormond very earnestly to advise him to it : and
himself often put his majesty in mind of what he had
said to him in France, when the duke was persuaded to
treat about a marriage with mademoiselle de Longueville,
" that his majesty was by no means to consent, that his

416 The king consults the chancellor Con. 150 —
heir apparent should marry before himself were married,"
for which he had given some reasons ; for which at that
time he underwent great displeasures. And this discourse
he had held often with the king : and sure no man in
England more impatiently desired to see him married
than he did. Indeed it was no easy matter to find a per
son in all respects so fit, that a man would take upon him
to propose in particular; nor did he think himself in
many respects, and with reference to the accidents which
might probably or possibly fall out, fit, if he could have
thought of one, to be the author of the proposition.
'S1 One day the king came to the chancellor's house in
the afternoon ; and being alone with him, his majesty
told him, " that he was come to confer with him upon
an argument that he would well like, which was about
his own marriage;" he said, "the lord chamberlain" (who
was then earl of Manchester) "had held a discourse with
him some days past, that seemed to have somewhat in it
that was worth the thinking of. That he had told him,
the Portugal ambassador had made him a visit, and having
some conference with him concerning the king, towards
whose person he professed a profound respect, he said it
was time for his majesty to think of marriage ; which
nothing could keep him from, but the difficulty of finding
a fit consort for him. That there was in Portugal a prin
cess, in her beauty, person, and age, very fit for him, and
who would have a portioii suitable to her birth and quality.
That it is true she was a catholic, and would never depart
from her religion ; but was totally without that meddling
and activity in her nature, which many times made those
of that religion troublesome and restless, when they came
into a country where another religion was practised. That
she had been bred under a wise mother, who was still re
gent in that kingdom, who had carefully infused another
spirit into her, and kept her from affecting to have any
hand in business, and which she had never been ac-

 152. respecting a marriage proposal. (1661.) 417
quainted with ; so that she would look only to enjoy
her own religion, and not at all concern herself in
what others professed. That he had authority to make
the proposition to the king, with such particularities as
included many advantages above any, he thought, which
could accompany any overture of that kind from another
prince. To which the chamberlain had added, that there
could be no question, but that a protestant queen would
in all respects be looked upon as the greatest blessing to
the kingdom : but if such a one could not be found, he
did really believe, that a princess of this temper and spirit
would be the best of all catholics. That the trade of Por
tugal was great here, and that England had a more bene
ficial commerce with that crown than with any other :
which had induced Cromwell to make that peace, when
he had upon the matter forsworn it ; and the making
it had been the most popular action he had ever per
formed."
152 His majesty said, " that he had only answered the
chamberlain, that he would think of it. But that the
very morning of this day, the ambassador of Portugal
had been with him, and without any formality had
entered into the same discourse, and said all that the
lord chamberlain had mentioned : to which he added,
that he had authority to offer to his majesty five hun
dred thousand pounds sterling in ready money, as a
portion with the infanta; and likewise to assign over,
and for ever to annex to the crown of England, the
possession of Tangier upon the African shore in the
Mediterranean sea, a place of that strength and import
ance, as would be of infinite benefit and security to the
trade of England ; and likewise to grant to the English
nation a free trade in Brasil and in the East Indies, which
they had hitherto denied to all nations but themselves.
And for their security to enjoy that privilege, they would
put into his majesty's hands and possession, and for ever
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. Be

418 The king approves of Con. 152 —
annex to the crown of England, the island of Bombayne,
(with the towns and castles therein, which are within a
very little distance from Bombayne;) and hath within
itself a very good and spacious harbour, and would be
a vast improvement to the East India trade. And those
two places," he said, " of Tangier and Bombayne, might
reasonably be valued above the portion in money." The
king mentioned all the discourse as a matter that pleased
him, and might prove of notable advantage to the king
dom ; and said, " that he had wished the ambassador to
confer with him (the chancellor) upon it;" and then
asked him "what he thought of it:" to which he an
swered, "that he had not heard of it enough to think
of it," (for he had never heard or thought of it before
that moment ;) " and therefore he should not be able to
do more when the ambassador came to him, than to hear
what he said, and report it to his majesty." For the
present he only asked, whether his majesty had given
over all thoughts of a protestant wife:" to which he
answered, "he could find none such, except amongst
his own subjects ; and amongst them he had seen none
that pleased him enough to that end." And observing
the chancellor to look fixedly upon him, he said, " that
he would never think more of the princess of Orange's
daughter, her mother having used him so ill when he
proposed it ; and if he should now think of it, he knew
his mother would never consent to it, and that it would
break his sister's heart : therefore he had resolved never
to entertain that thought again. And that he saw no
objection against this overture from Portugal, that would
not occur [in] any other, where the advantages would not
be so many or so great."
153 What could the chancellor say ? What objection could
he make, why this overture should not be hearkened to?
And what would the king have thought, or what might he
not have thought, if he had advised him to reject this mo-

— I-I53- the marriage proposal. (1661.) 419
tion ? He gave him no other answer for the present, than
" that he desired nothing more in this world, than to see his
majesty well married; and he was very confident that all his
good subjects were of the same mind: and therefore there
must be some very visible inconvenience in [it], when he
should dissuade him not to embrace such an opportunity.
That he would be ready to confer with the Portugal ambas
sador when he came, and then he should entertain his ma
jesty further upon that subject." The ambassador came to
him, repeated what he said and proposed to the king, with
little other enlargement, than concerning the benefit Eng
land would receive by the two places of Tangier and
Bombayne, and the description of their situation and
strength ; of all which the chancellor gave his majesty
a faithful account, without presuming to mingle with it
a word of his own advice. The king appeared abundantly
pleased, and willing to proceed further ; and asked " what
was next [to be] done :" to which he answered, "that [it]
was a matter of too great importance for him to deliver
any opinion upon ; indeed too great for his majesty him
self to resolve, upon the private advice of any one man,
how agreeable soever it should be to his own inclination
and judgment." And therefore he desired him " that he
would call to him four or five persons, whom he thought
to be the most competent considerers of such an affair,
and consult it very maturely with them, before he enter
tained any more conference with the ambassador. For
whatsoever he should [resolve] upon it, it ought yet to
be kept in all possible secrecy : if it should be thought
fit to be rejected, it ought to be without the least noise,
and the least reflection upon the overture, which had
been made with all the possible demonstration of es
teem: if it should appear worthy of entertainment and
acceptation, it would still require the same secrecy ; till
¦the value and consequence of all the particulars proposed
by the ambassador might be fully examined and weighed,
e e 2

420 The king appoints a committee Con. 154. —
and a more particular and substantial assurance given for
the accomplishment, than the bare word of the ambas
sador."
rS4 The king appointed that the lord treasurer, the mar
quis of Ormond, the lord chamberlain, and secretary
Nicholas, should be together at the chancellor's house,
where his majesty would likewise be and propose the
business to them. And accordingly he did relate to
them the whole series of what had passed, and required
them "with all possible freedom to deliver [their] opin
ions, and to consider whether there was any other princess
or lady in their view, with whom he might marry more
advantageously." He added, " that he had spoken both
with the earl of Sandwich and sir John Lawson occasion
ally and merely as loose discourse, what place Tangier
was, which he pointed to in the map, and whether it was
well known to them : and they both said, they knew it
well from sea. But that sir John Lawson had been in
it, and said, it was a place of that importance, that if it
were in the hands of the Hollanders, they would quickly
make a mole, which they might easily do ; that now
ships could not ride there in such a wind," which his
majesty named ; " but if there were a mole, they would
ride securely in all weather ; and they would keep the
place against all the world, and give the law to all the
trade of the Mediterranean :" with which discourse his
majesty seemed very much affected. After many ques
tions and much debate, and some of the lords wishing
that it were possible to get a queen that was a protestant,
and one of them naming the daughter of Harry prince of
Orange, of whom they had heard some mention when his
majesty was beyond the seas, and of whose elder sister
(then married to the elector of Brandenburgh) there had
been some discourse in the life of the late king ; (but his
majesty quickly declared, " that he had very unanswer
able reasons why he could not entertain that alliance :")

-1 35. to consider the marriage proposal. (1661.) 421
all the lords unanimously agreed, "that there was no
catholic princess in Europe, whom his majesty could with
so much reason and advantage marry, as the infanta of
Portugal. That the portion proposed in money, setting
aside the places, was much greater, almost double to what
any king had ever received in money by any marriage.
And the places seemed to be situated very usefully for
trade, the increase whereof his majesty was to endeavour
with all possible solicitude ; which could only make this
nation flourish, and recover the interest they had lost,
especially in the Indies and in the Mediterranean, by
the late troubles and distractions, and the advantage the
Dutch had thereby gotten over the English in those
trades, as well as in other." The king approved all that
had been said, and thereupon appointed all those lords
with the same secrecy to enter into a treaty with the am
bassador ; which was begun between them accordingly.
iss The treaty neither was nor could be a secret ; nor was
there any thing more generally desired, than that a treaty
of alliance and commerce should be made with Portugal,
that the trade might continue with security : and it was
very grateful to every body to know, that there was a
committee appointed to that purpose. But the proposi
tion towards a marriage was still a secret, not communi
cated to any, nor so much as suspected by the Spanish
ambassador, who did all he could to obstruct the very
treaty of alliance ; of whose proceedings there will be
occasion to make mention anon by itself. The ambas
sador offered " to renew the treaty (if that of the mar
riage was consented to ' in terminis') that had been made
with Cromwell, without being so much as exempted from
that yearly payment, which had been imposed upon them
for assisting prince Rupert," and had been assigned to
the merchants to satisfy the damages they had sustained
by prince Rupert ; and the release whereof must have
obliged the king to pay it himself : and therefore that

422 The treaty of commerce Con. 155 —
offer was looked upon as a generous thing. And the
whole treaty, which they had not yet perused, was gene
rally looked upon and believed to be the most advan
tageous to England that had been ever entered into
with any crown.
156 It had been foreseen from the first motion towards this
marriage, that it would be a very hard [matter] with such
alliance, to avoid such a conjunction with Portugal, as would
produce a war with Spain ; which the king had no mind
to be engaged in. For besides that he had received some
civilities from that king, after a world of disobligations, his
resident at Madrid, sir Harry Bennet, had consented in
his majesty's name, that the old treaty, which had been
made between the two crowns in the year 1630, should
be again observed ; of which more anon. But his ma
jesty's firm resolution at that time was, wholly to intend
the composing or subduing the distempers and ill humours
in his three kingdoms and all his other dominions ; and
till that should be fully done, he would have no difference
with any of his neighbours, nor be engaged in any war
which he could avoid : a resolution very prudently made;
and if it had been adhered to, much evil which succeeded
the departure from.it, might have been prevented.
JS7 But the lords found, upon perusal of the treaty, one
article (which was indeed the only article that made any
show of benefit and advantage to Portugal) by which
Cromwell was obliged to assist Portugal when they should
require it, with six thousand foot, to be levied in England
at their charge. And now the ambassador urged, " that
in consideration of the marriage, the portion, the delivery
of those places, and his majesty's own interest by that
marriage in Portugal, which upon the death of the king
and his brother must devolve to his majesty; he would
take upon him the protection of that kingdom, and de
nounce war with Spain :" to which his majesty warmly
and positively answered, " that he would admit no such

-j.58. with Portugal settled. (1661.) 423
engagement ; that he was not in a condition to make a
war, till he could not avoid it. He would do what was
lawful for him to do ; he could choose a wife for himself,
and he could help a brother and ally with a levy of men
at their charge, without entering into a war with any
other prince. And if Spain should, either upon his mar
riage or such supply, declare a war against him, he would
defend himself as well as he could, and do as much
damage as he could to Spain ; and then that he would
apply such assistance to Portugal, as should be most ad
vantageous to it : and that he should not be willing to see
it reduced under the obedience of Spain for many reasons.
That in the mean time he would assist them with the
same number as Cromwell had promised, and transport
them at his own charge thither ; provided that as soon as
they were landed, they should be received in the king of
Portugal's pay :" which offer the king made upon a reason
not then communicated, and which will be mentioned
hereafter ; besides that he had such a body of men ready
for such a service, and which could with much more se
curity and little more charge be transported to Portugal,
than be disbanded in the place where they were.
158 When the ambassador found that the king would not
be persuaded to enter directly into a war with Spain,
though he offered " to put Barcelona into his hands, of
which don Joseph Margarita," (a person who had con
ducted the revolt of that city, and all the rebellion which
had been lately in Catalonia,) " then in Paris, should come
over and give unquestionable assurance," (all which, with
many other propositions of the same nature, his majesty
totally rejected ;) he concluded, that the alliance and
marriage would give a present reputation to Portugal,
and make impression upon the spirits of Spain, and that a
war would hereafter fall out unavoidably : and so accepted
what the king had offered. And then there remained
nothing to be done, but to give unquestionable security

424 The ambassador goes into Portugal for further powers. Con. 158—
to the king, for the performance of all the particulars
which had been promised ; and for which there appeared
yet no other warrant, than letters and instructions to the
ambassador from the queen regent. And for further sa
tisfaction therein, the ambassador offered "presently to
pass into Portugal, and doubted not, in as short a time as
could be expected, to return with such power and au
thority, and such a full concession of what had been pro
posed, as should be very satisfactory :" which his majesty
well liked ; and writ himself to the queen regent and to
the king such letters, as signified " his full resolution for
the marriage, if all the particulars promised by the am
bassador in writing should be made good ;" and writ like
wise a letter with his own hand to the infanta, as to a
lady whom he looked upon as his wife ; and assigned two
ships to attend the ambassador, who immediately, and
with some appearance or pretence of discontent or dis
satisfaction, (that the secret might be the less discovered,)
embarked with all his family for the river of Lisbon. And
to this time the chancellor had never mentioned any par
ticular advice of his own to the king, more than his con
currence with the rest of the lords ; nor in truth had any
of them shewed more inclination towards it, than the king
himself had done, who seemed marvellously pleased, and
had spoken much more in private with the ambassador
upon it, than any of the lords had done, and of some par
ticulars which they were never acquainted with.
159 That I may not break off the thread of this discourse
till I bring it to a conclusion, nor leave out any important
particular that related to that subject, I shall in this place
make mention of a little cloud or eclipse, raised by the
activity and restlessness of the earl of Bristol, that seemed
to interpose and darken the splendour of this treaty, and
to threaten the life thereof, by extinguishing it in the
bud : upon which occasion the chancellor thought himself
obliged to appear more for it than he had hitherto done ;

-160. Behaviour of the earl of Bristol abroad. (1661.) 425
and which afterwards (how unjustly soever) was turned to
his reproach. This earl, (who throughout the whole course
of his life frequently administered variety of discourse,
that could not be applied to any other man,) upon the
defeat of sir George Booth, when all the king's hopes in
England seemed desperate, had not the patience to ex
pect another change that presently succeeded ; but pre
sently changed his religion, and declared himself a Roman
catholic, that he might with undoubted success apply him
self to the service of Spain, to which the present good
acceptation he had with don Juan was the greater en
couragement. He gave account by a particular letter to
the pope of this his conversion, which was delivered by
the general of the Jesuits ; in return of which he received
a customary brief from his sanctity, with the old piece of
scripture never left out in those occasions, " Tu conversus
converte fratres tuos."
160 The noise and scandal of this defection and apostasy in
a sworn counsellor of the king, and one of his secretaries
of state, made it necessary for the king to remove him
from both those trusts, which he had made himself inca
pable to execute by the laws of England, and which he
proposed to himself to enjoy with the more advantage by
his change ; and believed that the king, who seemed to
have no other hopes towards his restoration than in ca
tholic princes, would not think this a season in ordinary
policy to disgrace a servant of his eminency and relation,
for no other reason than his becoming catholic, by which
he should have so many opportunities to serve his master.
And this he had the confidence to urge to the king, before
he was obliged to deliver the signet, and to forbear the
being present any more in council. And this displacing
and remove he imputed entirely to his old friend the
chancellor, (with whom till that minute he had for many
years held a very firm friendship,) and the more, because
he received from his majesty the same countenance he

426 The earl of Bristol's behaviour abroad. Con. i 60-,
had before, without any reprehension for what he had
done ; the king not being at all surprised with his de
claration, because he had long known that he was very
indifferent in all matters of religion, and looked upon the
outward profession of any, as depending wholly upon the
convenience or discommodity that might be enjoyed by
it. And with such discourses he had too much enter
tained the king, who never would speak seriously with
him upon that subject. And truly his own relation of
the manner of his conversion, with all the circumstances,
and the discourse of an ignorant old Jesuit, whom he per
fectly contemned, and of a simple good woman, the abbess
of a convent, which contributed to it, was so ridiculous,
and administered such occasion of mirth, that his majesty
thought laughing at him to be the best reproof. And the
earl bore that so well and gratefully from the king, and
from his other familiar friends too, (for he dissembled his
taking any thing ill of the chancellor,) and contributed so
much himself to the mirth, that he was never better com
pany than upon that argument : and any man would have
believed, that he had not a worse opinion of the religion
he had forsaken, or of any other, by his becoming Roman
catholic.
161 When the king made his journey to Fuentarabia, to
the treaty between the two crowns, the earl of Bristol's
irresistible importunity prevailed with him to permit him
to go likewise, though his majesty had received advertise
ment from sir Harry Bennet, that don Lewis de Haro
desired that he might not come with his majesty thither.
The least part of the mischief he did in that journey was,
that he prevailed with the king to make so many diver
sions and delays in it, that the treaty was concluded before
he came thither, and he was very near being disappointed
of all the fruit he had proposed to himself to receive from
it. However it was finished so much the better, that he
left the earl behind him ; who, in the short time of his

•ii-162. Of the Spanish ambassador. (1661.) 427
stay there, had so far insinuated himself into the grace
and good opinion of don Lewis de Haro, who came with
all the prejudice and detestation imaginable towards him,
(as he had to his extraordinary parts a marvellous faculty
of getting himself believed,) that he was well content that
he should go with him to Madrid, where the king, upon
the memory of his father, (who had deserved well from
that crown, or rather had suffered much for not having
deserved ill,) received him graciously. And there he re
sided in the resident's house, who had been his servant,
in such a repose as was agreeable to his fancy, that he
might project his own fortune ; which was the only thing
his heart was set upon, and of which he despaired in his
own country.
I 162 The news of the king's miraculous restoration quickly
arrived at Madrid, and put an end to the earl's further
designs, believing he could not do better abroad than he
might do in his own country ; and so he undertook his
journey through France, laden with many obligations from
that court, and arrived at London about the time that the
ambassador was embarked for Portugal. The king of Spain
had, soon after the king's arrival in England, sent the prince
of Lygnes with a very splendid ambassage to congratulate
with his majesty, about the time that the count of Soissons
came from France on the same errand. And after his re
turn, the baron of Batteville was sent from Spain as ordi
nary ambassador, a man born in Burgundy in the Spanish
quarters, and bred a soldier; in which profession he was
an officer of note, and at that time was governor of St.
Sebastian's and of that province. He seemed a rough
man, and to have more of the camp, but in truth knew
the intrigues of a court better than most Spaniards ; and,
except when his passion surprised him, wary and cunning
in his negotiation. He lived with less reservation and
more jollity than the ministers of that crown used to do ;
and drew such of the court to his table and conversation,

428 The earl of Bristol's Con. 163-
who he observed were loud talkers, and confident enough
in the king's presence.
163 In the first private audience he had, he delivered a me
morial to his majesty ; in which he required " the delivery
of the island of Jamaica to his master, it having been
taken by his rebel subjects contrary to the treaty of peace
between the two crowns; and likewise that his majesty
would cause Dunkirk and Mardike to be restored to his
catholic majesty, they having not only been taken contrary
to that treaty, but when his majesty was entertained in
that king's dominions with all courtesy and respect." And
he likewise required, in the king his master's name, " that
the king would not give any assistance, nor enter into any
treaty of alliance with Portugal : for that the same, as the
rest, was directly contrary to the last treaty, which was
now again revived and stood in force by the declaration
of his majesty's resident at Madrid ;" which was the first
notice any of his majesty's ministers had of any such de
claration. But when he had delivered those memorials
to the king, he never called for an answer, nor willingly
entered upon the discourse of either of the subjects ; but
put it off merely as a thing he was to do of form once,
that his master's just title might be remembered, but not
to be pressed till a fitter conjuncture. For he easily dis
covered what answer he should receive : and so took the
advantage of the license of the court, where no rules or
formalities were yet established, (and to which the king
himself was not enough inclined,) but all doors open to
all persons. Which the ambassador finding, he made
himself a domestic, came to the king at all hours, and
spake to him when and as long as he would, without any
ceremony, or desiring an audience according to the old
custom ; but came into the bedchamber whilst the king
was dressing himself, and mingled in all discourses with
the same freedom he would use in his own. And from
this never heard of license, introduced by the French and

-*-i65. behaviour abroad. (1661.) 429
the Spaniard at this time without any dislike in the king,
though not permitted in any other court in Christendom,
many inconveniences and mischiefs broke in, which could
never after be shut out.
164 As soon as the earl of Bristol came to the court, he
was very willing to be looked upon as wholly devoted to
the Spanish interest ; and so made a particular friendship
with the Spanish ambassador, with whom he had a former
acquaintance whilst the king had been at Fuentarabia,
that he might give a testimony of his gratitude for the
favours he had received so lately at Madrid. The king
received him with his accustomed good countenance;
and he had an excellent talent in spreading that leaf-gold
very thin, that it might look much more than it was :
and took pains by being always in his presence, and often
whispering in his ear, and talking upon some subjects
with a liberty not ingrateful, to have it believed that he
was more than ordinarily acceptable to his majesty. And
the king, not wary enough against those invasions, did
communicate more to him of the treaty with Portugal,
than he had done to any other person, except those [who]
were immediately trusted in it.
l6S The earl had always promised himself (though he knew
he could not be of the council, nor in any ministry of
state, by reason of his religion) that he was in so good
esteem with his majesty and with most of those who were
trusted by him, that he should have a great share in all
foreign affairs, and should be consulted with in all mat
ters of that kind, in regard of the long experience he had
in foreign parts ; which indeed amounted to no more,
than a great exactness in the languages of those parts.
And therefore he was surprised with the notice of this
affair, and presently expressed his dislike of it, and told
his majesty, "that he would be exceedingly deceived in
it ; that Portugal was poor, and not able to pay the por
tion they had promised. That now it was forsaken by

430 The king's marriage is obstructed by Con. 165—
France, Spain would overrun and reduce it in one year;"
enlarging upon the great preparations which were made
for that expedition, "of which don Lewis de Haro him
self would be general, and was sure of a great party in
Portugal itself, that was weary of that government : so
that that miserable family had no hope, but by transport
ing themselves and their poor party in their ships to
Brasil, and their other large territories in the East Indies,
which were possessed only by Portugueses, who might
possibly be willing to be subject to them. And that this
was so much in the view of all men, that it was all the
care Spain had to prevent it." The king did not inform
him, that he had concluded any thing, and that the am
bassador was gone for more ample powers to satisfy his
majesty, that all that was promised should be performed.
166 The earl, who valued himself upon his great faculty in
obstructing and puzzling any thing that was agreed upon,
and in contriving whereof he had no hand, repaired to
the Spanish ambassador, and informed him, under obliga
tion of secrecy, of what treaty the king was entered upon
with Portugal by the advice of the chancellor ; which he
hoped " that they two should find some means to break."
But the ambassador's breast was not large enough to
contain that secret. He talked of it in all places with
great passion, and then took it up as from common re
port, and spake to the king of it, and said, " the Portugal
ambassador had in his vanity bragged of it to some catho
lics, and promised them great things upon it; none of
which he was confident could be true, and that his ma
jesty could never be prevailed with to consent to such a
treaty, which would prove ruinous to himself and his
kingdom ; for the king of Spain could not but resent it
to such a degree, as would bring great inconvenience to
his affairs." And his majesty forbearing to give him any
answer, at least not such a one as pleased him, his rage
transported him to undervalue the person of the infanta.

-167. the earl of Bristol and the Spanish ambassador. (1661.) 431
He said, " she was deformed, and had many diseases ; and
that it was very well known in Portugal and in Spain,.
that she was incapable to bear children ;" and many par
ticulars of that nature.
167 When he had said the same things several days to the
king, the earl of Bristol took his turn again, and told the
king other things which the ambassador had communi
cated to him in trust, and which he durst not presume to
say to his majesty, and which in truth he had said him
self, being concerning the person of the infanta, and her
incapacity to have children ; upon which he enlarged very
pathetically, and said, "he would speak freely with the
chancellor of it, upon whom the ill consequences of this
counsel would fall." He told him, "there were many
beautiful ladies in Italy, of the greatest houses ; and that
his majesty might take his choice of them, and the king
of Spain would give a portion with her, as if she were a
daughter of Spain ; and the king should marry her as
such." And the ambassador shortly after proposed the
same thing, and enlarged much upon it. And both the
earl and the ambassador conferred with the chancellor
(concealing the propositions they had made concerning
the Italian ladies) " as of a matter the town talked of
and exceedingly disliked, the more because it was gene
rally known, that that princess could not have any chil
dren." The king himself had informed the chancellor of
all that had passed from the ambassador, and of his rude
ness towards the infanta, and his declaring that she could
have no children ; and told him, " that the earl of Bristol
resolved to confer with him, and doubted not to convert
him ;" without seeming himself to have been moved with
any thing that the ambassador or the earl had said to
him : so that when they both came afterwards to him,
not together but severally, and he perceived that his ma
jesty had not to either of them imparted how far he had
proceeded, (but had heard them talk as of somewhat they

432 The king appears much colder Con. 167^
had taken up from public rumour, [and] had himself dis
coursed of it as sprung from such a fountain,) the chan
cellor did not take himself to be at liberty to enter into
a serious debate of the matter with them ; but permitted
them to enjoy the pleasure of their own opinion, and to
believe that either there had been no inclination to such
a treaty, or that the weight of their reasons would quickly
enervate it.
168 Whether the king grew less inclined to marry, and
liked the liberty he enjoyed too well to be willing to be
restrained ; or whether what had been said to him of the
infanta's person, and her unaptness for children, had made
some impression in him ; or whether the earl of Bristol's
describing the persons of the Italian ladies, and magnify
ing their conversations (in which arguments he had natu
rally a very luxurious style, unlimited by any rules of
truth or modesty ;) it is not to be denied, that his ma
jesty appeared much colder, and less delighted to speak
of Portugal, than he had been, and would sometimes
[wish] " that the ambassador had not gone, and that he
would quickly return without commission to give his
majesty satisfaction." He seemed to reflect upon a war
with Spain, " which," he said, " could not possibly be
avoided in that alliance," with more apprehension than
he had formerly done, when that contingency had been
debated. All which discourses troubled the lords who
had been trusted, very much, not conceiviug that the
ambassador's frantic discourse could have any weight in
it, or that the earl of Bristol (whose levity and vanity
was enough known to the king) could make that impres
sion in him. However, it appeared, that the earl was
much more in private with him than he had used to be,
many hours shut up together ; and when the king came
from him, that he seemed to be perplexed and full of
thoughts.
169 One morning the earl came to the chancellor, and after

— 168. towards the marriage treaty. (1661.) 433
some compliments and many protestations of his inviolable
friendship, he told him, " he was come to take his leave
of him for some months, being to begin a long journey as
soon as he should part with him ; for he had already
kissed the king's hand : and his friendship would not
permit him to be reserved towards him, and to keep a
secret of that vast importance from his knowledge." He
said, " that the king had heard such unanswerable reasons
against this marriage with Portugal, that he was firmly
resolved never more to entertain a thought of it; that
the Spanish ambassador had recommended two princesses
to him, whereof he might take his choice, of incomparable
beauty and all excellent parts of mind, who should be
endowed as a daughter of Spain by that king, to whom
they were allied ;" and so named the ladies. He said,
" this discourse had prevailed very far upon the king, as
a thing that could raise no jealousies in France, with
whom he desired so to live, that he might be sure to
have peace in his own dominions. There was only one
thing in which he desired to be better satisfied, which
was the persons, beauties, and good humours of the
princesses ; and that he had so good an opinion of his
judgment, that he was confident if he saw them, he
would easily know whether either of them were like to
please his majesty ; and would so far trust him, that if
he did believe, knowing his .majesty so well as he did,
that one of them would be grateful, he should carry
power with him to propound and conclude a treaty;
which," he said, " he carried with him, and likewise other
letters, upon which he should first find such access and
admission, as would enable him to judge of their nature
and humour as well as of their beauty." He seemed
much transported with the great trust reposed in him,
and with the assurance that he should make the king
and kingdom happy. And he said, " one reason, besides
his friendship, that had made him impart this great
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. F f

434 The Portuguese ambassador returns, Con. r68—
secret, was a presumption, that now he knew how far
his majesty was disposed and in truth engaged in this
particular, he would not do any thing to cross or interrupt
the design." The chancellor, enough amazed, by some
questions found he was utterly uninformed how far the
king stood engaged in Portugal ; and knowing the in
credible power the earl had over himself, to make him
believe any thing he had a mind should be true, he used
little more discourse with him than " to wish him a good
journey."
l69 Upon the first opportunity he told the king all that the
earl had said to him ; with which his majesty seemed not
pleased, as expecting that the secret should have been
kept better. He did not dissemble his not wishing that
the treaty with Portugal might succeed ; and confessed
" that he had sent the earl of Bristol to see some ladies
in Italy, who were highly extolled by the Spanish ambas
sador," but denied that he had given him such powers as
he bragged of. The chancellor thereupon asked him,
" whether he well remembered his engagement, which he
had voluntarily made, and without any body's persuasion, to
the king and queen regent;" and desired him, "to impart
his new resolution to the lords who were formerly trusted
by him. That probably he might find good reason and
just arguments to break off the treaty with Portugal ;
which ought to be first done, before he embarked himself
in another: otherwise that he would so far expose his
honour to reproach, that all princes would be afraid of
entering into any treaty with him." This was every
word of persuasion that he then or ever after used to
him upon this affair; nor did it at that time seem to
make any impression in him. However, he sent for the
lord treasurer, and conferred at large with him and the
lord marquis of Ormond. And finding them exceedingly
surprised with what he had done, and that they gave the
same and other stronger arguments against it than the

— i?o. and is coldly received. (1661.) 435
other had done, his majesty seemed to recollect himself,
and to think, that whatever resolution he should think
fit to take in the end, that he had not chosen the best
way and method of proceeding towards it ; and resolved
to call the earl back, " which," he said, " he could infal
libly do by sir Kenelm Digby, who knew how to send a
letter to him, before he had proceeded further in his
journey, it having been before agreed, that he should
make a halt in such and such places, to the end that he
might be advertised of any new occurrences." And his
majesty did write the same night to him " to return, be
cause it was necessary to have some more conference with
him." And the letter was sent by sir Kenelm Digby,
and probably received by the earl in time. But he con
tinued his journey into Italy ; and after his return pre
tended not to have received that letter, or any other
order to return, till it was too late, being at that time
entered upon the borders or confines of Italy ; in which
he had not the good fortune to be believed.
170 The ambassador of Portugal despatched his voyage with
more expedition than could have been expected, and re
turned, as he believed, with at least as full satisfaction to
all particulars as could be expected ; but found his recep
tion with such a coldness, that struck the poor gentleman
(who was naturally hypochondriac) to the heart ; nor
could he be informed from whence this distemper pro
ceeded. And therefore he forbore to deliver his letters,
which he thought might more expose the honour of his
master and mistress to contempt, and remained quietly
in his house, without demanding a second audience ;
until he could by some way or other be informed what
had fallen out since his departure, that could raise those
clouds which appeared in every man's looks. He saw
the Spanish ambassador exceedingly exalted with the
pride of having put an insolent affront upon the ambas
sador from France, which cost his master dear, and heard
Ff 2

436 The Spanish ambassador Con. 1 70—
that he had bragged loudly of his having broken the
treaty of Portugal. And it is very true, that he did
every day somewhat either vainly or insolently, that gave
the king [offence], or lessened the opinion he had of his
discretion, and made him withdraw much of that counte
nance from him which he had formerly given him. This,
and the return of the Portugal ambassador with a new
title of marquis de Sande, (an evidence according to the
custom of that court, that he had well served his master
in his employment,) put him into new fury ; so that he
came to the king with new expostulations, and gave him
a memorial, in which he said, " that he had order from
his master to let his majesty know, that if his majesty
should proceed towards a marriage with the daughter of
the duke of Braganza, his master's rebel, he had order to
take his leave presently, and to declare war against him."
The king returned some sharp answer presently to him,
and told him " he might be gone as soon as he would,
and that he would not receive orders from the catholic
king how to dispose himself in marriage." Upon which
the ambassador seemed to think he had gone too far;
and the next day desired another audience, wherein he
said, " he had received new orders : and that his catholic
majesty had so great an affection for his majesty and the
good of his affairs, that having understood that, in respect
of the present distempers in religion, nothing could be
more mischievous to him than to marry a catholic ; there
fore," he declared, "that if there were any protestant
lady, who would be acceptable to his majesty," (and
named the daughter of the princess dowager of Orange,)
" the king of Spain would give a portion with her, as
with a daughter of Spain ; by which his majesty's affairs
and occasions would be supplied."
171 The multiplying these and many other extravagancies
made the king reflect upon all the ambassador's proceed
ings and behaviour, and revolve the discourses he had

-172. is required to leave the kingdom. (1661.) 437
held with him ; and to reconsider, whether they had not
made greater impressions upon him, than the weight of
them would bear. He had himself spoken with some
who had seen the infanta, and described her to be a per
son very different from what the ambassador had deliver
ed. He had seen a picture that was reported to be very
like her ; and upon the view of it his majesty said, " that
person could not be unhandsome." And by degrees con
sidering the many things alleged by the ambassador, which
could not be known by him, and could result from nothing
but his own malice, his majesty returned to his old reso
lution ; and spake at large with the [Portugal] ambassa
dor with his usual freedom, and received both the letters
and information he brought with him, and declared " that
he was fully satisfied in all the particulars."
172 Nor did the carriage of the Spanish ambassador con
tribute a little towards his majesty's resolution : for he,
without any other ground than from his own fancy, (for
the king had not declared his purpose to any, nor was the
thing spoken of abroad,) and from what he collected from
his majesty's sharp replies to his insolent expressions, took
upon him to do an act of the highest extravagancy, that
hath been done in Europe by the minister of any state in
this age. He caused to be printed in English the copies
of the memorials which he had presented to the king, and
of the discourses he had made against the match with
Portugal, with the offers the king of Spain had made to
prevent so great a mischief to the kingdom, and other
seditious papers to the same purpose ; and caused those
papers to be spread abroad in the army and amongst [the
populace] ; some whereof were cast out of his own win
dows amongst the soldiers, as they passed to and from
the guard. Upon which unheard of misdemeanour, the
king was so much incensed, that he sent the secretary of
state " to require him forthwith to depart the kingdom,
without seeing his majesty's face," which he would not

438 Some particular overtures Con.
admit him to do ; and to let him know, " that he would
send a complaint of his misbehaviour to the king his
master, from whom he would expect that justice should
be done upon him." The ambassador received this mes
sage with exceeding trouble and grief, even to tears, and
desired, " to be admitted to see the king, and to make
his humble submission, and to beg his pardon ; which he
was ready to do :" but that being denied, within few days
he departed the kingdom, carrying with him the charac
ter of a very bold rash man.
r73 There was an accident about this time, that it is proba
ble did confirm the king in his resolution concerning Por
tugal. At this time cardinal Mazarine was dead, and had
never been observed to be merry and to enjoy his natural
pleasant humour, from the time of the king's restoration,
which had deceived all his calculations, and broken all his
measures. Upon his death the ministry was committed
to three persons, (the king himself being still present at
all their consultations,) monsieur de Tellier and monsieur
de Lionne, the two secretaries of state, and monsieur
Fouquet, surintendant of the finances and procurelir ge
neral du roy, who was a man of extraordinary parts, and
being not forty years of age, enjoyed his full vigour of
body and mind, and in respect of his sole power over the
finances was looked upon as the premier ministre. This
man, as soon as he was in the business, sent an express
into England with a letter to the chancellor. The mes
senger was La Basteede, who, having been secretary dur
ing the time of his being in England to Bordeaux whilst
he was ambassador, spake English very well. He, as soon
as he arrived, went to the chancellor's house, and desired
one of his servants to let his lord know, " that he was
newly come from France, and that he desired to be ad
mitted to a private audience with him, where nobody else
might be present :" and so he was brought into a back
room, whither the chancellor came to him ; to whom he

— 174- from the court of France. (1661.) 439
presented a letter directed to him from monsieur Fou-
quet. The letter after general compliments took notice
" of the great trust he had with his master ; and that he
being now admitted to a part of his master's most secret
affairs, and knowing well the affection that was between
the two kings, much desired to hold a close and secret
correspondence together, which he presumed would be
for the benefit of both their masters." The rest contained
only a credential, " that he should give credit to all that
the bearer should say, who was a person entirely trusted
by him." And then he entered upon his discourse, con
sisting of these parts :
"74 1. " That the king of France was troubled to hear, that
there was some obstruction fallen out in the treaty with
Portugal ; and that it would be a very generous thing in
his majesty to undertake the protection of that crown,
which if it should fall into the possession of Spain, would
be a great damage and a great shame to all the kings in
Europe. That himself had heretofore thought of marry
ing the infanta of that kingdom, who is a lady of great
beauty and admirable endowments ; but that his mother
and his then minister, and indeed all other princes, so
much desired the peace between the crowns, that he was
diverted from that design. And that for the perfecting
that peace and his marriage with Spain, he had been com
pelled to desert Portugal for the present ; and was obliged
to send no kind of assistance thither, nor to receive any
ambassador from thence, nor to have any there : all which
he could not but observe for some time. But that Por
tugal was well assured of the continuance of his affection,
and that he would find some opportunity by one way or
other to preserve it. That he foresaw that his majesty
might not be provided so soon after his return, in regard
of his other great expenses, to disburse such a sum of
money, as the sending a vigorous assistance, which was
necessary, would require. But for that he would take

440 Some particular overtures Con. 174 —
care ; and for the present cause to be paid to his majesty
three hundred thousand pistoles, which would defray the
charge of that summer's expedition ; and for the future,
provision should be made proportionable to the charge :"
and concluded, " that he believed the king could not be
stow himself better in marriage than with the infanta of
Portugal."
J75 2. A second part was, "that there were now in France
ambassadors from the States of the United Provinces, and
the like in England, to renew the alliance with both
crowns ; which they hoped to do upon the disadvanta
geous terms they had used to obtain it. That those
people were grown too proud and insolent towards all
their neighbours, and treated all kings as if they were at
least their equals : that France had been ill used by them,
and was sensible of it ; and that the king had not been
much beholden to them." And therefore he proposed,
" that both kings upon this occasion would so communi
cate their counsels, that they might reduce that people to
live like good neighbours, and with more good manners ;
and that they would treat solely and advance together,
and that the one should promise not to conclude any
thing without communicating it to the other : so that
both treaties might be concluded together."
176 3. " That those particulars, and whatsoever passed
between M. Fouquet and the chancellor, might be re
tained with wonderful secrecy; which it would not be,
if it were communicated to the queen or the earl of St.
Alban's," (who were at that time in France :) " and there
fore his Christian majesty desired, that neither of them
should know of this correspondence, or any particular that
passed by it."
177 When the gentleman had finished his discourse, the
chancellor told him, " that he knew M. Fouquet to be
so wise a man, that he would not invite or enter into
such a correspondence, without the privity and appro-

—178- from the court of France. (1661.) 441
bation of his master : and he presumed that he had like
wise so good an opinion of him, as to believe, that he
would first inform his majesty of all that he had received
from him, before he would return any answer himself.
That he would take the first opportunity to acquaint the
king his master ; and if he would come the next day at
the same hour" (which was about four in the afternoon)
" to the same place, he would return his answer."
'78 The king came the next day before the hour assigned
to the chancellor's house. And when he heard the gen
tleman was come, his majesty vouchsafed himself to go
into that back room; and (the chancellor telling the
other, "that he should be witness to his majesty's ap
probation of his correspondence") took notice of the
letter he had brought, and asked many kind questions
concerning M. Fouquet, who was known to him, and told
him, " that he was very well pleased with the correspond
ence proposed; and that the chancellor should perform
his part very punctually, and with the secrecy that was
desired ; and that he would give his own word, that the
queen nor the earl of St. Alban's should know nothing
that should pass in this correspondence :" which the chan
cellor observing with the fidelity he ought to do, coming
after to be known, kindled a new jealousy and displeasure
in the queen, that was never afterwards extinguished.
The king told him, " he would upon the encouragement
and promise of the French king, of the performance
whereof he could make no doubt, proceed in the treaty
with Portugal ; and give that kingdom the best assistance
he could, without beginning a war with Spain. That for
the treaty with Holland, which was but newly begun,"
(for the States who had made choice of and nominated
their ambassadors before the king left the Hague, did not
send them in near six months after ; which his majesty
looked upon as a great disrespect,) " he would comply
with what the king desired ; and that his Christian majesty

442 An instance of the chancellor's Con. 178 —
should from time to time receive an account how it
should advance, and that he would not conclude any
thing without his privity." How ill both these engage
ments which related to Portugal and Holland were after
wards observed by France, is fit for another discourse by
itself. The gentleman, much satisfied with what the king
had said, proposed " that he would make a cipher against
the next day to be left in the chancellor's hand ; because
M. Fouquet desired, for preservation of the secret, that
the chancellor would always write with his own hand in
English, directed in such a manner as he should propose ;
which would always bring the letters safe to the hands of
him, La Basteede, who was appointed by the king to keep
that cipher, and to maintain that correspondence."
179 There was another circumstance that attended this
private negotiation, that may not be unfitly inserted here,
and is a sufficient manifestation of the integrity of the
chancellor, and how far he was from [being] that corrupt
person which his most corrupt enemies would have him
thought to be. The next morning after he had seen the
king, La Basteede came again, and desired an audience
with the chancellor. He said, " he had somewhat else in
his instructions to say, which he had not yet thought fit
to offer." And from thence he entered in a confused
manner to enlarge " upon the great power, credit, and
generosity of M. Fouquet, the extent of his power and
office, that he could disburse and issue great sums of
money without any account so much as to the king him
self ; without which liberty, the king knew many secret
services of the highest importance could not be perform
ed." He said, " he knew the straits and necessities in
which the chancellor and others about the king had lived
for many years ; and though he was now returned with
much honour, and in great trust with his master, yet he
did suppose he might be some time without those furni
tures of householdstuff and plate, which the grandeur of

— j-i8o. incorrupt integrity. (1661.) 443
his office and place required. And therefore that he had
sent him a present, which in itself was but small, and
was only the earnest of as much every year, which should
be constantly paid, and more, if he had occasion to use
it ; for M* Fouquet did not look upon it as of moment to
himself. But he knew well the faction in all courts,
and that he must have many enemies ; and if he did not
make himself friends by acts of generosity and bounty,
he must be oppressed ; and that he had designed this
supply only to that purpose." He shewed him then bills
of exchange and credit for the sum of ten thousand
pounds sterling, to be paid at sight : and said, " that he
had been with the merchant, who would be ready to pay
it that afternoon ; so that whoever he would please to
appoint should receive it." The chancellor had heard
him with much indignation, and answered him warmly,
" that if this correspondence must expose him to such a
reproach, he should unwillingly enter into it ; and wished
him to tell M. Fouquet, that he would only receive wages
from his own master." The gentleman so little looked
for a refusal, that he would not understand it ; but per
sisted to know " who should receive the money, which,"
he said, " should be paid in such a manner, that the per
son who paid it should never know to whom it was paid ;
and that it should always remain a secret ;" still pressing
it with importunity, till the other went with manifest
anger out of the room.
180 That afternoon the king and duke (who was likewise
informed of the correspondence) came to the chancellor,
and found him out of humour. He told him, " that Fou
quet could not be an honest man, and that he had no
mind to hold that correspondence with him ;" and there
upon repeated what had passed in the morning, with
much choler : which made them both laugh at him, say
ing, " the French did all their business that way :" and
the king told him " he was a fool," implying, " that he

444 Measures in Portugal Con,
should take his money." Whereupon the chancellor be
sought him " not to appear to his servants so unconcern
ed in matters of that nature, which might produce ill
effects ;" and desired him to consider, " what the conse
quence of his receiving that money, with what secrecy
soever, must be. That the French king must either
believe that he had received it without his majesty's
privity, and so look upon him as a knave fit to be de
pended upon in any treachery against his master ; or that
it was with his majesty's approbation, which must needs
lessen his esteem of him, that he should permit his ser
vants of the nearest trust to grow rich at the charge of
another prince, who might the next day become his
enemy." To which the king smiling made no other reply,
"than that few men were so scrupulous;" and com
manded him " to return a civil answer to M. Fouquet's
letter, and to cherish that correspondence, which," he
said, " might be useful to him, and could produce no in
convenience." And so, when La Basteede (who could
not forbear to use new importunity with him to receive
the money, till he found he was much offended) brought
him the cipher, he delivered him his letter for M. Fou
quet. And the next week after his return, the king of
France writ to him in his own hand, "that the corre
spondence M. Fouquet had invited him to was with his
majesty's privity ; and that he was well pleased with it."
And so the correspondence continued till that great man's
fall: and then the king sent all the letters which had
passed, and the cipher, to the chancellor; and writ to
him, "from that time to communicate with all freedom
with his ambassador;" which he was before restrained
from.
,8l After the king had himself conferred at large with the
Portugal ambassador, he referred him again to give the
lords, with whom he had formerly treated, an account
how all particulars were adjusted in Portugal; "which

¦A— 181 relative to the treaty of marriage. (1661.) 445
were," he said, "in this manner. For the portion, the
-queen regent, having resolved not to dispose of any of
the money that was provided for the war, had sold her
own jewels, and much of her own plate, and had bor
rowed both plate and jewels from the churches and mo
nasteries : by which means she had the whole portion
ready, which was all sealed up in bags, and deposited
where nobody could take it to apply to any other use.
For the delivery of Tangier, that the old governor, (who
had lived there long, and was humorous,) [on] whom the
queen could not confidently depend, was removed ; and
another sent, before he left Lisbon, to take that charge,
who was a creature of the queen's, who could not deceive
her, and was so far trusted, that he knew for what end
he was sent thither, and cheerfully undertook to perform
it : and that the fleet which should be sent for the queen
should first go to Tangier, and take possession thereof;
and till that should be delivered into his majesty's hands,
the queen should not embark upon the fleet, nor till all
the money should be put on board. That for the de
livery of Bombayne, it was resolved likewise, that the
vice-king and governor of [Goa], under whom that island
likewise is, should be forthwith recalled; and that an
other," (whom he named,) " of whom the queen had all
assurance, should be sent to that high charge, and should
be transported thither in the fleet which the king would
send to receive the island, and would deliver the same
to the person designed to receive it." He added, " that
there would be another security given, greater than any
of the rest, and such a one as had never been given be
fore in such a case. That the queen should be delivered
on board the fleet, and transported into England, before
she was married : which was such a trust that had never
been reposed in anyprince, who, if he would break his word,
might put an everlasting reproach upon their nation."

446 The king refers the whole to a privy council. Con. r8$
182 The cause of this extraordinary circumstance was truly
this. The power of Spain was so great in the court of
Rome, notwithstanding the interposition and threatening
mediation of France, (whose ambassador declared that
Portugal should choose a patriarch, and have no longer
dependence upon the pope,) that neither Urban, in whose
reign that kingdom severed itself from Spain, nor Inno
cent, nor Alexander, would acknowledge the duke of
Braganza for king, nor receive an ambassador or other
minister from him ; so that they now foresaw, that if they
should, in what manner soever, demand a dispensation at
Rome, (without which the marriage could not be cele
brated in Portugal,) the interest of Spain would cause it
to be denied, or granted in such a manner as should be
worse for them ; for the queen would have been men
tioned only as the daughter and sister of the duke of
Braganza. And before they would receive that affront,
the most jealous and most apprehensive nation in the
world chose rather to send the daughter of the kingdom
to be married in England, and not to be married till she
came thither.
183 Upon the whole matter, the king thought not fit to
make any further exceptions, but resolved to assemble
his whole privy-council, and to communicate the matter
to them ; for it did remain a secret yet, no man knowing
or speaking of it. The council was so full, that there
was only one counsellor that was absent. The king in
formed them of all that had passed in that affair, " how it
was first proposed to him, and the objections which oc
curred to him against it ; for the better clearing whereof
the ambassador had made a voyage into Portugal, and
was returned with such satisfaction to all particulars, that
he thought it now time to communicate the whole to
them, that he might receive their advice." He com
manded then the particular propositions, which were

—1-184. The new parliament meets. (1661.)
offered by the ambassador, to be reported. And there
upon he commanded and conjured all the lords severally
to give him their advice ; for he said, " he had not yet so
firmly resolved, but that he might change his mind, if he
heard reasons to move him : and therefore they would not
deal faithfully with him, if they did not with all freedom
declare their judgment to him." In short, every man de
livered his opinion, and every one agreed in the opinion,
" that it was very fit for his majesty to embrace the pro
positions, which were of great advantage to himself and
the kingdom ;" and that their advice was, " that he should
speedily and without more delay conclude the treaty."
And thereupon his majesty said, " that he looked upon so
unanimous a concurrence as a good omen, and that he
would follow their advice."
184 All this was done between the dissolution of the parlia
ment in December, and the assembling the other in May
following, and upon the first day of its coming together,
which was upon the eighth of May, the very day twelve
month that his majesty had been proclaimed the year be
fore, he told them " that he had deferred it a week, that
they might meet upon that day, for the memory of the for
mer day." The king, after some gracious expressions of his
confidence in them, told them " that they would find what
method he thought best for their proceeding, by two bills
which he had caused to be provided for them, which were
for confirmation of all that had been enacted in the last
meeting ;" and repeated what he had said to them when
he was last there : " that next to the miraculous blessing
of God Almighty, and indeed as an immediate effect of
that blessing, he did impute the good disposition and se
curity they were all in, to the happy act of indemnity
and oblivion : that," his majesty said, " was the principal
corner-stone that supported that excellent building, that
created kindness in them to each other ; and confidence

448 The king presses the act of indemnity, Con. 184
was their joint and common security." He told theni,
" he was still of the same opinion, and more, if it were
possible, of that opinion than he had been, by the ex
perience he had of the benefit of it, and from the un
reasonableness of what some men said against it." He
desired them " to provide full remedies for future mis
chiefs ; to be as severe as they would against new offend
ers, especially if they were so upon old principles ; and
that they would pull up those principles by the roots.
But," his majesty said, " he should never think him a wise
man, that would endeavour to undermine and shake that
foundation of the public peace, by infringing that act in
the least degree ; or that he could be his friend, or wish
him well, who would persuade him ever to consent to the
breach of a promise he had so solemnly made when he
was abroad, and had performed with that solemnity after,
and because he had promised it : and that he could not
suspect any attempts of that kind by any men of merit
and virtue."
18s And this warmth of his majesty upon this subject was
not then more than needed : for the armies being now
disbanded, there were great combinations entered into,
not to confirm the act of oblivion; which they knew
without confirmation would signify nothing. Men were
well enough contented, that the king should grant in
demnity to all men that had rebelled against him ; that
he should grant their lives and fortunes to them, who had
forfeited them to him : but they thought it very unreason
able and unjust, that the king should release those debts
which were immediately due to them, and forgive those
trespasses which had been committed to their particular
damage. They could not endure to meet the same men
in the king's highway, now it was the king's highway
again, who had heretofore affronted them in those ways,
because they were not the kings, and only because they

— 1 86. and speaks of his intended marriage. (1661.) 449
knew they could obtain no justice against them. They
could not with any patience see those men, who not only
during the war had oppressed them, plundered their
houses, and had their own adorned with the furniture
they had robbed them of, ride upon the same horses which
they had then taken from them upon no other pretence,
but because they were better than their own ; but after
the war was ended, had committed many insolent tres
passes upon them wantonly, and to shew their power of
justice of peace, or committee men, and had from the
lowest beggary raised great estates, out of which they
[were] well able to satisfy, at least in some degree, the
damages the other had sustained. And those and other
passions of this kind, which must have invalidated the
whole act of indemnity, could not have been extinguished
without the king's influence, and indeed his immediate
interposition and industry.
186 When his majesty had spoken all he thought fit upon
that subject, he told them, " he could not conclude with
out telling them some news, news that he thought would
be very acceptable to them ; and therefore he should
think himself unkind and ill-natured, if he should not im
part it to them. That he had been often put in mind by
his friends, that it was high time to marry ; and he had
thought so himself, ever since he came into England : but
there appeared difficulties enough in the choice, though
many overtures had been made to him. And if he should
never marry till he could make such a choice, against
which there could be no foresight of any inconvenience
that might ensue, they would live to see him an old ba
chelor, which he thought they did not desire to do." He
said, " he could now tell them, not only that he was re
solved to marry, but whom he resolved to marry, if it
pleased God. That towards his resolution, he had used
that deliberation, and taken that advice, that he ought to
CLARENDON LL?E, VOL. I. G g

450 The proposed marriage is approved by both houses. Con. i 86-
do in a case of that importance, and with a full considera
tion of the good of his subjects in general, as of himself.
It was with the daughter of Portugal. That when he
had, as well as he could, weighed all that occurred to
himself, the first resolution he took, was to state the
whole overtures which had been made to him, and in
truth all that had been said against it, to his privy coun
cil ; without hearing whose advice, he never did nor ever
would resolve any thing of public importance. And," he
said, " he told them with great satisfaction and comfort
to himself, that after many hours debate in a full council,
(for he thought there was not above one absent,) and he
believed upon weighing all that could be said upon that
subject, for or against it ; the lords, without one dissent
ing voice, advised him with all imaginable cheerfulness to
this marriage : which he looked upon as very wonderful,
and even as some instance of the approbation of God
himself. That he had thereupon taken his own resolu
tion, and concluded with the ambassador of Portugal,
who was departing with the whole treaty signed, which
they would find to contain many great advantages to the
kingdom ; and that he would make all the haste he could,
to fetch them a queen hither, who he doubted not would
bring great blessings with her, to him and them."
187 The next day the two houses of parliament, after they
had expressed all the joy imaginable amongst them, sent
to the king, "that he would appoint a time when he
would admit them to his presence:" which when he
had done, both houses of parliament, in a body, pre
sented by the speaker of the house of peers their humble
thanks to his majesty, " for that he had vouchsafed to
acquaint them with his resolution to marry, which had
exceedingly rejoiced their hearts, and would, they doubted
not, draw down God's blessing upon his majesty and the
kingdom." Shortly after, the fleet was made ready, and

 188. New bishops are appointed. (1661.) 451
the earl of Sandwich, admiral thereof, was likewise made
ambassador to Portugal, and appointed to receive the
queen, and to conduct her into England.
This was the whole proceeding, from the beginning to
the end of that treaty about the marriage of the king ; by
the whole circumstances whereof it is apparent enough,
that no particular corruption in any single person could
have brought it to pass in that manner, and that the
chancellor never proposed it, nor heard of it but from
the king himself, nor advanced it afterwards more than
every one of the other lords did ; and if he had done
less, he could neither have been thought a prudent or
an honest man : to which no more shall be added, that
neither before, or in the treaty, or after the marriage, he
ever received the least reward, or the least present from
Portugal.
188 During the interval of parliament, the king had made
choice of many very eminent and learned men, who were
consecrated to some of the sees of bishops which were
void ; that the preservation of the succession might not
depend upon the lives of the few bishops who remained,
and who were all very aged : which could not have been
done sooner, nor till the other parliament, to whom the
settlement of the church had been referred, was dissolved.
Nor could he yet give any remedy to the license in the
practice of religion, which in all places was full of scandal
and disorder, because the liturgy was not yet finished ; till
when, the indulgence by his declaration was not to be re
strained. But at the same time that he issued out his
writs for convening the parliament, he had like [wise] sent
summons to the bishops, for the meeting of the clergy in
convocation, which is the legal synod in England ; against
the coming together whereof the liturgy would be finished,
which his majesty intended to send thither to be examined,
debated and confirmed. And then he hoped to provide,
with the assistance of the parliament, such a settlement
G g2

452 A clamour raised against the bishops Con. 188 —
in religion, as would prevent any disorder in the state
upon those pretences. And it was very necessary to lose
no time in the prosecution of that cure ; for the malignity
against the church appeared to increase, and to be greater
than it was upon the coming in of the king.
) The old bishops who remained alive, and such deans
and chapters as were numerous enough for the corpora
tion, who had been long kept fasting, had now appetites
proportionable. Most of them were very poor, and had
undergone great extremities ; some of the bishops having
supported themselves and their [families] by teaching
schools, and submitting to the like low condescensions.
And others saw, that if they died before they were ena
bled to make some provision for them, their wives and
children must unavoidably starve : and therefore they
made haste to enter upon their own. And now an
ordinance of parliament had not strength enough to
batter an act of parliament. They called their old
tenants to account for rent, and to renew their estates
if they had a mind to it ; for most old leases were ex
pired in the long continuance of the war, and the old
tenants had been compelled either to purchase a new
right and title from the state, (when the ordinance was
passed for taking away all bishops, deans, and chapters,
and for selling all the lands which belonged to them,)
or to sell their present estates to those who had pur
chased the reversion and the inheritance thereof: so
that both the one and the other, the old tenants and
the new purchasers, repaired to the true owners as soon
as the king was restored ; the former expecting to be
restored again to the possession of what they had sold,
under an unreasonable pretence of a tenant right, (as
they called it,) because there remained yet (as in many
cases there did) a year or some other term of their old
leases unexpired, and because they had out of conscience
forborne to buy the inheritance of the church, which was

-19°- and clergy by their tenants. (1661.) 453
first offered to them. And for the refusal thereof, and
such a reasonable fine as was usual, they hoped to have
a new lease, and to be readmitted to be tenants to the
church. The other, the purchasers, (amongst which there
were some very infamous persons,) appeared as confi
dent, and did not think, that according to the clemency
that was practised towards all sorts of men, it could be
thought justice, that they should lose the entire sum
they had disbursed upon the faith of that government,
which the whole kingdom submitted to; but that they
should, instead of the inheritance they had an ill title to,
have a good lease for lives or years granted to them by
them who had now the right ; at least, that upon the
old rent and moderate fines they should be continued
tenants to the church, without any regard to those who
had sold both their possession, and with that all the right
or title that they might pretend to, for a valuable con
sideration. And they had the more hope of this, because
the king had granted a commission, under the great seal
of England, to some lords of the council and to other
eminent persons, to interpose and mediate with the bi
shops and clergy in such cases, as ought not to be prose
cuted with rigour.
19° But the bishops and clergy concerned had not the
good fortune to please their old or their new tenants.
They had been very barbarously used themselves ; and
that had too much quenched all tenderness towards others.
They did not enough distinguish between persons : nor
did the suffering any man had undergone for fidelity to
the king, or his affection to the church eminently ex
pressed, often prevail for the mitigation of his fine ; or if
it did sometimes, three or four stories of the contrary,
and in which there had been some unreasonable hardness
used, made a greater noise and spread further, than their
examples of charity and moderation. And as honest men
did [not] usually fare the better for any merit, so the

454 The king's coronation, April 33. Con.
purchasers who offered most money, did not fare the
worse for all the villainies they had committed. And
two or three unhappy instances of this kind brought
scandal upon the whole church, as if they had been all
guilty of the same excesses, which they were far from.
And by this means the new bishops, who did not all
follow the precedents made by the old, underwent the
same reproaches : and many of them who had most ad
hered to their order, and for so doing had undergone for
twenty years together sundry persecutions and oppres
sions, were not in their present passion so much pleased
with the renewing it, as they expected to have been.
Yet upon a very strict examination of the true grounds
of all those misprisions, (except some few instances which
cannot be defended,) there will be found more passion
than justice in them ; and that there was even a neces
sity to raise as much money as could be justly done, for
the repairing the cathedrals, which were all miserably
ruinated or defaced, and for the entirely building up many
houses of the prebends, which had been pulled down or
let fall to the ground. And those ways much more of
those monies which were raised by fines were issued and
expended, than what went into the private purses of
them who had a right to them, and had need enough of
them. But the time began to be froward again, and all
degrees of men were hard to be pleased ; especially when
they saw one classis of men restored to more than they
had ever lost, and preferred to a plenty they had never
been acquainted with, whilst themselves remained reme
diless after so many sufferings, and without any other
testimony of their courage and fidelity, than in the ruin
of their fortunes, and the sale of their inheritance.
191 Another great work was performed, between the dis
solution of the last and the beginning of the next parlia
ment, which was the ceremony of the king's coronation ;
and was done with the greatest solemnity and glory, that

—192. The king's coronation, April 23. (1661.) 455
ever any had been seen in that kingdom. That the novel
ties and new inventions, with which the kingdom had been
so much intoxicated for so many years together, might
be discountenanced and discredited in the eyes of the
people, for the folly and want of state thereof; his ma
jesty had directed the records and old formularies should
be examined, and thereupon all things should be prepared,
and all forms accustomed be used, that might add lustre
and splendour to the solemnity. A court of claims was
erected, where before the lords commissioners for that
service, all persons made claim to those privileges and
precedency, which they conceived to be due to their
persons, or the offices of which they were possessed, in
the ceremony of the coronation ; which were allowed or
rejected as their right appeared.
192 The king went early in the morning to the Tower of
London in his coach, most of the lords being there before.
And about ten of the clock they set forward towards
Whitehall, ranged in that order as the heralds had ap
pointed ; those of the long robe, the king's council at
law, the masters of the chancery, and judges, going first,
and so the lords in their order, very splendidly habited,
on rich footcloths; the number of their footmen being
limited, to the dukes ten, to the earls eight, and to the
viscounts six, and the barons four, all richly clad, as their
other servants were. The whole show was the most glori
ous in the order and expense that had been ever seen in
England ; they who rode first being in Fleet-street when
the king issued out of the Tower, as was known by the
discharge of the ordnance : and it was near three of the
clock in the afternoon, when the king alighted at White
hall. The next morning the king rode in the same state
in his robes and with his crown on his head, and all the
lords in their robes, to Westminster-hall ; where all the
ensigns for the coronation were delivered to those who
were appointed to carry them, the earl of Northumber-

456 Two unlucky accidents Con. 192-
land being made high constable, and the earl of Suffolk
earl marshal, for the day. And then all the lords in
their order, and the king himself, walked on foot upon
blue cloth from Westminster-hall to the abbey church,
where, after a sermon preached by Dr. Morley, (then
bishop of Worcester,) in Henry the Seventh's chapel, the
king was sworn, crowned, and anointed, by Dr. Juxon,
archbishop of Canterbury, with all the solemnity that in
those cases had been used. All which being done, the
king returned in the same manner on foot to Westmin
ster-hall, which was adorned with rich hangings and
statues; and there the king dined, and the lords on
either side at tables provided for them : and all other
ceremonies were performed with great order and mag
nificence.
193 I should not have enlarged thus much upon the cere
mony of the coronation, it may be not mentioned it, (a
perfect narration having been then made and published
of it, with all the grandeur and magnificence of the city
of London,) but that there were two accidents in it, the
one absolutely new, the other that produced some incon
veniences which were not then discerned. The first was,
that it being the custom in those great ceremonies or
triumphs of state, that the master of the king's horse
(who is always a great man, and was now the duke of
Albemarle, the general) rides next after the king with
a led horse in his hand : in this occasion the duke of
York privately prevailed with the king, who had not
enough reverence for old customs, without any consulta
tion, that his master of his horse, (so he was called,)
Mr. Jermyn, a younger, brother of a very private gentle
man's family, should ride as near his person as the gene
ral did to his majesty, and lead a horse likewise in his
hand ; a thing never heard of before. Neither in truth
hath the younger brother of the king such an officer as
master of his horse, which [is] a term restrained within

-194- which attended the coronation. (1661.) 457
the family of the king, queen, and prince of Wales : and
the two masters of the horse to the queen and prince are
subordinate to the king's master of his horse, who hath
the jurisdiction over the other. The lords were exceed
ingly surprised and troubled at this, of which they heard
nothing till they saw it ; and they liked it the worse,
because they discerned that it issued from a fountain, from
whence many bitter waters were like to flow, the customs
of the court of France, whereof the king and the duke
h^Jgojnjj£h_Jhfi„imaga. in j&ejrjheads, and than which
there could not be a copy more universally ingrateful and
odious to the English nation.
19 4 The other was : In the morning of the coronation,
whilst they sat at the table in Westminster-hall, to see
the many ensigns of the coronation delivered to those
lords who were appointed to carry them, the earl of
Northumberland, who was that day high constable, came
to the king and told him, " that amongst the young
noblemen who were appointed to carry the several parts
of the king's mantle, the lord Ossory, who was the eldest
son to the duke of Ormond, challenged the place before
the lord Percy, who was his eldest son ; whereas," he said,
" the duke of Ormond had no place in the ceremony of
that day, as duke, but only as earl of Brecknock, and so
the eldest sons of all ancienter earls ought to take place
of his eldest son ;" which was so known a rule, and of so
general a concernment, that the king could not choose
but declare it, and send a message to the lord Ossory by
the lord chamberlain, "that he should desist from his pre
tence." This, and the public manner of asking and deter
mining it, produced two ill effects. The first, a jealousy
and ill understanding between the two great families : the
one naturally undervaluing and contemning his equals,
without paying much regard to his superiors ; and the
other not being used to be contemned by any, and well
knowing that all the advantages the earl had in England,

458 Interment of the late king intended ; Con.
either in antiquity or fortune, he had the same in Ireland,
and that he had merited and received an increase of title,
when the other had deserved to lose that which he was
born to. The other, was a jealousy and prejudice that it
raised in the nobility of England, as if the duke of Or
mond (who in truth knew nothing of it) had entered upon
that contest, in hope that by his interest in the king he
should be able to put this eternal affront upon the peers
of England, to bring them upon the same level with those
of Ireland, who had no such esteem. And it did not a
little add to their envy, that he had behaved himself so
worthily throughout the ill times, that he was the object
of an universal reverence at home and abroad ; which was
a reproach to most of them, whose actions would not bear
the light. But as the duke was not in the least degree
privy to the particular contest, nor raised the value of
himself from any merit in his services, nor undervalued
others upon the advantage of their having done amiss ; so
he was abundantly satisfied in the testimony of his own
conscience, and in his unquestionable innocence, and from
thence too much despised the prejudice and the envy the
others had towards him, the marks whereof he was com
pelled afterwards to bear, which he did with the same
magnanimity.
195 Before we proceed further in the relation of what was
afterwards done, it will not be unseasonable in this place
to give an account of somewhat that was not done, and
which was generally expected to have been done, and as
generally censured because it was not ; the reason whereof
is known to very few. The king had resolved before his
coming into England, that as soon as he should be settled
in any condition of security, and no just apprehension of
future troubles, he would take up and remove the body of
his father, the last king, from Windsor, and inter it with
all solemnity at Westminster ; and that the court should
continue in mourning till the coronation. And many good

— 196- but the body could not be found. (1661.) 459
people thought this so necessary, that they were much
troubled that it was not done, and liked not the reasons
which were given, which made it appear that it had been
considered. The reasons which were given in public dis
courses from hand to hand, were two. The first; that
now ten years were past since that woful tragedy, and
the joy and the triumph for the king's return had com
posed the minds of the people, it would not be prudent
to renew the memory of that parricide, by the spectacle
of a solemn funeral ; lest it might cause such commotions
of the vulgar in all places, as might produce great dis
orders and insurrections amongst those who had formerly
served the kingdom, as if it were a good season and a new
provocation to take revenge upon their neighbours, who
had formerly tyrannized over them ; which might likewise
have caused the soldiers, who were newly disbanded, to
draw themselves together for their own security : and so
the peace would be at least disturbed. The other was ;
that to perform this interment in any private manner,
would be liable to very just censure, when all things re
lating to the king himself had shewed so magnificently ;
and if it were done with the usual pomp of a solemn in
terment of a king, the expense would be so vast, that
there would be neither money found nor credit for the
charge thereof.
»96 These were the reasons alleged and spread abroad ; nor
was, either of them in itself without weight to thinking
men. But the true reason was : at the time of that horrid
murder, Windsor was a garrison under the command of a
citizen, who was an anabaptist, with all his officers and
soldiers. The men had broken down all the wainscot,
rails, and partitions which divided the church, defaced all
the monuments and other marks, and reduced the whole
into the form of a stable or barn, and scarce fit for any
other use; when Cromwell had declared that the royal
body should be privately interred in the church of the

460 The affairs of Ireland resumed. Con. 196-
castle at Windsor, and the marquis of Hertford, the duke
of Richmond, the earls of Southampton and Lindsey, had
obtained leave to be present, (only to be present, for they
had no power to prepare or do any thing in it) at their
master's burial. Those great men were not suffered to
have above three servants each, to enter into the castle
with them; and it may easily be concluded, that their
own noble hearts were too full of sorrow, to send their
eyes abroad to take notice of the places by which they
passed. They found the church so wild a place, they
knew not where they were ; and as [soon as] the royal
body was put into the ground, they were conducted out
of the castle to their lodging in the town, and the next
morning returned to their several houses. Shortly after
the king returned from beyond the seas, he settled the
dean and chapter of Windsor, with direction to put his
royal chapel there into the order it used to be, and to
repair the ruins thereof, which was a long and a difficult
work. His majesty commanded the dean carefully to
inform himself of the place, in which the king's body
had been interred, and to give him notice of it. Upon
inquiry he could not find one person in the castle or in
the town who had been present at the burial. When the
parliament first seized upon the castle and put a garrison
into it, shortly after, they had not only ejected all the
prebends and singingmen of the royal chapel, but had
turned cut all the officers and servants who had any
relation to the king or to the church, except only those
who were notorious for their infidelity towards the king
or the church : and of those, or of the officers or soldiers
of the garrison, there could not now one man be found
who was in the church when the king was buried. The
duke of Richmond and the marquis of Hertford were
both dead : and the king sent (after he had received that
account from the dean) the two surviving lords, the earl
of Southampton and of Lindsey, to Windsor ; who taking

-198. Character of lord Roberts, the deputy. (i66r.) 461
with them as many of those three servants who had been
admitted to attend them, as were now living, they could
not recollect their memories, nor find any one mark by
which they could make any judgment, near what place
the king's body lay. They made some guess, by the in
formation of the workmen who had been now employed
in the new pavement of the church, and upon their ob
servation that the earth had seemed to lie lighter, that
it might be in or near that place : but when they had
caused it to be digged, and searched [in] and about it,
they found nothing. And upon their return, the king
gave [over] all further thought of inquiry : and those
other reasons were cast abroad upon any occasional in
quiry or discourse of that subject.
197 That which gave the king most trouble, and deprived
him of that ease and quiet which he had promised to
himself during the vacation between the two parliaments,
was the business of Ireland ; which we shall now take up
again, and continue the relation without interruption, as
long as we shall think fit to make any mention of that
affair. We left it in the hands of the lord Roberts, whom
the king had declared deputy of Ireland, presuming that
he would upon conference with the several parties, who
were all appointed to attend him, so shape and model the
whole bulk, that it might be more capable of some further
debate before his majesty in council : but that hand did
not hold it many days.
198 That noble lord, though of a good understanding, was
of so morose a nature, that it was no easy matter to treat
with him. He had some pedantic parts of learning, which
made his other parts of judgment the worse, for he had
some parts of good knowledge in the law, and in an
tiquity, in the precedents of former times ; all which were
rendered the less useful, by the other pedantry contracted
out of some books, and out of the ill conversation he had
had with some clergymen and people in quality much be-

462 Of lord Roberts, the deputy : Con. 198 —
low him, by whose weak faculties he raised the value of
his own, which were very capable of being improved in
better company. He was naturally proud and imperious ;
which humour was increased by an ill education ; for ex
cepting some years spent in the inns of court amongst the
books of the law, he might be very justly said to have
been born and bred in Cornwall. There were many days
passed after the king's declaration of him to be deputy,
before he could be persuaded to visit the general, who he
knew was to continue lieutenant; and when he did visit
him, it was with so ill a grace, that the other received no
satisfaction in it, and the less, because he plainly dis
cerned that it proceeded from pride, which he bore the
more uneasily, because as he was now the greater man, so
he knew himself to be of a much better family. He made
so many doubts and criticisms upon the draught of his
patent, that the attorney general was weary of attending
him ; and when all things were agreed on at night, the
next morning produced new dilemmas. But that which
was worse than all this, he received those of the Irish
nation of the best quality, and who were of the privy
council and chief command in that kingdom, so super
ciliously; received their information so negligently, and
gave his answers so scornfully ; that after they had waited
upon him four or five days, they besought the king that
they might not be obliged to attend him any more. And
it was evident, that his carriage towards them was not to
be submitted to by persons of his own quality, or of any
liberal education : nor did he make any advance towards
the business.
199 This gave the king very great trouble, and them as
much pleasure who had never liked the designation. He
knew not what to do with his deputy, nor what to do for
Ireland. The lord Roberts was not a man that was to be
disgraced and thrown off, without much inconvenience
and hazard. He had parts which in council and parlia-

-aoo. the king offers him the privy seal. (1661.) 463
ment (which were the two scenes where all the king's
business lay) were very troublesome ; for of all men alive
who had so few friends, he had the most followers. They
who conversed most with him knew him to have many
humours which were very intolerable ; they who were
but a little acquainted with him, took him to be a man
of much knowledge, and called his morosity gravity, and
thought the severity of his manners made him less grate
ful to the courtiers. He had no such advantageous fa
culties in his delivery as could impose upon his auditors ;
but he was never tedious, and his words made impression.
In a word, he was such a man as the king thought worthy
to be compounded with. And therefore his majesty ap
pointed the lord chancellor and the lord treasurer to con
fer with him, and to dispose him to accept the office of
privy seal, which gave him a great precedence that would
gratify that passion which was strongest in him ; for in
his nature he preferred place before money, which his
fortune stood more in need of. And the king thought,
it would be no ill argument to incline him to give over
the thought of Ireland, that it was impossible for the
king to supply him for the present with near any such
sum of money as he had very reasonably demanded, for
the satisfaction of the army there, (which was upon the
matter to be new modelled, and some part of it disband
ed,) with the reduction of many officers, and for his own
equipage.
200 They began their approach to him, by asking him
" when he would be ready for his journey to Ireland ;''
to which he answered with some quickness, " that he
was confident there was no purpose to send him thither,
for that he saw there was no preparation of those things,
without which the king knew well that it was not pos
sible for him to go ; nor had his majesty lately spoken to
him of it. Besides, he had observed, that the chancellor
had for many days past called him at the council, and in

464 Lord Roberts accepts the privy seal. Con. 300-'
all other places where they met, by the name of lord
Roberts ; whereas, for some months before, he had upon
all occasions and in all places treated him with the style
of lord deputy : which gave him first cause to believe,.
that there was some alteration in the purpose of sending
him thither." They both assured him, "that the king
had no other person in his view but himself for that ser
vice, if he were disposed to undertake it vigorously ; but
that the king had forborne lately to speak with him of it,
because he found it impossible for him to provide the
money he proposed ; and it could not be denied, that he
had proposed it very reasonably in all respects. How
ever, it being impossible to procure it, and that he could
not go without it, for which he could not be blamed, his
majesty must find some other expedient to send his au
thority thither, the government there being yet so loose,
that he could not but every day expect to receive news
of some great disorder there, the ill consequence whereof
would be imputed to his majesty's want of care and pro
vidence. That his majesty had yet forborne to think of
that expedient, till he might do it with his consent and
advice, and until he could resolve upon another post,
where he might serve his majesty with equal honour, and
by which the world might see the esteem he had of him.
And therefore since it would be both unreasonable and
unjust, to press him to go for Ireland without those sup
plies, and it was equally impossible to prepare and send
those supplies," they said, "the king had commanded
them to propose to him that he would make him lord
privy seal, an office he well understood. And if he ac
cepted that, and were possessed of it, (as he should im
mediately be,) his majesty would enter upon new con
siderations how to settle the tottering condition of Ire
land." The lord's dark countenance presently cleared
up, having no doubt expected to be deprived of his title
to Ireland, without being assigned any other any where

r202. The king hears all parties. (1661.) 465
else : and now being offered the third place of precedence
in the nobility, the privy seal going next to the treasurer,
upon a very short recollection, he declared "that he
received it as a great honour, that the king would make
[use] of his service in any place, and that he submitted
wholly to his good pleasure, and would serve him with
great fidelity." The next day the king gave him the
privy seal at the council-board, where he was sworn and
took his place ; and to shew his extraordinary talent,
found a way more to obstruct and puzzle business, at
least the despatch of it, than any man in that office had
ever done before : insomuch as the king found himself
compelled, in a short time after, to give order that most
grants and patents, which required haste, should pass by
immediate warrant to the great seal, without visiting the
privy seal ; which preterition was not usual, and brought
some inconvenience and prejudice to the chancellor.
201 Though the king had within himself a prospect of the
expedient, that would be fittest for him to make use of
for the present, towards the settlement of Ireland ; yet it
was absolutely necessary for him, even before he could
make use of that expedient, to put the several claims
and petitions of right which were depending before him,
and which were attended with such an unruly number of
suitors, into some such method of examining and deter
mining, that they might not be left in the confusion they
were then in. And this could not be done, without his
imposing upon himself the trouble of hearing once at large,
all that every party of the pretenders could allege for the
support of their several pretences : and this he did with
incredible patience for very many days together. We
shall first mention those interests which gave the king
least trouble, because they admitted least debate.
202 It was looked upon as very scandalous, that the mar
quis of Ormond should remain so long without the pos
session of any part of his estate ; which had been taken
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. H "¦

466 The king's friends are restored, Con. 202—
from him upon no other pretence, but his adhering to
the king. And therefore there was an act of parliament
passed with the consent of all parties, that he should be
presently restored to all his estate ; which was done with
the more ease, because the greatest part of it (for his
wife's land had been before assigned to her in Cromwell's
time, or rather in his son Harry's) lay within that pro
vince which Cromwell out of his husbandry had reserved
for himself, exempt from all title or pretence of adven
turer or soldier : what other part of his estate either the
one or the other were possessed of, in their own judg
ments [it] was so impossible for them to enjoy, that they
very willingly yielded it up to the marquis, in hope of
having recompense made to them out of other lands.
There could as little be said against the restoration of
the earl of Inchiquin to his estate, which had been taken
from him and distributed amongst the adventurers and
soldiers, for no other cause but his serving the king.
There were likewise some others of the same classis, who
had nothing objected to them but their loyalty, who were
put into the possession of their own estates. And all
this gave no occasion of murmur ; every man of what
interest soever believing, or pretending to believe, that
the king was obliged in honour, justice, and conscience,
to cause that right to be done to those who [had] served
him faithfully.
203 There could be as little doubt, and there was as little
opposition visible, in the claim of the church : so that
the king made choice of many grave divines, to whom he
assigned bishoprics in Ireland, and sent them thither, to
be consecrated by the bishops who remained alive there
according to the laws of that kingdom ; and conferred
the other dignities and church-preferments upon worthy
men, who were all authorized to enter upon those lands,
which belonged to their several churches. And in this
general zeal for the church, some new grants were made

—204- and also church lands. (1661.) 467
of lands and impropriations, which were not enough de
liberated, and gave afterwards great interruption to the
settlement of the kingdom, and brought envy upon the
church and churchmen, when the restoration to what was
their own was generally well approved.
204 The pretences of the adventurers and soldiers were
very much involved and perplexed : yet they gave the
king little other trouble, than the general care and so
licitude, that by an unseasonable disturbance of their
possessions there, the soldiers who had been disbanded
and those of the standing army (who for the most part
had the same ill affections) might not unite together, and
seize upon some places of defence, before his affairs in
that kingdom should be put in such an order as to oppose
them. And next that apprehension, his majesty had no
mind that any of those soldiers, either who had been dis
banded, and put into possession of lands for the arrears of
their pay, and upon which they now lived ; or of the
other, the standing army, many whereof were likewise in
possession of lands assigned to them ; I say, the king was
not without apprehension, that the resort of either of
these into England might find too many of their old
friends and associates, ready to concur with them in any
desperate [measures], and for controlling of which he was
[not] enough provided even in this kingdom. But for
their private and particular interest, the king cared not
much how it was compounded, nor considered the danger
if it were not compounded. For besides the factions, di
visions, and animosities, which were between themselves,
and very great ; they could have no cause of complaint
against the king, who would take nothing from them to
which they had the least pretence of law or right. And
for their other demands, he would leave them to litigate
between themselves ; it being evident to all men, that
there must be some judicatory erected by act of parlia
ment, that only could examine and put an end to all those
h h 2

468 The king is inclined to favour the pretensions Con. 204 —
pretences : and the perusal and examination of which act
of parliament, when the same should be prepared, his
majesty resolved that all parties should have, and that he
would hear their particular exceptions to it, before he
would transmit it into Ireland to be passed.
205 That which gave the king the only trouble and solici
tude, was the miserable condition of the Irish nation, that
was so near an extirpation ; the thought whereof his ma
jesty's heart abhorred. Nor can it be denied, that either
from the indignation he had against those, in whose favour
the other poor people were miserably destroyed, or from
his own natural compassion and tenderness, and the just
regard of the merit of many of them who had served him
with fidelity, he had a very strong and princely inclination
to do the best he could, without doing apparent injustice,
to preserve them in a tolerable condition of subjects.
This made him give them, who were most concerned and
solicitous on their behalf, liberty to resort to his presence,
and hear all they could allege for themselves, in private or
in public. And this indulgence proved to their disad
vantage, and exalted them so much, that when they were
heard in public at the board, they behaved themselves
with less modesty towards their adversaries, who stood
upon the advantage-ground, and with less reverence in
the presence of the king, than the truth of their con
dition and any ordinary discretion would have required.
And their disadvantage was the greater, because they
who spake publicly on their behalf, and were very well
qualified to speak, and left nothing for the matter unsaid
that was for their purpose, were men, who from the be
ginning to the end of the rebellion, bad behaved them
selves eminently ill towards the king. And they of their
adversaries who spake against them, had great knowledge
and experience of all that had passed on either side, and
knew how to press it home when it was seasonable.
206 They of the Irish, who were all united under the name

—207- of the Irish catholics : their plea. (1661.) 469
of the confederate catholics of Ireland, made their first
approach wisely for compassion ; and urged " their great
and long sufferings ; the loss of their estates for five or
six and twenty years ; the wasting and spending of the
whole nation in battles, and transportation of vast multi
tudes of men into the parts beyond the seas, whereof
many had the honour to testify their fidelity to the king
by real services, and many of them returned into England
with him, and were still in his service ; the great num
bers of men, women, and children, that had been mas
sacred and executed in cold blood, after the king's go
vernment had been driven from thence ; the multitudes
that had been destroyed by famine and the plague, those
two heavy judgments having raged over the kingdom for
two or three years ; and at last, as a persecution unheard
of, the transplanting the small remainder of the nation
into one corner of the province of Connaught, where yet
much of the lands was taken from them, which had been
assigned with all those formalities of law, which were in
use, and practised under that government."
207 2. They demanded " the benefit of two treaties of
peace, the one in the late king's time and confirmed by
him, the other confirmed by his majesty who was present ;
by both which," they said, " they stood indemnified for
all acts done by them in the rebellion ; and insisted upon
their innocence since that time, and that they had paid
so entire an obedience to his majesty's commands whilst
he was beyond the seas, that they betook themselves to,
and withdrew themselves from, the service of France or
Spain, in such manner as his majesty signified his pleasure
what they should do." And if they had ended here, they
would have done wisely. But whether it was the ob
servation they made, that what they had said made im
pression upon his majesty and many of the lords; or
whether it was their evil genius that naturally transported
them to actions of strange sottishness and indiscretion ;

470 The plea of Con. 207-
they urged and enforced, with more liberty than became
them in that conjuncture, " the unworthiness and inca
pacity of those, who for so many years had possessed
themselves of their estates, and sought now a confirma
tion of their rebellious title from his majesty.
208 3. « That their rebellion had been more infamous and
of a greater magnitude than that of the Irish, who had
risen in arms to free themselves from the rigour and
severity that was exercised upon them by some of the
king's ministers, and for the liberty of their conscience
and practice of their religion, without having the least
intention or thought of withdrawing themselves from his
majesty's obedience, or declining his government : where
as the others had carried on an odious rebellion against
the king's sacred person, whom they had horridly mur
dered in the sight of the sun, with all imaginable circum
stances of contempt and defiance, and as much as in them
lay had rooted out monarchy itself, and overturned and
destroyed the whole government of church and state : and
therefore that whatever punishment the poor Irish had
deserved for their former transgressions, which they had
so long repented of, and departed from the rebellion
when they had armies and strong towns in their hands,
which they, together with themselves, had put again
under his majesty's protection ; whereas this part of the
English, who were possessed of their estates, had broken
all their obligations to God and the king, and so could
not merit to be gratified with their ruin and total de
struction. That it was too evident and notorious to the
world, that his majesty's three kingdoms had been very
faulty to him, and withdrawn themselves from his govern
ment ; by which he had been compelled to live in exile
so many years : and yet, that upon their return to their
duty and obedience, he had been graciously pleased to
grant a free and general ' pardon and act of indemnity in
which many were comprehended, who in truth had been

—a-209- the Irish catholics. (1661.) ^ 471
the contrivers and fomenters of all the misery and desola
tion, which had involved the three nations for so many
years. And therefore that they hoped, that when all his
majesty's other subjects (as criminal at least as they were)
were, by his majesty's clemency, restored to their own
estates which they had forfeited, and were in full peace,
mirth, and joy ; the poor Irish alone should not be totally
exempt from all his majesty's grace, and left in tears and
mourning and lamentation, and be sacrificed without
redemption to the avarice and cruelty of those, who had
not only spoiled and oppressed them, but had done all
that was in their power, and with all the insolence
imaginable, to destroy the king himself and his posterity,
and who now returned to their obedience, and had sub
mitted to his government, when they were no longer
able to oppose it. Nor did they yet return to it with
that alacrity and joy and resignation as the Irish did, but
insisted obstinately upon demands unreasonable, and which
they hoped could not consist with his majesty's honour to
grant :" and so concluded with those pathetical applica
tions and appeals to the king, as men well versed in dis
courses of that nature are accustomed to.
209 This discourse, carried on and urged with more passion,
vehemence, and indiscretion, than was suitable to the
condition they were in, and in which, by the excesses of
their rhetoric, they had let fall many expressions very
indecent and unwarrantable, and in some of them con
fidently excused if not justified their first entrance into
rebellion, (the most barbarous certainly and inexcusable
that any Christians have been engaged in in any age,)
irreconciled many to them who had compassion enough
for them, and made it impossible for the king to restrain
their adversaries, who were prepared to answer all they
had said, from using the same license. They enlarged
" upon all the odious circumstances of the first year's
rebellion, the murdering of above a hundred thousand

472 The answer of the adventurers Con. 209-
persons in cold blood, and with all the barbarity imagin
able; which murders and barbarities had been always
excepted from pardon." And they told them, "that if
there were not some amongst themselves who then ap
peared before his majesty, they were sure there would be
found many amongst those for whom they appeared, who
would be found guilty of those odious crimes which
were excluded from any benefit by those treaties." They
took notice, "how confidently they had extolled their
own innocence from the time that those two acts of
pacification had passed, and their great affection for his
majesty's service." And thereupon they declared, " that
whatsoever legal title the adventurers had to the lands of
which they were possessed, many of whom had constantly
served the king ; yet they would be contented, that all
those, who in truth had preserved their integrity towards
his majesty from the time of either if not of both the paci
fications, and not swerved afterwards from their allegi
ance, should partake of his royal bounty, in such a man
ner and to such a degree as his majesty thought fit to
exercise towards them. But," they said, "they would
make it appear, that their pretences to that grace and
favour were not founded upon any reasonable title ; that
they had never consented to any one act of pacification,
to which the promise of indemnity had been annexed,
which they had not violated and broken within ten days
after, and then returned to all the acts of disloyalty and
rebellion.
o " That after the first act of pacification ratified by the
last king, in very few days after, they treated the herald,
his majesty's officer, who came to proclaim that peace,
with all manner of indignity, tearing his coat of arms (the
king's arms) from his back ; and beat and wounded him
so, that he was hardly rescued from the loss of his life.
That about the same time they endeavoured to surprise
and murder the lord lieutenant, and pursued him to

— a io. to the plea of the Irish catholics. (1661.) 473
Dublin, which they forthwith besieged with their army,
under the command of that general who had signed the
peace. They imprisoned their commissioners who were
authorized by them, for consenting to those articles which
themselves had confirmed, and so prosecuted the war
with as much asperity as ever ; and refused to give that
aid and assistance they were obliged to, for the recovery
and restoration of his late majesty ; the promise and ex
pectation of which supply and assistance was the sole
ground and consideration of that treaty, and of the con
cessions therein made to them. That they thereupon
more formally renounced their obedience to the king,
and put themselves under the protection and disposal of
Rinuccini, the pope's nuncio, whom they made their
generalissimo of all their armies, their admiral at sea,
and to preside in all their councils. After their divisions
amongst themselves, and the burden of the tyranny they
suffered under, had disposed them to petition his majesty
that now is, who was then in France, to receive them
into his protection, and to send the marquis of Ormond
over again into Ireland to command them, and his ma
jesty was so far prevailed with, as that he sent the mar
quis of Ormond into Munster, with such a supply of arms
and ammunition as he could get ; where the lord Inchi-
quin, lord president of that province, received him with
the protestant army and joined with him : and shortly
after, the confederate Irish made that second treaty of
pacification, of which they now demanded the benefit.
But that it was notoriously known, that they no sooner
made that treaty than they brake it, in not bringing in
those supplies of men and money which they ought and
were obliged to do, and the want whereof exposed the
lord lieutenant to many difficulties, and was in truth the
cause of the misfortune before Dublin : which he had no
sooner undergone, than they withdrew from taking any
further care of the kingdom, [and] raised scandals upon

474 The answer of the adventurers Con. 2
and jealousies of the whole body of the English, who,
being so provoked, could no longer venture themselves
in any action or conjunction with the Irish, without more
apprehension of them than of the common enemy.
211 "Instead of endeavouring to compose these jealousies
and ill humours, they caused an assembly or convention
of their clergy to meet without the lord lieutenant's au
thority, and put the government of all things into their
hands : who, in a short time, improved the jealousies in
the mind of the people towards the few protestants who
yet remained in the army, and who had served the king
with all imaginable courage and fidelity from the very
first hour of the rebellion, to that degree, that the mar
quis was even compelled to discharge his own troop of
guards of horse, consisting of such officers and gentlemen
as are mentioned before, and to trust himself and all
the remaining towns and garrisons to the fidelity of the
Irish; they protesting with much solemnity, that upon
such a confidence, the whole nation would be united as
one man to his majesty's service, under his command.
But they had no sooner received satisfaction in that par
ticular, (which was not in the marquis's power to refuse
to give them,) but they raised several calumnies against
his person, declaimed against his religion, and inhibited
the people, upon pain of excommunication, to submit to
this and that order that was issued out by the marquis,
without obeying whereof the army could not stay together;
and upon the matter forbade the people to pay any obedi
ence to him. Instead of raising new forces according to
their last promise and engagement, those that were raised
ran from their colours and dispersed themselves ; they who
were trusted with the keeping of towns and forts, either
gave them up by treachery to Cromwell, or lost them
through cowardice to him upon very feeble attacks : and
their general, Owen O'Neile, made a formal contract and
stipulation with the parliament. And in the end, when

— 212. to the plea of 'the Irish catholics. (1661.) 475
they had divested the lord lieutenant of all power to op
pose the enemy, and given him great cause to believe that
his person was in danger to be betrayed, and delivered up
to the enemy, they vouchsafed to petition him that he
would depart out of the kingdom, (to the necessity where
of they had even already compelled him,) and that he would
leave his majesty's authority in the hands of one of his
catholic subjects, to whom they promised to submit with
the most punctual obedience.
212 " Hereupon the marquis, when he found that he could
not unite them in any one action worthy the duty of good
subjects, or of prudent men, towards their own preserva
tion ; and so, that his residence amongst them longer could
in no degree contribute to his majesty's service or honour;
and that they would make it to be believed, that if he
would have committed the command into the hands of a
Roman catholic, they would have been able to preserve
those towns which still remained in their possession, which
were Limerick and Galway, and some other places of im
portance enough, though of less than those cities ; and that
they would likewise by degrees recover from the enemy
what had been lost, which indeed was very possible for
them to have done, since they had great bodies of men to
perform any enterprise, and some good officers to lead
them, if they would have been obedient to any command :
hereupon the marquis resolved to gratify them, and to
place the command in the hands of such a person, whose
zeal for the catholic religion was unquestionable, and
whose fidelity to the king was unblemished. And so
he made choice of the marquis of Clanrickard, a gentle
man, though originally of English extraction, whose family
had for so many hundred years resided in that kingdom,
that he was looked upon as being of the best family of the
Irish ; and whose family had, in all former rebellions, as
well as in this last, preserved its loyalty to the crown not
only unspotted, but eminently conspicuous.

476 The answer of the adventurers Con. 213 —
213 The Roman catholics of all kinds pretended at least a
wonderful satisfaction and joy in this election ; acknow
ledged it as a great obligation upon them and their pos
terity to the lord lieutenant, for making so worthy a
choice ; and applied themselves to the marquis of Clan
rickard with all the protestations of duty and submission,
to induce him to accept the charge and command over
them ; who indeed knew them too well to be willing to
trust them, or to have any thing to do with them. Yet
upon the marquis of Ormond's earnest and solemn en
treaty, as the last and only remedy to keep and retain
some remainder of hope, from whence future hopes might
grow ; whereas all other thoughts were desperate, and the
kingdom would presently fall into the hands and posses
sion of the English, who would extirpate the whole na
tion : this importunity, and his great zeal for the service
of the crown, and to support the government there until
his majesty should procure other supplies, which the mar
quis of Ormond promised to solicit in France, or till his
majesty should send better orders to preserve his authority
in that kingdom, (the hope of which seemed the less de
sperate, because they had notice at the same time of his
majesty's march into England with an army from Scot
land,) prevailed with him so, that he was contented to
receive such commissions from the lord lieutenant as
were necessary for the execution of the present com
mand. Upon which the lord lieutenant embarked him
self, with some few friends and servants, upon a little
rotten pink that was bound for France, and very ill ac
commodated for such a voyage ; being not to be persuaded
to send to the commander in chief of the English for
a pass, though he was assured that it would very readily
have been granted : but it pleased God that he arrived
safely in France, a little before or about the time that
the king transported himself thither, after his miraculous
escape from Worcester.

— 315- to the plea of the Irish catholics. (1661.) 477
214 " The marquis of Ormond was no sooner gone out of
Ireland, but the lord marquis of Clanrickard, then lord
deputy, found himself no better treated than the lord of
Ormond had been. That part of the clergy, which had
continually opposed the lord lieutenant for being a pro
testant, were now as little satisfied with the deputy's reli
gion, and as violently contradicted all his commands and
desires, and violated all their own promises, and quickly
made it evident, that his affection and loyalty to the king
was that which they disliked, and a crime that could not be
balanced by the undoubted sincerity of his religion. They
entered into secret correspondence with the enemy, and
conspiracies between themselves : and though there were
some persons of honour and quality with the deputy, who
were very faithful to him and to the king ; yet there were
so many of another allay, that all his counsels, resolutions,
and designs, were discovered to the enemy soon enough
to be prevented. And though some of the letters were
intercepted, and the persons discovered who gave the
intelligence, he had not power to bring them to justice ;
but being commonly friars and clergymen, the privilege of
the church was insisted upon, and so they were rescued
from the secular prosecution till their escape was con
trived. That perfidious and treacherous party had so
great an interest in all the towns, forts, and garrisons,
which yet pretended to be subject to the deputy, that
all his orders were still contradicted or neglected: and
the enemy no sooner appeared before any place, but some
faction in the town caused it to be given up and ren
dered.
215 " Nor could this fatal sottishness be reformed, even by
the severity and rigour which the English exercised upon
them, who, by the wonderful judgment of God Almighty,
always put those men to death, who put themselves and
those towns into their hands ; finding still that they had
some barbarous part in the foul murders, which had been

478 The answer of the adventurers. Con. 21 j
committed in the beginning of the rebellion, and who had
been, by all the acts of grace granted by the several powers,
still reserved for justice. And of this kind there would be
so many instances in and about Limerick and Galway, that
they deserve to be collected and mentioned in a discourse
by itself, to observe and magnify the wonderful providence
of God Almighty in bringing heinous crimes to light and
punishment in this world, by means unapprehended by
the guilty; insomuch as it can hardly be believed, how
many of the clergy and the laity, who had a signal hand
in the contriving and fomenting the first rebellion, and in
the perpetration of those horrible murders ; and who had
obstructed all overtures toward peace, and principally
caused any peace that was made to be presently broken ;
who had with most passion adhered to the nuncio, and
endeavoured most maliciously to exclude the king and
his posterity from the dominion of Ireland ; I say, it can
hardly be believed, how many of these most notorious
transgressors did by some act of treachery endeavour to
merit from the English rebels, and so put themselves into
their hands, and were by them publicly and reproachfully
executed and put to death.
216 " This being the sad condition the deputy was in, and
the Irish having, without his leave and against his express
command, taken upon them to send messengers into
Flanders, to desire the duke of Lorrain to take them
into his protection, and offered to deliver several im
portant places and sea-towns into his possession, and to
become his subjects, (upon which the duke sent over an
ambassador, and a good sum of money for their present
relief) the deputy was in a short time reduced to those
straits, that he durst not remain in any town, nor even in
his own house, three days together, but was forced for his
safety to shift from place to place, and sometimes to lodge
in the woods and fields in cold and wet nights ; by which
he contracted those infirmities and diseases, which shortly

—217* Many catholics are immediately restored. (1661.) 479
after brought him to his grave. And in the end, he was
compelled to accept a pass from the English, who had a
reverence for his person and his unspotted reputation, to
transport himself into England, where his wife and family
were ; and where he died before he could procure means
to carry himself to the king, which he always intended
to do."
217 When the commissioners had enlarged with some com
motion in this narration and discourse, they again pro
voked the Irish commissioners to nominate " one person
amongst themselves, or of those for whom they appeared,
who they believed could in justice demand his majesty's
favour; and if they did not make it evidently appear,
that he had forfeited all his title to pardon after the
treaties, and that he had been again as faulty to the king
as before, they were very willing he should be restored to
his estate." And then applying themselves to his majesty
with great duty and submission, they concluded, " that if
any persons had, by their subsequent [loyalty] or service,
or by their attendance upon his majesty beyond the seas,
rendered themselves grateful to him, and worthy of his
royal favour, they were very willing that his majesty
should restore all or any of them to their honours or
estates, in such a manner as his majesty thought fit, and
against all impediments whatsoever." And upon this frank
offer of theirs, which his majesty took very well, several
acts of parliament were preseutly passed, for the indem
nity and the restoring many persons of honour and in
terest to their estates ; who could either in justice require
it, as having been faithful always to the king, and suffered
with him or for him ; or who had so far manifested their
affection and duty for his majesty, that he thought fit, in
that consideration, to wipe out the memory of whatsoever
had been formerly done amiss. And by this means, many
were put into a full possession of their estates, to which

480 Three particulars distress the king. Con. 218
they could make any good pretence at the time when the
rebellion began.
218 This consideration and debate upon the settlement of
this unhappy kingdom took up many days, the king being
always present, in which there arose every day new diffi
culties. And it appeared plainly enough, that the guilt
was so general, that if the letter of the act of parliament
of the seventeenth year of the late king were strictly
pursued, as possibly it might have been, if the reduction
had fallen out likewise during the whole reign of that
king, even an utter extirpation of the nation would have
followed.
219 There were three particulars, which, upon the first
mention and view of them, seemed in most men's eyes
worthy of his majesty's extraordinary compassion and in
terposition; and yet upon a stricter examination were
found as remediless as any of the rest. One was ; " the
condition of that miserable people, which was likewise
very numerous, that was transplanted into Connaught ;
who had been removed from their own possessions in
other provinces, with such circumstances of tyranny and
cruelty, that their own consents obtained afterwards with
that force could not reasonably be thought any confirma
tion of their unjust title, who were in possession of their
lands."
220 To this it was answered, " that though it was acted in
an irregular manner, and without lawful authority, it
being in a time of usurpation ; yet that the act itself was
very prudent and necessary, and an act of mercy, without
which an utter extirpation of the nation must have fol
lowed, if the kingdom were to be preserved in peace.
That it cannot be denied to be an act of mercy, since
there was not one man transplanted, who had not by the
law forfeited all the estate he had ; and his life might
have been as legally taken from him : so that both his

—220. The adventurers' defence. (1661.) 481
life, and whatever estate he had granted to him in Con
naught, was from the pure bounty of the state, which
might and did by the act of parliament seize upon the
same. That, beside the unsteady humour of that people,
and their natural inclination to rebel, it was notorious,
that whilst they were dispersed over the kingdom, though
all their forces had been so totally subdued, that there
was not throughout the whole kingdom a visible number
of twenty men together, who pretended to be in arms ;
yet there were daily such disorders committed by thefts
and robberies and murders, that they could not be said
to be in peace. Nor could the English, man, woman, or
child, go one mile from their habitations upon their ne
cessary employment, but they were found murdered and
stripped by the Irish, who lay in wait for those purposes ;
so that the people were very hardly restrained from com
mitting a massacre upon them wherever they were met :
so that there appeared no other way to prevent an utter
extirpation of them, but to confine and restrain them
within such limits and bounds, that might keep them
from doing mischief, and thereby make them safe. That
thereupon this expedient was laid hold of. And whereas
they had nothing to enable them to live upon in the
places where they were dispersed, they had now by this
transplantation into Connaught lands given them, suffi
cient with their industry to live well upon ; of which
there was good evidence, by their having lived well there
since that time, and many of them much better than they
had ever done before. And the state, which had done
this grace for them, had great reason, when it gave them
good titles to the land assigned to them, which they might
plead in any court of justice, to require from them re
leases of what they had forfeited ; which, though to the
public of no use or validity, were of benefit and behoove-
ful to many particular persons, for the quieting their pos
sessions against frivolous suits and claims which might
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. II

482 The case of entails at law. Con. 320.' —
start up. That this transplantation had been acted,
finished, and submitted to by all parties, who had enjoyed
the benefit thereof, quietly and without disturbance, many
years before the king's return : and the soldiers and ad
venturers had been likewise so many years in the posses
sion of their lots, in pursuance of the act of parliament,
and had laid out so much money in building and planting,
that the consequence of such an alteration as was now
proposed would be the highest confusion imaginable."
221 And it cannot be denied, that if the king could have
thought it safe and seasonable to have reviewed all that
had been done, and taken those advantages upon former
miscarriages and misapplications, as according to the
strictness of that very law he might have done; the
whole foundation, upon which all the hopes rested of
preserving that kingdom within the obedience to the
crown of England, must have been shaken and even dis
solved ; with no small influence and impression upon the
peace and quiet of England itself. For the memory of
the beginning of the rebellion in Ireland (how many
other rebellions soever had followed as bad, or worse in
respect of the consequences that attended them) was as
fresh and as odious to the whole people of England, as it
had been the first year. And though no man durst
avow so unchristian a wish, as an extirpation of them,
(which they would have been very well contented with ;)
yet no man dissembled his opinion, that it was the only
security the English could have in that kingdom, that
the Irish should be kept so low, that they should have no
power to hurt them.
222 Another particular, that seemed more against the
foundation of justice, was ; " that the soldiers and ad
venturers expected and promised themselves, that in this
new settlement that was under debate, all entails and
settlements at law should be destroyed, whether upon
consideration of marriage, or any other contracts which

—223. The adventurers' answer. (i66t.) 483
had been made before the rebellion. Nor had there
been in the whole former proceedings in the time of the
usurpation, any consideration taken of mortgages or debts
due by statute or recognizance, or upon any other se
curity ; so that all such debts must be either lost to the
proprietors, or remain still with the interest upon the
land, whoever had enjoyed the benefit or profits thereof."
All which seemed to his majesty very unreasonable and
unjust ; and that such estates should remain forfeited by
the treason of the father, who had been only tenant for
life, against all descents and legal titles of innocent chil
dren ; and of which, in all legal attainders, the crown
never had or could receive any benefit.
223 Yet, how unreasonable soever these pretences seemed
to be, it was no easy matter to give rules and directions
for the remedy of the mischief, without introducing an
other mischief equally unjust and unreasonable. For the
commissioners declared, " that if such titles as are men
tioned were preserved and allowed to be good, there
would not in that universal guilt, which upon the matter
comprehended and covered the whole Irish nation, be one
estate forfeited by treason, but such conveyances and set
tlements would be produced to secure and defend the
same : and though they would be forged, there would
not be witnesses wanting to prove and justify whatsoever
the evidence could be applied to. And if those trials
were to be by the known rules and customs of the law in
cases of the like nature, there was too much reason to
suspect and fear that there would be little justice done :
since a jury of Irish would infallibly find against the
English, let the evidence be what it could be ; and there
was too much reason to apprehend that the English,
whose animosity was not less, would be as unjust in
bringing in their verdict against the Irish, right or
wrong." And there was experience afterwards, in the
prosecution of this affair, of such forgeries and perjuries,
ii 2

484 Extreme misery of the Irish : Con. 223-
as have not been heard of amongst Christians; and in
which, to our shame, the English were not behindhand
with the Irish. The king however thought it not rea
sonable or just for him, upon what probable suggestions
soever, to countenance such a barefaced violation of the
law, by any declaration of his ; but commanded his coun
cil at law to make such alterations in the expressions as
might be fit for him to consent to.
224 The third particular, and which much affected the king,
was ; " that in this universal joy for his restoration with
out blood, and with the indemnity of so many hundred
thousands who had deserved to suffer the utmost punish
ments, the poor Irish, after so long sufferings in the great
est extremity of misery, should be the only persons who
should find no benefit or ease by his majesty's restoration,
but remain robbed and spoiled of all they had, and be as
it were again sacrificed to the avarice and cruelty of them,
who had not deserved better of his majesty than the other
poor people had done."
225 To whieh there can be no other answer made, which is
very sufficient in point of justice, but that, " as their re
bellion and other crimes had been long before his ma
jesty's time, so full vengeance had been executed upon
them ; and they had paid the penalties of their crimes
and transgressions before his majesty's return : so that he
could not restore that which they called their own, with
out taking it from them, who were become the just own
ers by an act of parliament ; which his majesty could not
violate without injustice, and breach of the faith he had
given."
226 And that which was their greatest misery and reproach,
and which distinguished them from the subjects of the
other two kingdoms, who were otherwise bad enough,
was ; that both the other nations had made many noble
attempts for redeeming their liberty, and for the restora
tion of his majesty, (for Scotland itself had done much

—228. their animosity against the English. (1661.) 485
towards it ;) and his present restoration was, with God's
blessing, and only with his blessing, by the sole effects of
the courage and affection of his own subjects : so that
England and Scotland had in a great degree redeemed,
and even undone what had been before done amiss by
them ; and his majesty had improved and secured those
affections to him by those promises and concessions, which
he was in justice obliged to perform. But the miserable
Irish alone had no part in contributing to his majesty's
happiness ; nor had God suffered them to be the least
instruments in bringing his good pleasure to pass, or to
give any testimony of their repentance for the wicked
ness they had wrought, or of their resolution to be better
subjects for the future : so that they seemed as a people
left out by Providence, and exempted from any benefit
from that blessed conjuncture in his majesty's restitution.
227 And this disadvantage was improved towards them, by
their frequent manifestation of an inveterate animosity
against the English nation and English government ;
which again was returned to them in an irreconcilable
jealousy of all the English towards them. And to this
their present behaviour and imprudence contributed very
much : for it appeared evidently, that they expected the
same concessions (which the necessity of that time had
made fit to be granted to them) in respect of their religion
should be now likewise confirmed. And this temper
made it very necessary for the king to be very wary in
dispensing extraordinary favours (which his natural mer
ciful inclination prompted him to) to the Irish ; and to
prefer the general interest of his three kingdoms, before
the particular interest of a company of unhappy men,
who had foolishly forfeited their own ; though he pitied
them, and hoped in the conclusion to be able, without
exposing the public peace to manifest hazard, in some
degree to improve their condition.
228 Upon the whole matter, the king found, that if he

486 Three lords justices appointed. Con. 228-
deferred to settle the government of Ireland till a perfect
settlement of all particular interests could be made, it
would be very long. He saw it could not be done at
once ; and that there must be some examinations taken
there, and some matters more clearly stated and adjusted,
before his majesty could make his determination upon
those particulars, which purely depended upon his own
judgment; and that some difficulties would be removed
or lessened by time : and so he passed that which is
called the first act of settlement ; and was persuaded to
commit the execution thereof to a great number of com
missioners, recommended to his majesty by those who
were most conversant in the affairs of Ireland ; none or
very few of which were known to his majesty, or to any
of those who had been so many years from their country,
in their constant attendance upon his majesty's person
beyond the seas.
229 And for the better countenance of this commission,
and likewise to restrain the commissioners from any
excess, if their very large jurisdiction should prove a
temptation to them, the king thought fit to commit the
sword to three justices, which he had resolved when the
sending the lord Roberts was declined. Those three
were, sir Morrice Eustace, whom he newly made lord
chancellor of Ireland, the lord Broghill, whom he now
made earl of Orrery, and sir Charles Coote, whom he
likewise made earl of Montrath. The first had been his
sergeant at law long in that kingdom, and had been
eminent in the profession of the law, and the more es
teemed for being always a protestant, though an Irish
man, and of approved fidelity to the king during this
whole rebellion. But he was now old, and made so little
show of any parts extraordinary, that, but for the testi
mony that was given of him, it might have been doubted
whether he ever had any. The other two had been both
eminently against the king, but upon this turn, when all

—230. Partiality of the commissioners. (1661.) 487
other powers were down, eminently for him ; the one,
very able and generous ; the other, proud, dull, and very
avaricious. But the king had not then power to choose
any, against whom some as material objections might not
be made, and who had been able to do as much good.
With them, there were too many others upon whom
honours were conferred ; upon some, that they might do
no harm, who were thereby enabled to do the more ; and
upon others, that they might not murmur, who murmured
the more for having nothing given them but honour:
and so they were all despatched for Ireland ; by which
the king had some ease, his service little advancement.
230 After a year was spent in the execution of this com
mission, (for I shall, without discontinuing the relation,
say all that I intend upon this subject of Ireland,) there
was very little done towards the settling the kingdom, or
towards preparing any thing that might settle it ; but on
the contrary, the breaches were made wider, and so much
passion and injustice shewed, that complaints were brought
to his majesty from all parts of the kingdom, and from
all persons in authority there. The number of the com
missioners was so great, and their interests so different,
that they made no despatch. Very many of them were
in possession of those lands, which others sued for before
them; and they themselves bought broken titles and
pretences of other men, for inconsiderable sums of money,
which they supported and made good by their own au
thority. Such of the commissioners, who had their own
particular interest and concernment depending, attended
the service very diligently : the few who were more
equal and just, because they had no interest of their own
at stake, were weary of their attendance and expense,
(there being no allowance for their pains ;) and, offended
at the partiality and injustice which they saw practised,
withdrew themselves, and would be no longer present

488 The different parties Con. 331 —
at those transactions which they could not regulate or
reform.
231 All interests were equally offended and incensed ; and
the soldiers and adventurers complained no less of the
corruption and injustice than the Irish did: so that the
lords justices and council thought it necessary to transmit
another bill to his majesty, which, as I remember, they
called an explanatory bill of the former ; and in that
they provided, " that no person who lived in Ireland, or
had any pretence to an estate there, should be employed
as a commissioner ; but that his majesty should be de
sired to send over a competent number of well qualified
persons out of England to attend that service, upon
whom a fit salary should be settled by the bill ; and such
rules set down as might direct and govern the manner of
their proceeding ; and that an oath might be prescribed
by the bill, which the commissioners should take, for the
impartial administration of justice, and for the prosecu
tion and execution of this bill," which was transmitted as
an act by the king. His majesty made choice of seven
gentlemen of very clear reputations ; one of them being
an eminent sergeant at law, whom he made a judge upon
his return from thence ; two others, lawyers of very much
esteem ; and the other four, gentlemen of very good ex
tractions, excellent understandings, and above all suspicion
for their integrity, and generally reputed to be superior
to any base temptation.
232 But this second bill, before it could be transmitted,
took up as much time as the former. The same numer
ous retinue of all interests from Ireland attended the
king ; and all that had been said in the former debates
was again repeated, and almost with the same passion
and impertinence. The Irish made large observations
upon the proceedings of the late commissioners, to justify
those fears and apprehensions which they had formerly

—333- again heard by the king. (1661.) 489
urged : and there appeared too much reason to believe,
that their greatest design now was, rather to keep off any
settlement, than that they hoped to procure such a one
as they desired ; relying more to find their account from
a general dissatisfaction, and the distraction and confusion
that was like to attend it, than from any determination
that was like to be in their favour. Yet they had friends
in the court, who made them great promises ; which
they could not be without, since they made as great
promises to those who were to protect them. There
were indeed many particular men both of the soldiers
and adventurers, who in respect of their many notorious
and opprobrious actions against the crown throughout
their whole employment, (and who even since his ma
jesty's return had enough expressed how little they were
satisfied with the revolution,) were so universally odious
both in England and Ireland, that if their particular
cases could have been severed from the rest, without vio
lation of the rule of justice that secured all the rest, any
thing that could have been done to their detriment would
have been grateful enough to every body.
233 After many very tedious debates, in which his majesty
endeavoured by all the ways he could think of to find
some expedient, that would enable him to preserve the
miserable Irish from the extremity of misery ; he found
it necessary at last to acquiesce with a very positive
assurance from the earl of Orrery and others, who were
believed to understand Ireland very exactly, and who,
upon the surveys that had been taken with great punc
tuality, undertook, " that there was land enough to
satisfy all the soldiers and adventurers, and that there
would be a very great proportion left for the accommoda
tion of the Irish very liberally." And for the better im
provement of that proportion, the king prescribed some
rules and limitations to the immoderate pretences and de
mands of the soldiers and adventurers upon the doubling

490 Tlie duke of Albemarle resigns the lord lieutenancy, Con. 234 —
ordinance and imperfect admeasurement, and some other
irregularities, [in] which his majesty was not in honour
or justice obliged to comply with them : and so he trans
mitted this second bill.
234 Whilst this second bill was under deliberation, there
fell out an accident in Ireland, which produced great
alterations with reference to the affairs of that kingdom.
The differences which had every day arisen between the
three justices, and their different humours and affections,
had little advanced the settling that government ; so that
there would have been a necessity of making some muta
tion in it: so that the death of the earl of Montrath,
which happened at this time, fell out conveniently enough
to the king ; for by it the government was again loose.
For the earl of Orrery was in England ; and the power
resided not in less than two : so that the chancellor, who
remained single there, was without any authority to act.
And they who took the most dispassioned survey of all
that had been done, and of what remained to be done,
did conclude that nothing could reasonably produce a
settlement there, but the deputing one single person to
exercise that government. And the duke of Albemarle
himself, who had a great estate in that kingdom, which
made him the more long for a settlement, and who had
before the king's return and ever since dissuaded the
king from thinking of employing the duke of Ormond
there, who had himself aversion enough from that com
mand, of which he had sufficient experience ; I say, the
general had now so totally changed his mind, that he
plainly told the king, " that there was no way to expli
cate that kingdom out of those intricacies in which it was
involved, but by sending over a lord lieutenant thither.
That he thought it not fit for his majesty's service, that
himself, who had that commission of lord lieutenant,
should be absent from his person ; and therefore that he
was very ready and desirous to give up his commission :

-236- and is succeeded by the duke of Ormond. (1661.) 491
and that in his judgment nobody would be able to settle
and compose the several factions in that kingdom but
the duke of Ormond, who he believed would be grateful
to all sorts of people." And therefore he advised his
majesty very positively, " that he would immediately give
him the commission, and as soon as should be possible
send him away into Ireland." And both the king and
the general spake with the duke of Ormond, and pre
vailed with him to accept it, before either of them com
municated it to the chancellor, who the king well knew
would for many reasons, and out of his great friendship
to the duke, dissuade him from undertaking it; which
was very true.
235 And the king and the duke of Ormond came one day
to the chancellor, to advise what was to be done for Ire
land ; and (concealing the resolution) the king told him
what the general's advice was, and asked him " what he
thought of sending the duke of Ormond his lieutenant
into Ireland." To which the chancellor answered pre
sently, " that the king would do very ill in sending him,
and that the duke would do much worse, if he desired to
go." Upon which they both smiled, and told him, " that
the general had prevailed with the king, and the king
with the duke ; so that the matter was resolved, and
there remained nothing to be done but preparing the
instructions, which he must think upon."
236 The chancellor could not refrain from saying very
warmly, " that he was sorry for it ; and that it would be
good for neither of them that the duke should be from
the king, or that he should be in Ireland, where he would
be able to do no good. Besides that he had given him
self so much to his ease and pleasure since he came into
England, that he would never be able to take the pains
which that most laborious province would require." He
said, " if this counsel had been taken when the king came
first over, it might have had good success, when the duke

492 The duke of Ormond's reasons for Con. 136
was full of reputation, and of unquestionable interest in
his majesty, and the king himself was more feared and
reverenced than presumed upon : so that the duke would
have had full authority to have restrained the exorbitant
desires and expectations of all the several parties, who
had all guilt enough upon their hearts to fear some rigour
from the king, or to receive moderate grace with infinite
submission and acknowledgment. But now the duke,
besides his withdrawing himself from all business as much
as he could, had let himself fall to familiarities with all
degrees of men; and upon their averments had under
taken to protect, or at least to solicit men's interests,
which it may be might not appear upon examination to
be founded upon justice. And the king himself had been
exposed to all manner of importunities, received all men's
addresses, and heard all they would say ; made many pro
mises without deliberation, and appeared so desirous to
satisfy all men, that he was irresolute in all things. And
therefore till he had taken some firm and fixed resolutions
himself, from which neither prejudice towards one man,
nor pity and compassion on the behalf of another, should
remove him ; the lieutenant of Ireland would be able to
do him little service, and would be himself continually
exposed to scorn and affronts."
237 And afterwards the chancellor expostulated warmly
with the duke of Ormond, (who well knew that all his
commotion proceeded from the integrity of his unques
tionable friendship,) and told him, " that he would repent
this rash resolution ; and that he would have been able
to have contributed more to the settlement of Ireland, by
being near the person of the king, than by being at Dub
lin, from whence in a short time there would be as many
aspersions and reproaches sent hither, as had been against
other men ; and that he had no reason to be confident,
that they would not make as deep impression by the arts
and industry of his enemies, of which he had store, and

—238. accepting the lord lieutenancy. (1661.) 493
would have more by being absent, for the court naturally
had little regard for any man who was absent. And that
he carried with him the same infirmity into Ireland with
that of the king, which kept it from being settled here;
which was, an unwillingness to deny any man what he
could not but see was impossible to grant, and a desire to
please every body, which whosoever affected should please
nobody."
238 The duke, who never took any thing ill he said to him,
told him, " that nobody knew better than he the aversion
he had to that command, when it may be he might have
undertaken it with more advantage." He confessed, " he
saw many dangers with reference to himself, which he
knew not how to avoid, and many difficulties with refer
ence to the public, which he had little hope to overcome ;
yet Ireland must not be given over : yet since there
seemed to be a general opinion, with which the king con
curred, that he could be able to contribute to the com
posing the distempers, and the settling the government ;
he would not suspect himself, but believe that he might
be able to do somewhat towards it." And he gave his
word to him, "that nothing should be defective on his
part in point of industry; for he was resolved to take
indefatigable pains for a year or two, in which he hoped
the settlement would be completed, that he might have
ease and recreation for the other part of his life." And
he confessed, " that he did the more willingly enter upon
that province, that he might have the opportunity to settle
his own fortune, which, how great soever in extent of
lands, did not yet, by reason of the general unsettlement,
yield him a quarter of the revenue it ought to do. That
for what concerned himself, and the disadvantages he
might undergo by his absence, he referred it to Provi
dence and the king's good-nature ; who," he said, " knew
him better than any of his enemies did ; and therefore, he
hoped, he would believe himself before them." However,

494 The commissioners publish their Con. 238
the truth is, he was the more disposed to that journey, by
the dislike he had of the court, and the necessary exer
cises which men there were to excel in, for which he was
superannuated : and if he did not already discern any
lessening of the king's grace towards him, he saw enough
to make him believe, that the contrary ought not to be
depended upon. And within few years after, he had
cause to remember what the chancellor had foretold him
of both their fortunes. The duke (with the seven com
missioners who were appointed for that act of settlement,
and all other persons who attended that interest) entered
upon his journey from London about the end of July, in
the year one thousand six hundred sixty and four, full
four years and more after the king's happy return into
England.
239 It was some months after the commissioners' arrival in
Ireland before they could settle those orders and rules
for their proceedings, which were necessary to be done,
before the people should be appointed to attend. And it
was as necessary that they should in the order of their
judicatory first proceed upon the demands and pretences
of the Irish ; both because there could be no settlement
of soldiers or adventurers in possession of any lands,
before the titles of the Irish to those lands were deter
mined ; and because there was a clause in the last act of
parliament, that all the Irish should put in their claims
by a day appointed, and that they should be determined
before another day, which was likewise assigned ; which
days might be prolonged for once by the lord lieutenant,
upon such reasons as satisfied him : so that the delay for
so many months before the commissioners sat, gave great
argument of complaint to the Irish, though it could not
be avoided, in regard that the commissioners themselves
had not been nominated by the king above twenty days
before they began their journey into Ireland ; so that
they could never so much as read over the acts of parlia-

_24i. intended method of proceeding. (1661.) 495
ment together, before they came to Dublin. And then
they found so many difficult clauses in both acts of par
liament, and so contrary to each other, that it was no
easy matter to determine how to govern themselves in
point of right, and to reduce themselves to any method
in their proceedings.
240 But after they had adjusted all things as well as they
could, they published their orders in what method they
meant to proceed, and appointed the Irish to put in their
claims by such a day, and to attend the prosecution of
them accordingly. And they had no sooner entered upon
their work, but the English thought they had began it
soon enough. For they heard every day many of the
Irish, who had been known to have been the most for
ward in the first beginning of the rebellion, and the most
malicious in the carrying it on, declared innocent; and
deeds of settlement and entails which had been never
heard of before, and which would have been produced (as
might reasonably be believed) before the former commis
sioners, if they had had them to produce, now declared
to be good and valid ; by which the Irish were immedi
ately put into the possession of a very great quantity of
land taken from the English : so that in a short time the
commissioners had rendered themselves as generally odious
as the Irish, and were looked upon as persons corrupted
for that interest, which had every day success almost in
whatsoever they pretended. And their determinations
happened to have the more of prejudice upon them,
because the commissioners were always divided in their
judgments. And it is no wonder, that they who seemed
most to adhere to the English interest were most es
teemed by them.
24I The parliament in Ireland was then sitting: and the
house of commons, consisting of many members who were
either soldiers or adventurers, or had the like interest,
was very much offended at the proceedings of the com-

496 The different parties heard Con. 341
missioners, made many votes against them, and threatened
them with their authority and jurisdiction. But the
commissioners, who knew their own power, and that there
was no appeal against their judgments, proceeded still in
their own method, and continued to receive the claims of
the Irish, beyond the time that the act of parliament or
the act of state limited to them, as was generally under
stood. And during the last eight or ten days sitting
upon those claims, they passed more judgments and de
terminations than in near a year before, indeed with very
wonderful expedition ; when the English, who were dis
possessed by those judgments, had not their witnesses
ready, upon a presumption, that in point of time it was
not possible for those causes to come to be heard. By
these sentences and decrees, many hundred thousands of
acres were adjudged to the Irish, which had been looked
upon as unquestionably forfeited, and of which the Eng
lish had been long in possession accordingly.
242 This raised so great a clamour, that the English refused
to yield possession upon the decrees of the commissioners,
who, by an omission in the act of parliament, were not
qualified with power enough to provide for the execution
of their own sentences. The courts of law established in
that kingdom would not, nor indeed could, give any
assistance to the commissioners. And the lord lieutenant
and council, who had in the beginning, by their authority,
put many into the possession of the lands which had been
decreed to them by the commission sers, were now more
tender and reserved in that multitude of decrees that
had lately passed : so that the Irish were using their
utmost endeavours by force to recover the possession of
those lands which the commissioners had decreed to
them ; whilst the English were likewise resolved by force
to defend what they had been so long possessed of, not
withstanding the commissioners' determination. And the
commissioners were so far troubled and dissatisfied with

:243- a third time by the king. (1661.) 497
these proceedings, and with some intricate clauses in the
act of parliament concerning the future proceedings ;
that, though they had not yet made any entrance upon
the decision of the claims of the English or of the Irish
protestants, they declared, " that they would proceed no
further in the execution of their commission, until they
could receive his majesty's further pleasure." And that
they might the more effectually receive it, they desired
leave from the king that they might attend his royal
person ; and there being at the same time several com
plaints made against them to his majesty, and appeals to
him from their decrees, he gave the commissioners leave
to return. And at the same time all the other interests
sent their deputies to solicit their right ; in the prosecu
tion whereof, after much time spent, the king thought fit
likewise to receive the advice and assistance of his lieu
tenant : and so the duke of Ormond returned again to
the court. And the settlement of Ireland was the third
time brought before the king and council ; there being
then likewise transmitted a third bill, as additional and
supplemental to the other two, and to reverse many of
the decrees made by the commissioners, they bearing the
reproach of all that had been done or had succeeded
amiss, and from all persons who were grieved in what
kind soever.
243 The king was very tender of the reputation of his com
missioners, who had been always esteemed men of great
probity and unquestionable reputation : and though he
could not refuse to receive complaints, yet he gave those
who complained no further countenance, than to give the
others opportunity to vindicate themselves. Nor did
there appear the least evidence to question the sincerity
of their proceeding, or to make them liable to any rea
sonable suspicion of corruption : and the complaints were
still prosecuted by those who had that taken from them
which they desired to keep for themselves.
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. K k

498 The author's reflections on the proceedings Con. 24
244 The truth is, there is reason enough to believe, that
upon the first arrival of the commissioners in Ireland, and
some conversation they had, and the observation they
made of the great bitterness and animosities from the
English, both soldiers and adventurers, towards the whole
Irish nation of what kind soever; the scandalous pro
ceeding of the late commissioners upon the first act,
when they had not been guided by any rules of justice,
but rejected all evidence, which might operate to the
taking away any thing from them which they resolved to
keep, the judges themselves being both parties and wit
nesses in all the causes brought before them ; together
with the very ill reputation very many of the soldiers and
adventurers had for extraordinary malice to the crown
and to the royal family ; and the notable barbarity they
had exercised towards the Irish, who without doubt for
many years had undergone the most cruel oppressions
of all kind that can be imagined, many thousands of
them having been forced, without being covered under
any house, to perish in the open fields for hunger; the
infamous purchases which had been made by many per
sons, who had compelled the Irish to sell their remainders
and lawful pretences for very inconsiderable sums of
money ; I say, these and many other particulars of this
kind, together with some attempt that had been made
upon their first arrival, to corrupt them against all pre
tences which should be made by the Irish, might proba
bly dispose the commissioners themselves to such a
prejudice against many of the English, and to such a
compassion towards the Irish, that they might be much
inclined to favour their pretences and claims ; and to
believe that the peace of the kingdom and his majesty's
government might be better provided for, by their being
settled in the lands of which they had been formerly
possessed, than by supporting the ill-gotten titles of those,
who had manifested all imaginable infidelity and malice

ufi. of the commissioners. (1661.) 499
against his majesty whilst they had any power to oppose
him, and had not given any testimony of their conversion,
or of their resolution to yield him for the future a per
fect and entire obedience after they could oppose him no
longer ; as if they desired only to retain those lands which
they had gotten by rebellion, together with the principles
by which they had gotten them, until they should have
an opportunity to justify both by some new power, or a
concurrence amongst themselves. Whencesoever it pro
ceeded, it was plain enough the Irish had received more
favour than was expected or imagined.
24S And in the very entrance into the work, to avoid the
partiality which was too apparent in the English towards
each other, and their animosity against the Irish as evi
dent, very strict rules had been set down by the com
missioners, what kind of evidence they would admit to be
good, and receive accordingly. And it was provided,
" that the evidence of no soldier or adventurer should
be received in any case, to which himself was never so
much a stranger ;" as, if his own lot had fallen in Mun-
ster, and he had no pretence to any thing out of that
province, his evidence should not be received, as to any
thing that he had seen done in Leinster or Connaught or
Ulster, wherein he was not at all concerned : which was
generally thought to be a very unjust rule, after so many
years expired, and so many persons dead, who had like
wise been present at those actions. And by this means
many men were declared not to have been in rebellion,
when there might have been full evidence, that they had
been present in such and such a battle, and in such and
such a siege, if the witnesses might have been received
who were then present at those actions, and ready to
give testimony of it, and of such circumstances as could
not have been feigned, if their evidence might have been
received.
246 That which raised the greatest umbrage against the
Kk 2

500 Many who had served the king Con. 246—
commissioners was, that a great number of the most in
famous persons of the Irish nation, who were looked upon
by those of their own country with the greatest detesta
tion, as men who had been the most violent fomenters
and prosecutors of the rebellion, and the greatest opposers
of all moderate counsels, and of all expedients which
might have contributed towards a peace in the late king's
time, (whereby the nation might have been redeemed,)
and who had not had the confidence so much as to offer
any claim before the late commissioners, were now ad
judged and declared innocent, and so restored to their
estates: and that many others, who in truth had never
been in rebellion, but notoriously served the king against
the rebels both in England and Ireland, and had never
been put out of their estates, now upon some slight
evidence, by the interception of letters, or confession of
messengers, that they had had correspondence with the
rebels, (though it was evident that even that correspond
ence had been perfunctory, and only to secure them that
they might pursue his majesty's service,) were condemned,
and had their estates taken from them, by the judgment
of the commissioners.
247 And of this I cannot forbear to give an instance, and
the rather, that it may appear how much a personal pre
judice, upon what account soever, weighs and prevails
against justice itself, even with men who are not in their
natures friends to injustice. It was the case of the earl
of Tyrconnell, and it was this. He was the younger son
of the lord Fitzwilliams, a catholic lord in Ireland, but of
ancient English extraction, of a fair estate, and never
suspected to be inclined to the rebels ; as very few of the
English were. Oliver Fitzwilliams (who was the person
we are now speaking of, and the younger son of that lord
Fitzwilliams) had been sent by his father into France, to
be there educated, many years before the rebellion. He
was a proper and a handsome man, and by his courage

-249- are hardly treated : an instance of this. (1661.) 501
had gotten a very good reputation in the French army ;
where, after he had spent some years in the campagna, he
obtained the command of a regiment in which he had
been first a captain, and was looked upon generally as an
excellent officer.
248 When the army was sent into winter quarters, he went
to Paris, to kiss the hands of the queen of England, who
was come thither the summer before, it being in the year
1644. Having often waited upon her majesty, he made
many professions of duty and obedience to the king, and
much condemned the rebellion of the Irish, and said, " he
knew many of them were cozened and deceived by tales
and lies, and had no purpose to withdraw themselves
from his majesty's obedience." He made offer of his
service to the queen, " and that, if she thought he might
be able to do the king any service, he would immediately
go into England, and with his majesty's approbation into
Ireland, where, if he could do no other service, he was
confident he could draw off many of the Irish from the
service of the rebels." The queen, upon the good repu
tation he had there, accepted his offer, and writ a letter
by him to the king, with a very good character of his
person, and as very fit to be trusted in Ireland.
249 It was his fortune to come to the king very few days
before the battle of Naseby, where, as a volunteer in the
troop of prince Rupert, he behaved himself with very
signal courage in the view of the king himself; who
shortly after gave him a letter full of recommendation
and testimony to the marquis of Ormond, his lieutenant
of Ireland, who received him kindly, and having con
ferred with him at large, and understood all he intended
to do, gave him leave to go into the Irish quarters, and to
return again, as he thought fit. And in a short time after,
both his father and his elder brother died ; whereby both
the title and the estate devolved to him, and he was pos
sessed accordingly.

502 Case of the earl of Tyrcomell. Con. 250-
230 The man was before and in his nature elate and proud
enough, had a greater value of himself than other men
had, and a less of other men than they deserved, whereby
he got not himself beloved by many; but nobody who
loved him worst ever suspected him to incline to the
rebels, though they knew that he was often in their
quarters, and had often conferences with them: and a
good part of his estate lay in their quarters. He attended
upon the lord lieutenant in all his expeditions : and when
the Irish so infamously broke the first peace, and besieged
the lieutenant in Dublin, (upon which he was compelled
to deliver it into the hands of the parliament with the
king's consent,) the lord Fitzwilliams returned with him
or about the same time into England, and from thence
again into France ; where he married the daughter of the
widow countess of Clare, and sister to that earl, a lady of
a religion the most opposite to the Roman catholic, which
he suffered her to enjoy without any contradiction. When
the war was at an end in England, and the king a pri
soner, he with his wife and family transported himself
into England, and after some time into Ireland; where
Cromwell had a jealous eye upon him, but not being able
to discover any thing against him, could not hinder him
from possessing the estate that had descended to him
from his father and his elder brother. And the war
being there ended, and the settlement made by the act
of parliament upon the statute, as hath been mentioned
before, there was not the least trouble given to him ; but
he quietly enjoyed the possession of his whole estate till
the king's return, when he came into England to kiss his
majesty's hand, and was by him made earl of Tyrconnell.
251 When the commissioners sat upon the first act, who
observed no rules of justice, law, or equity, when they
contradicted any interest or appetite of their own, he
received no disturbance ; but when these new commis
sioners came over, all men, as well protestants as others,

—252. Case of the earl of Tyrconnell. (1661.) 503
whose estates had never been questioned, thought it
safest for them to put in their claims before the com
missioners, to prevent any trouble that might arise here
after. This gentleman followed that advice and example,
put in his claim, and pressed the commissioners for a
short day to be heard. The day was appointed. Neither
adventurer, soldier, or any other person, made any title
to the land : but some envious person, unqualified for
any prosecution, offered a letter to the commissioners
which had many years before, and before his coming into
Ireland, been written by colonel Fitzwilliams in Paris to
a Jesuit, one Hartogan, then in Ireland; in which he
gave him notice " of his purpose of coming into Ireland,
where he hoped to do their friends some service."
252 This letter was writ when the queen first designed to
send him to the king, that the Irish, who were the most
jealous people of the world, might know of his purpose
to come thither, before they should hear of his being in
Dublin ; and now being produced before the commission
ers, without considering how long since it was writ, or
the reason of writing it, that he had served the king, and
never in the least degree against him, upon one of their
rules, " that a correspondence with the rebels was a good
evidence," they without any pause declared him nocent,
and presently assigned his estate to some persons to whom
reprisals were to be made : whilst they who thought the
judgment very unjust, laughed at the ill luck of a man
whom they did not love ; and all men were well enough
pleased with the sentence, who were displeased with the
person. And this party pursued him so severely into
England, that the king's interposition to redeem him
from so unjust a decree was looked upon as over-favour
ing the Irish ; when none were so glad of the decree as
the Irish, who universally hated him. Nor was he at last
restored to the possession of his estate, without making

504 Many decrees made upon Con. 253-
some composition with those to whom the commissioners
had assigned it.
353 Many, who had formerly made their claims without in
sisting upon any deeds of settlement or other conveyances
in law, now produced former settlements in consideration
of marriage, or other like good considerations in law, made
before the beginning of the rebellion : which being now
proved by witnesses enough, decrees were every day ob
tained for the restitution of great quantities of land upon
those deeds and conveyances ; though the forgeries of those
deeds and perjury of those witnesses were very notorious.
And some instances were given of the manifestation
and direct proof that was made of the forgery of deeds,
upon which decrees had been made, to the satisfaction of
the commissioners themselves, within a very short time
after the pronouncing those decrees : and yet no repara
tion was given, but the decrees proceeded and were exe
cuted with all rigour, as if no such thing had appeared.
254 The commissioners answered, " that they had made no
decrees but according to their consciences, and such as
they were obliged to make by the course and rule of jus
tice. That they did doubt and in truth believe, that there
had been evil practices used both in the forging of deeds
and corrupting of witnesses, and that the same was equally
practised by the English as the Irish : and therefore that
they had been obliged to make that order, which had
been so much excepted against, not to admit the testi
mony of any English adventurer or soldier in the case of
another adventurer or soldier; for that it was very no
torious, they looked upon the whole as one joint interest,
and so gratified each other in their testimonies." And of
this they gave many sad instances, by which it was too
evident that the perjuries were mutual, and too much
practised by the one and the other side.
255 " That they had used all the providence and vigilance

-t$6. settlements notoriously forged. (1661.) 505
they could, by the careful examination of witnesses,
(which were produced apart, and never in the presence
of each other,) and by asking them all such material
questions as occurred to their understandings, and which
they could not expect to be asked, to discover the truth,
and to prevent and manifest all perjuries. That they had
likewise used their utmost diligence and care to prevent
their being imposed upon with false and forged deeds and
conveyances, by taking a precise and strict view them
selves of all deeds produced ; and interrogated the wit
nesses with all the cunning they could, upon the matter
and consideration upon which such deeds had been en
tered into, and upon the [manner] and circumstances in
the execution thereof: which was all the providence they
could use. And though they met with many reasons
oftentimes to doubt the integrity of the proceedings, and
in their own private consciences to apprehend there might
he great corruption ; yet that they were obliged judicially
to determine according to the testimony of the witnesses,
and the evidence of those deeds in law against which no
proofs were made. That they had constantly heard all
that the adverse party had thought fit to object, both
against the credit of any witnesses, and the truth and
validity of any conveyances which were produced ; upon
which they had rejected many witnesses, and disallowed
some conveyances : but when the objections were only
founded upon presumptions and probabilities, as most
usually they were, they could not weigh down the full
and categorical evidence that was given.
256 " That if they had yielded to the importunities of the
persons concerned, who often pressed to have further
time given to them to prove such a perjury, or to dis
prove such a conveyance ; it must have made their work
endless, and stopped all manner of proceedings, for which
it appeared they were straitened too much in time : and
that indeed would have but opened the door wider for

506 The commissioners' defence Con. 256 —
perjuries and other corruptions ; since it was very plain
to them, that either side could bring as many witnesses
as they pleased, to prove what they pleased, and that
they would bring as many as they believed necessary to
the work in hand. And therefore the commissioners
having before prescribed a method and rule to themselves
for their proceedings, and that no man could have a cause,
in which he was concerned, brought to hearing without
his knowing when it was to be heard, and so it was to
be presumed that he was well provided to support his
own title ; they had thought fit, upon mature delibera
tion amongst themselves, to adhere to the order they had
prescribed to themselves and others, and to conclude, that
they would not be able to prove that another day which
they were not able to prove at the time when they ought
to have been ready.
257 " For the discovery of any forgery after the decrees had
been passed, and upon which they had given no repara
tion," they confessed, "that some few such discoveries
had been made to them, by which the forgery appeared
very clearly: but as they had no power by the act of
parliament to punish either forgery or perjury, but must
leave the examination and punishment thereof to the law,
and to the judges of the law ; so, that they had only
authority to make decrees upon such grounds as satisfied
their consciences, but had not any authority to reverse
those decrees, after they were once made and published,
upon any evidence whatsoever." They concluded with
their humble desire to the king, "that the most strict
examinations might be made of their corruptions, in
which," they said, "they were sure to be found very
innocent, against all the malice that was discovered
against them : that they had proceeded in all things
according to the integrity of their hearts, and the best
of their understandings ; and if through the defect of
that they had erred in any part of their determinations

-2j8. not perfectly satisfactory. (1661.) 507
and judgments, they hoped their want of wisdom should
not be imputed to them as a crime."
258 Many, who had a very good opinion of the persons and
abilities of the commissioners, were not yet satisfied with
their defence ; nor did they believe, that they were so
strictly bound to judge upon the testimony of suspected
witnesses ; but that they were therefore trusted with an
arbitrary power, because it was foreseen that juries were
not like to be entire : so that they were, upon weighing
all circumstances, to declare what in their consciences
they believed to be true and just. That if they had
bound themselves up by too strict and unreasonable rules,
they should rather in time have reformed those rules,
than think to support what was done amiss, by the obser
vation of what they had prescribed to themselves. And
it was believed, that the entire exclusion of the English
from being witnesses for the proving of what could not
in nature be otherwise proved, was not just or reasonable.
That their want of power to reverse or alter their own
decrees, upon any emergent reasons which could after
wards occur, was a just ground for their more serious
deliberation in and before they passed any such decrees.
And their excuse for not granting longer time when it
was pressed for, [was founded upon] reasons which were
visibly not to be justified ; it not being possible for any
man to defend himself against the claims of the Irish,
without knowing what deeds or witnesses they could pro
duce for making good their suggestions ; and therefore it
was as impossible for them to have all their evidence
upon the place. Besides that it was very evident, that
in the last ten days of their sitting (which was likewise
thought to be when their power as to those particulars
was determined, and in which they had made more de
crees than in all the time before) they had made so many
in a day, contrary to their former rule and method, that
men were plainly surprised, and could not produce those

508 A particular relation Con. 2$>
proofs which in a short time they might have been sup
plied with ; and the refusing to allow them that time,
was upon the matter to determine their interest, and to
take away their estates without being once heard, and
upon the bare allegations of their adversaries. And in
these last decrees many instances were given of that
nature, wherein the evidence appeared to be very full, if
time had been given to produce it.
259 There was one very notable case decreed by the com
missioners extremely complained of, and cried out against
by all parties, as well Irish as English ; and for which
the commissioners themselves made no other excuse or
defence, but the receipt of a letter from the king, which
was not thought a good plea for sworn judges, as the
commissioners were. It was the case of the marquis of
Antrim. Which case having been so much upon the
stage, and so much enlarged upon to the reproach of the
king, and even to the traducing of the memory of his
blessed father ; and those men, who artificially contrived
the doing of all that was done amiss, having done all they
could to wound the reputation of the chancellor, and to
get it to be believed, " that he had by some sinister in
formation misled the king to oblige the marquis ;" it is
a debt due to truth, and to the honour of both their ma
jesties, to set down a very particular narration of that
whole affair ; by which it will appear, how far the king
was from so much as wishing that any thing should be
done for the benefit of the marquis which should be con
trary to the rules of justice.
260 Whilst his majesty was in foreign parts, he received
frequent advertisements from England and from Ireland,
" that the marquis of Antrim behaved himself very un-
dutifully towards him ; and that he had made himself
very grateful to the rebels, by calumniating the late king :
and that he had given it under his hand to Ireton, or
some other principal person employed under Cromwell,

-261. of the marquis of Antrim's case. (1661.) 509
that his late majesty had sent him into Ireland to join
with the rebels, and that his majesty was not offended
with the Irish for entering into that rebellion:" which
was a calumny so false and so odious, and reflected so
much upon the honour of his majesty, that the king was
resolved, as soon as God should put it into his power, to
cause the strictest examination to be made concerning it;
the report having gained much credit with his majesty, by
the notoriety that the marquis had procured great recom
mendations from those who governed in Ireland to those
who governed in England ; and that upon the presump
tion of that he had come into England, and as far as
St. Alban's towards London, from whence he had been
forced suddenly to return into Ireland by the activity of
his many creditors, who upon the news of his coming had
provided for his reception, and would unavoidably have
cast him into prison. And no recommendation could
have inclined those who were in authority, to do any
thing extraordinary for the protection of a person, who
from the beginning of the Irish rebellion lay under so ill
a character with them, and had so ill a name throughout
the kingdom.
261 The king had been very few days in London, after his
arrival from the parts beyond the seas, when he was in
formed that the marquis of Antrim was upon his way
from Ireland towards the court : and the commissioners
from Ireland, who have been mentioned before, were the
first who gave his majesty that information, and at the
same time told him all that his majesty had heard before
concerning the marquis, and of the bold calumnies with
which he had traduced his royal father, with many other
particulars ; " all which," they affirmed, " would be proved
by unquestionable evidence, and by letters and certificates
under his own hand." Upon this full information, (of
the truth whereof his majesty entertained no doubt,) as
soon as the marquis came to the town, he was by the

510 A particular relation Con. 361 —
king's special order committed to the Tower ; nor could
any petition from him, or entreaty of his friends, of which
he had some very powerful, prevail with his majesty to
admit him into his presence. But by the first oppor
tunity he was sent prisoner to Dublin, where he was
committed to the castle ; the king having given direction,
that he should be proceeded against with all strictness
according to law : and to that purpose, the lords justices
were required to give all orders and directions necessary.
The marquis still professed and avowed his innocence,
and used all the means he could to procure that he might
be speedily brought to his trial ; which the king likewise
expected. But after a year's detention in prison, and
nothing brought against him, he was set at liberty, and
had a pass given him from the council there to go into
England. He then applied himself to his majesty, de
manding nothing of favour, but said, "he expected justice ;
and that after so many years being deprived of his estate,
he might, at last be restored to it, if nothing could be
objected against him wherein he had disserved his ma
jesty."
262 He was a gentleman who had been bred up in the
court of England, and having married the duchess of
Buckingham, (though against the king's will,) he had
been afterwards very well received by both their ma
jesties, and was frequently in their presence. He had
spent a very vast estate in the court, without having ever
received the least benefit from it. He had retired into Ire
land, and lived upon his own estate in that country, some
years before the rebellion brake out; in the beginning
whereof he had undergone some suspicion, having held
some correspondence with the rebels, and possibly made
some undertakings to them : but he went speedily to
Dublin, was well received by the justices there, and from
thence transported himself with their license to Oxford,
where the king was ; to whom he gave so good an ac-

-263. of the marquis of Antrim's case. (1661.) 511
count of all that had passed, that his majesty made no
doubt of his affection to his service, though he had very
little confidence in his judgment and understanding, which
were never remarkable. Besides that it was well known,
that he had a very unreasonable envy towards the marquis
of Ormond, and would fain have it believed that his
interest in Ireland was so great, that he could reclaim
that whole nation to his majesty's obedience ; but that
vanity and presumption never gained the least credit with
his majesty : yet it may reasonably be believed that he
thought so himself, and that it was the source from which
all the bitter waters of his own misfortune issued.
263 Upon the Scots second entering into England with
their army upon the obligation of the covenant, and all
his majesty's endeavours to prevent it being disappointed,
the marquis of Mountrose had proposed to the king, " to
make a journey privately into Scotland, and to get into
the Highlands, where, with his majesty's authority, he
hoped he should be able to draw together such a body of
men, as might give his countrymen cause to call for their
own army out of England, to secure themselves." And
with this overture, or upon debate thereof, he wished
"that the earl of Antrim" (for he was then no more)
"might be likewise sent into Ulster, where his interest
lay, and from whence he would be able to transport a
body of men into the Highlands, where he had likewise
the clan of Macdonnels, who acknowledged him to be
their chief, and would be consequently at his devotion ;
by which means the marquis of Mountrose would be
enabled the more powerfully to proceed in his undertak
ing." The earl of Antrim entered upon this undertaking
with great alacrity, and undertook to the king to perform
great matters in Scotland ; to which his own interest and
animosity enough disposed him, having an old and a
sharp controversy and contestation with the marquis of
Argyle, who had dispossessed him of a large territory

512 A particular relation Con. 363 —
there. All things being adjusted for this undertaking,
and his majesty being well pleased with the earl's alacrity,
he created him at that time a marquis, gave him letters
to the marquis of Ormond his lieutenant there, as well to
satisfy him of the good opinion he had of the marquis of
Antrim, and of the trust he had reposed in him, as to
wish him to give him all the assistance he could with
convenience, for the carrying on the expedition for Scot
land.
264 And for the better preventing of any inconvenience
that might fall out by the rashness and inadvertency of
the marquis of Antrim towards the lord lieutenant, his
majesty sent Daniel O'Neile of his bedchamber into Ire
land with him, who had great power over him, and very
much credit with the marquis of Ormond ; and was a
man of that dexterity and address, that no man could so
well prevent the inconveniences and prejudice, which the
natural levity and indiscretion of the other might tempt
him to, or more dispose and incline the lord lieutenant
to take little notice of those vanities and indiscretions.
And the king, who had no desire that the marquis should
stay long in Dublin, upon his promise that he would use
all possible expedition in transporting himself into Scot
land, gave him leave to hold that correspondence with
the Irish rebels (who had the command of all the northern
parts, and without whose connivance at least he could
very hardly be able to make his levies and transport his
men) as was necessary to his purposes : within the limits
of which, it is probable enough that he did not contain
himself; for the education and conversation he had in
the world had not extirpated that natural craft in which
that nation excels, and by which they only deceive them
selves, and might say many things which he had not
authority or warrant to say.
265 Upon his coming to Dublin, the lord lieutenant gave
him all the countenance he could wish, and assisted him

—2-266. of the marquis of Antrim's case. (1661.) 513.
in all the ways he could propose, to prosecute his design ;
but the men were to be raised in or near the rebels'
quarters. And it cannot be denied, but that the levies
he made, and sent over into Scotland under the command
of Calkito, were the foundation of all those wonderful
acts which were performed afterwards by the marquis of
Mountrose, (they were fifteen hundred men, very good,
and with very good officers ; all so hardy, that neither
the ill fare nor the ill lodging in the Highlands gave them
any discouragement,) and gave the first opportunity to
the marquis of Mountrose of being in the head of an
army ; under which he drew together such of the High
landers and others of his friends, who were willing to
repair to him. But upon any military action, and defeat
given to the enemy, which happened as often as they en
countered the Scots, the Highlanders went always home
with their booty, and the Irish only stayed together with
their general. And from this beginning the marquis of
Mountrose grew to that power, that after many battles
won by him with notable slaughter of the enemy, he
marched victoriously with his army till he made himself
master of Edinburgh, and redeemed out of the prison
there the earl of [Crawford], lord Ogilby, and many other
noble persons, who had been taken and sent thither, with
resolution that they should all lose their heads. And
the marquis of Mountrose did always acknowledge, that
the rise and beginning of his good success was due and
to be imputed to that body of Irish, which had in the
beginning been sent over by the marquis of Antrim ; to
whom the king had acknowledged the service by several
letters, all of his own handwriting ; in which were very
gracious expressions of the sense his majesty had of his
great services, and his resolution to reward him.
266 It is true, that the marquis of Antrim had not gone
over himself with his men, as he had promised to do, but
stayed in Ulster under pretence of raising a greater body
CLARENDON LITE, VOL. I. L f

514 Of the marquis of Antrim. Con. 266 
of men, with which he would adventure his own person ;
but either out of jealousy or displeasure against the mar
quis of Mountrose, or having in truth no mind to that
service of Scotland, he prosecuted not that purpose, but
remained still in Ulster, where all his own estate lay, and
so was in the rebels' quarters, and no doubt was often in
their councils ; by which he gave great advantages against
himself, and might in strictness of law have been as se
verely punished by the king as the worst of the rebels.
At last, in his moving from place to place, (for he was
not in any expedition with the rebels,) he was taken
prisoner by the Scots, who intended to have put him to
death for having sent men into Scotland ; but he made
his escape out of their hands, and transported himself
into Flanders, and from thence, having assurance that the
prince (his majesty that now is) was then in the west, he
came with two good frigates into the port of Falmouth,
and offered his service to his royal highness ; and having
in his frigates a quantity of arms and some ammunition,
which he had procured in Flanders for the service of Ire
land, most of the arms and ammunition were employed,
with his consent, for the supply of the troops and garri
sons in Cornwall : and the prince made use of one of the
frigates to transport his person to Scilly, and from thence
to Jersey ; without which convenience, his highness had
been exposed to great difficulties, and could hardly have
escaped the hands of his enemies. After all which, when
Dublin was given up to the parliament, and the king's
authority was withdrawn out of that kingdom, he again
(not having wherewithal to live any where else) trans
ported himself into Ireland, made himself gracious with
the Irish, and was by them sent into France, to desire
the queen mother and the prince of Wales " to send the
marquis of Ormond to reassume his majesty's government
in that kingdom ;" which was done accordingly, in the
manner that is mentioned elsewhere.

-268. Of the marquis of Antrim. (1661.) 515
267 The marquis of Antrim alleged all these particulars,
and produced many original letters from the late king,
(besides those which are mentioned,) the queen mother,
and the prince, in all which his services had been ac
knowledged, and many promises made to him ; and con
cluded with a full protestation, " that he desired no
pardon for any thing that he had ever done against the
king ; and if there were the least proof that he had failed
in his fidelity to him, or had not according to the best of
his understanding advanced his service, he looked for no
favour. But if his being in the Irish quarters and consult
ing with them, without which he could not have made his
levies for Scotland, nor transported them if he had levied
them, and if his living amongst them afterwards, when his
majesty's [authority] was drawn from thence, and when
he could live no where else, do by the strict letter of the
law expose him to ruin without his majesty's grace and
favour, he did hope his majesty would redeem him from
that misery, and that the forfeiture of his estate should
not be taken, as if he were a traitor and a rebel to the
king." And it appeared that if he were restored to all
he could pretend to, or of which he had ever been pos
sessed, his debts were so great, and his creditors had
those legal incumbrances upon his estate, that his con
dition at best would not be liable to much envy.
268 Though the king had been never taken notice of to
have any great inclinations to the marquis, who was very
little known to him ; yet this representation and clear
view of what he had done and what he had suffered,
raised great compassion towards him in the royal breast '
of his majesty. And he thought it would in some degree
reflect upon his own honour and justice, and upon the
memory of his blessed father, if in a time when he passed
by so many transgressions very heinous, he should leave
the marquis exposed to the fury of his enemies, (who
were only his enemies because they were possessed of his
Ll 2

516 Of ihe marquis of Antrim. — Difficulties in Con. 368-
estate, and because be desired to have his own from
them,) for no other crime upon the matter, than for not
having that prudence and that providence in his en
deavours to serve the king, as he ought to have had;
that is, he ought to have been wiser. And the rigour
exercised towards him upon his first arrival, in sending
him to the Tower and afterwards into Ireland, by those
who enough wished his destruction, and that they had
not been able to make the least proof against him, im
proved his majesty's good disposition towards him. Yet
he refused positively to write a letter to the commission
ers on his behalf; which the marquis most importunately
desired, as the only thing that could do him good. But
his majesty directed a letter to be prepared to the lord
lieutenant, in which all his allegations and suggestions
should be set down, and the truth thereof examined by
him ; and that if he should be found to have committed
no greater faults against the king, than those which he
confessed, then that letter should be sent to the com
missioners, that they might see both their majesties' tes
timonies in such particulars as were known to themselves.
And this letter was very warily drawn, and being ap
proved by his majesty, was sent accordingly to the lord
lieutenant. And shortly after a copy of it signed by the
king (who conceived it only to be a duplicate, lest the
other should miscarry) was, contrary to his majesty's re
solution, and contrary to the advice of the chancellor
and without his knowledge, likewise sent to the com
missioners ; who had thereupon made such a decree as is
before mentioned, and declared, " that they had made it
only upon that ground;" which gave his majesty some
trouble, and obliged him to insert a clause in the next
bill concerning that affair.
269 And this was the whole proceeding that related to the
marquis of Antrim : and it is yet very hard to compre
hend, wherein there was more favour shewed towards

. — 27i- making a settlement of the forfeited lands. (1661.) 517
him by his majesty, than he might in truth very reason
ably pretend to, what noise soever was raised, and what
glosses soever made; which proceeded only from the
general dislike of the man, who had much more weakness
than wickedness in him, and was an object rather of pity
than of malice or envy.
27° When his majesty entered upon the debate of the third
bill, which was transmitted to him for a supplement and
addition to the other two, he quickly found the settle
ment proposed, and which was the end of the three bills,
was now grown more difficult than ever. All the mea
sures, which had formerly been taken from the great
proportion of land which would remain to be disposed of,
were no more to be relied upon, but appeared to have
been a wrong foundation from the beginning ; which was
now made more desperate, by the vast proportions which
had been assigned to the Irish by the commissioners'
decrees : and somewhat had intervened by some acts of
bounty from his majesty, which had not been carefully
enough watched and represented to him.
271 The king had, upon passing the former bills, and upon
discerning how much the Irish were like to suffer, re
solved to retain all that should by forfeiture or otherwise
come to his majesty in his own power ; to the end, that
when the settlement should be made, he might be able
to gratify those of the Irish nation, who had any thing
[of merit] towards him, or had been least faulty. And
if he had observed that resolution, very much of the
trouble he underwent afterwards had been prevented :
for he would then, besides that which Cromwell had re
served to himself, (which was a vast tract of ground,)
have had all those forfeitures which the regicides had
been possessed of, and other criminal persons; which
amounted to a huge quantity of the best land. And
though the king had before designed all those forfeited
lands to his brother the duke, yet his highness was so

518 Much confusion is caused by the earl of Orrery. Con. 271 —
pleased with the resolution his majesty had taken, to
retain them to that purpose, that he forbore to prosecute
that grant, till he heard of great quantities of land every
day granted away by his majesty to his servants and
others ; whereby he saw the main end would be disap
pointed. And then he resolved to be no longer a loser
for the benefit of those who had no pretence to what
they got ; and so proceeded in getting that grant from
the king to himself of those lands designed to him.
272 The king had swerved from that rule, before it was
scarce discerned : and the error of it may be very justly
imputed to the earl of [Orrery], and to none but him ;
who believing that he could never be well enough at
court, except he had courtiers of all sorts obliged to him,
[and] would therefore speak well of him in all places
and companies, (and those arts of his put the king to
much trouble and loss both in England and Ireland,) he
commended to many of such friends (though he had ad
vised the king to the former resolution) many suits of
that kind, and sent certificates to them, oftentimes under
his own hand, of the value those suits might be to them
if obtained, and of the little importance the granting of
them would be to his majesty ; which, having been
shewed to the king, disposed him to those concessions,
which otherwise he would not so easily have made.
Then he directed them a way (being then one of the lords
justices) for the more immediate passing those grants
they could obtain, without meeting those obstructions
which they had been subject to ; for when any of those
grants had been brought to the great seal of England,
the chancellor always stopped them, and put his majesty
in mind of his former resolution : but this new way (in
itself lawful enough) kept him from knowing any of those
transactions which were made by letters from the king
to the lords justices ; and thereupon the grants were pre
pared there, and passed under the great seal of Ireland.

— 374- A new clause is inserted in the grants. (1661.) 519
273 There was then likewise a new clause introduced into
those grants, of a very new nature ; for being grounded
always upon letters out of England, and passed under the
seal of Ireland, the letters were prepared and formed
there, and transmitted hither only for his majesty's sign
manual : so that [neither] the king's learned council at
law, nor any other his ministers, (the secretaries only ex
cepted,) had any notice or the perusal of any of those
grants. The clause was, " that if any of those lands so
granted by his majesty should be otherwise decreed, his
majesty's grantee should be reprised with other lands:"
so that in many cases, the greatest inducement to his
majesty's bounty being the incertainty of his own right,
which the person to whom it was granted was obliged to
vindicate at his own charge, the king was now bound to
make it good, if his grant was not valid. And so that
which was but a contingent bounty, which commonly was
the sole argument for the passing it, was now turned into
a real and substantial benefit, as a debt ; which created
another difficulty in the settlement : which was yet the
more hard, because there were many claims of the Irish
themselves yet unheard, all the false admeasurements to
be examined, and many other uncertainties to be deter
mined by the commissioners ; which left those who were
in quiet possession, as well as those who were out of it,
in the highest insecurity and apprehension.
274 This intricacy and even despair, which possessed all
kind of people, of any settlement, made all of them
willing to contribute to any that could be proposed.
They found his majesty very unwilling to consent to the
repeal of the decrees made by the commissioners ; which
must have taken away the confidence and assurance of
whatsoever was to be done hereafter, by making men
see, that what was settled by one act of parliament might
immediately be unsettled by another : so that there was
no hope by that expedient to increase the number of

520 A proposition brought to the king Con. 274 —
acres, which being left might in any degree comply with
the several pretences. The Irish found, that they might
only be able to obstruct any settlement, but should never
be able to get such a one as would turn to their own
satisfaction. The soldiers and adventurers agreed less
amongst themselves : and the clamour was as great
against those, who by false admeasurements had gotten
more than they should have, as from those who had
received less than was their due ; and they who least
feared any new examination could not yet have any
secure title, before all the rest were settled. In a word,
all men found that any settlement would be better than
none ; and that more profit would arise from a smaller
proportion of land quietly possessed and husbanded ac
cordingly, than [from] a much greater proportion under
a doubtful title and an incertainty, which must dishearten
any industry and improvement.
375 Upon these considerations and motives, they met
amongst themselves, and debated together by what ex
pedient they might draw light out of this darkness.
There appeared only one way which administered any
reasonable hope ; which was, by increasing the stock
for reprisals to such a degree, that all men's pretences
might in some measure be provided for : and there was
no other way to arrive to this, but by every man's parting
with somewhat which he thought to be his own. And to
this they had one encouragement, that was of the highest
prevalence with them, which was, that this way an end
would be put to the illimited jurisdiction of the commis
sioners, (which was very terrible to all of them,) who
from henceforth could have little other power, than to
execute what should here be agreed upon.
276 In conclusion, they brought a proposition to the king,
raised and digested between themselves, " that all persons,
who were to receive any benefit by this act, should abate
and give a fourth part of what they had, towards the

—274- concerning the grants of land. (1661.) 521
stock for reprisals; all which the commissioners should
distribute amongst those Irish who should appear most
fit for his majesty's bounty." And this agreement was
so unanimous, that though it met with some obstinate
opposition after it was brought before the king, yet the
number of the opposers was so small in respect of the
others who agreed to it, that they grew weary and ashamed
of further contention. And thereupon that third act of
settlement, as supplemental to the other two, was con
sented to by the king ; who, to publish to the world that
nothing stuck with him which seemed to reflect upon the
commissioners, resolved to make no change : and so though
two of them, who had offices here to discharge, prevailed
with his majesty that they might not return again into
Ireland ; the other five were continued, to execute what
was more to be done by this act, and so to perfect the
settlement. And no doubt it will be here said, that this
expedient might have been sooner found, and so prevented
many of those disorders and inconveniences which inter
vened. But they who knew that time, and the perverse-
ness and obstinacy that possessed all pretenders, must con
fess that the season was never ripe before : nor could their
consent and agreement, upon which this act was founded,
ever be obtained before.
277 These were all the transactions which passed with re
ference to Ireland, whilst the chancellor remained at that
board ; in which he acted no more than any other of the
lords who were present did : except when any difficulties
occurred in their private meetings and debates, they some
times resorted to him for advice, which he was ready to
give ; being always willing to take any pains, which might
make that very difficult work more easy to be brought to
a good end. But as he never thought he deserved any
reward for so doing, so he never expected the benefit of
one shilling in money or in money's worth, for any thing
he ever did in that affair ; and was so far from entertaining

522 The chancellor's vindication of himself Con. 277-
any overture to that purpose, that it is notoriously known
to many persons of honour, who, I presume, will be ready
to testify the same, that when, upon his majesty's first
return into England, some propositions were made to him
of receiving the grant of some forfeited lands, and for the
buying other lands there upon the desire of the owners
thereof, and at so low a price that the very profit of the
land would in a short time have paid for the purchase,
and other overtures of immediate benefit in money, (which
others did and lawfully might accept;) he rejected all
propositions of that kind or relating to it, and declared
publicly and privately, " that he would neither have lands
in Ireland nor the least benefit from thence, till all differ
ences and pretences in that kingdom should be so fully
settled and agreed, that there could be no more appeal to
the king, or repairing to the king's council for justice ; in
which," he said, "he should never be thought so competent
an adviser, if he had any title of his own in that kingdom
to bias his inclinations." And he was often heard to say,
" that he never took a firmer resolution in any particular
in his life, than to adhere to that conclusion." Yet be
cause it was notorious afterwards, that he did receive
some money out of Ireland, and had a lawful title to
receive more, (with which he was reproached when he
could not answer for himself;) it may not be amiss in
this place, for his vindication, to set down particularly
how that came to pass, and to mention all the circum
stances which preceded, accompanied, or attended that
affair.
278 In the bills which were first transmitted from Ireland
after his majesty's happy return, there was an imposition
of a certain sum of money upon some specified lands in
several provinces, " which [was] to be paid to his majesty
within a limited time, and to be disposed of by his ma
jesty to such persons who had served him faithfully, and
suffered in so doing," or words to that effect ; for he often

;79- concerning the Irish affairs. (1661.) 523
protested that he never saw the act of parliament, and
was most confident that he never heard of it at the time
when it passed, he being often absent from the council,
by reason of the gout or other accidents, when such
matters were transacted. But two years after the king's
return, or thereabout, he received a letter from the earl
of Orrery, " that there would be in his hands, and in the
earl of Anglesea's and the lord Massaren's," (who it seems
were appointed treasurers to receive the money to be
raised by that act of parliament,) " a good sum of money
for him ; which he gave him notice of, to the end that he
might give direction for the disposal thereof, whether he
would have it returned into England or laid out in land
in Ireland ;" and he wished " that he would speedily send
his direction, because he was confident that the money
would be paid in, at least by the time that his letter could
arrive there." No man can be more surprised than the
chancellor was at the receipt of this letter, believing that
there was some mistake in it, and that his name might
have been used in trust by somebody who had given him
no notice of it. And without returning any answer to the
earl of Orrery, he writ by that post to the lord lieutenant,
to inform him of what the earl of Orrery had writ to him,
and desired him to " inform him by his own inquiry, what
the meaning of it was."
279 Before he had an answer from the lord lieutenant, or
indeed before his letter could come to the lord lieute
nant's hands, be received a second letter from the earl of
Orrery ; in which he informed him, " that there was now
paid in to his use the sum of twelve thousand six hundred
and odd pounds, and that there would be the like sum
again received for him at the end of six months;" and
sent him a particular direction, " to what person and in
what form he was to send his order for the payment of
the money." The chancellor still forbore to answer this
letter, till he had received an answer to what he had

524 A grant of lands is conferred Con. 279-
written to the lord lieutenant, who then informed him at
large, what title he had to that money, and how he came
to have it: "that shortly after the passing that act of
parliament, which had given his majesty the disposal of
the money before mentioned, the earl of Orrery had come
to him, the lord lieutenant, and putting him in mind,
how the chancellor had rejected all overtures which had
been made to him of benefit out of that kingdom," (which
refusal, and many others that shew how unsolicitous he
had always been in the ways of getting, is not more
known to any man living than to the lord lieutenant,)
" wished that he would move the king to confer some
part of that money upon the chancellor ; which the lord
lieutenant very willingly did, and his majesty as cheer
fully granted : that a letter was accordingly prepared, and
his majesty's royal signature procured by Mr. Secretary
Nicholas, who was at the same time commanded by the
king not to let him know of it ; to which purpose there
was likewise a clause in the letter, whereby it was pro
vided that be should have no notice of it ; which," the
lord lieutenant said, " was by his majesty's direction, or
with his approbation, because it was said, that if he had
notice of it, he would be so foolish as to obstruct it him
self. And there was a clause likewise in the said letter,
which directed the payment of the said monies to his
heirs, executors, or assigns, if he should die before the
receipt thereof."
280 The chancellor being so fully advertised of all this by
the lord lieutenant, and of which till that time he had
not the least notice or imagination, he desired secretary
Nicholas to give him a copy of that letter, (which had
been since passed as a grant to him under the great seal
of Ireland, according to the form then used ;) which the
secretary gave him, with a large account of many gracious
circumstances in the king's granting it, and the obligation
laid upon him of secrecy, and the great caution that was

—28 1. on the chancellor without his knowledge. (1661.) 525
used that he might have no notice of it. After he was
informed of all this, he did not think that there was any
thing left for him to do, but to make his humble ac
knowledgment to his majesty for his royal bounty, and to
take care for the receiving and transmitting the money ;
and doubted not but that he might receive it very ho
nestly. He did therefore wait upon his majesty with
that duty that became him : and his majesty was gra
ciously pleased to enlarge his bounty with those expres
sions of favour, and of the satisfaction he had vouchsafed
to take himself in conferring his donative, that his joy
was much greater from that grace, than in the greatness
of the gift.
281 At the very same time, and the very day that the
chancellor received the letter from the lord lieutenant,
the earl of Portland came to him, and informed him of a
difference that was fallen out between the lord Lovelace
and sir Bulstrode Whitlock, upon a defect in the title to
certain lands purchased heretofore by sir Bulstrode Whit
lock from the lord Lovelace, and enjoyed by him ever
since ; but being by the necessity of that time, the de
linquency of Lovelace and the power of Whitlock, bought
and sold at an undervalue, and the time being now more
equal, Lovelace resolved to have more money, or not to
perform a covenant he had entered into ; the not-per-
formance whereof would leave the other's title very de
fective. The earl desired to reconcile those two, which
could not be done without sale of the land : and so he
proposed to the chancellor the buying this land, which
lay next to some land he had in Wiltshire. This pro
position [was] made upon the very day, as is said before,
that he had received the letter from the lord lieutenant
of Ireland ; by which it appeared that there was near as
much money already received for him, as would pay for
that purchase, besides what was more to be received within

526 The chancellor receives only a fourth. Con. 381 —
six months after. The land was well known to the chan
cellor ; so that upon a short conference with the parties,
they all agreed upon the purchase : and he was easily
prevailed with to undertake the payment of the greatest
part of the money upon sealing the writings, not making
the least doubt, but that he should by that time receive
the money from Ireland ; which was the sole ground and
motive to his making that purchase.
282 But the next letters he received from Ireland informed
him, " that the necessities of that kingdom had been
such, that they could only return six thousand pounds of
that money ; and that they had been compelled to make
use of the rest for the public, which would take care
to repay it to him in a short time :" and so he found
himself engaged in a purchase which he could not retract,
upon presumption of money which he could not receive.
And he did not only never after receive one penny of
what was due upon the second payment, (which he so
little suspected could fail, there being an act of par
liament for the security, that he assigned it upon the
marriage of his second son to him, as the best part of his
portion ;) but the remainder of the first sum, which was
so borrowed or taken from him, or any part of it, was
never after paid to him or to his use : by which, and the
inconveniences and damages which ensued to him from
thence, he might reasonably say that he was a loser, and
involved in a great debt, by that signal bounty of his
majesty ; and which was afterwards made matter of re
proach to him, and as an argument of his corruption.
But this is a very true account of that business, and of
all the money that he ever received from Ireland, with all
the circumstances thereof ; which, in the judgment of all
impartial men, cannot reflect to the prejudice of his in
tegrity and honour.
283 And so we shall no further pursue or again resume any

-284. The parliament vindicate the king's prerogative. (1661.) 527
mention of the affairs of Ireland, though they will afford
a large field of matter ; but shall return to the beginning
of the parliament, from whence we departed.
284 It cannot be expressed, hardly imagined, with what
alacrity the parliament entered upon all particular affairs
which might refer to the king's honour, safety, or profit.
They pulled up all those principles of sedition and rebel
lion by the roots, which in their own observation had been
the ground of, or contributed to the odious and infamous
rebellion in the long parliament. They declared "that
sottish distinction between the king's person and his office
to be treason ; that his negative voice could not be taken
from him, and was so essential to the making a law, that
no order or ordinance of either house could be binding to
the subject without it; that the militia was inseparably
vested in his majesty, and that it was high treason to
raise or levy soldiers without the king's commission."
And because the license of speaking seditiously, and of
laying scandalous imputations and aspersions upon the
person of the king, as saying " that he was a papist," and
such like terms, to alienate the affections of the people
from his majesty, had been the prologue and principal
ingredient to that rebellion, and corrupted the hearts of
his loving subjects ; they declared, " that the raising any
calumnies of that kind upon the king, as saying, * that he
is a papist, or popishly affected,' or the like, should be
felony." In a word, they vindicated all his regalities and
royal prerogatives, and provided for the safety of his per
son in as loving and ample a manner as he could wish :
and towards raising and settling a revenue proportionable
to his dignity and necessary expense, over and above the
confirmation of all that had been done or granted in the
last convention, they entered upon all the expedients
which could occur to them, and were willing to receive
propositions or advice from any body that might contri
bute thereunto. In all these public matters, no man

528 The king urges the parliament Con. 285-
could wish a more active spirit to be in them, than they
were in truth possessed with.
285 But in that which the king had principally recom
mended to them, the confirmation of the act of oblivion
and indemnity, they proceeded very slowly, coldly, and
unwillingly, notwithstanding the king's frequent messages
to them, " to despatch it, though with the delay of those
other things which they thought did more immediately"
concern him." They had many agents and solicitors in
the court, who thought that all that was released by that
act might lawfully be distributed amongst them ; and
since the king had referred that whole affair to the par
liament, he might well leave it to their judgments, with
out his own interposition. But his majesty looked upon
himself as under another obligation both of honour and
conscience, and upon the thing itself as more for the
public peace and security, than any thing the parliament
could provide instead thereof; and therefore was very
much troubled and offended at the apparent unwilling
ness to pass it. And thereupon he went himself to the
house of peers, and sent for the commons, and told them,
" that it was absolutely necessary to despatch that bill,
which he himself had sent to them near two months
before :" for it was now the eighth of July. His majesty
told them, " that it was to put himself in mind as well as
them, that he so often, as often as he came to them, men
tioned to them his declaration from Breda." And he
said, "he should put them in mind of another declaration,
published by themselves about that time, and which he
was persuaded made his the more effectual, an honest,
generous, and Christian declaration, signed by the most
eminent persons, who had been the most eminent suf
ferers; in which they renounced all former animosities,
all memory of former unkindnesses, vowed all imaginable
good-will and all confidence in each other." All which
being pressed with so much instance by bis majesty pre-

-287. to pass the indemnity bill. (1661.) 529
vailed with them : and they then forthwith despatched
that bill ; and the king as soon confirmed it, and would
not stay a few days, till other important bills should be
likewise ready to be presented to him.
286 And there cannot be a greater instance of their desire
to please his majesty from thenceforth, than that before
that session was concluded, notwithstanding the prejudice
the clergy had brought upon themselves (as I said before)
upon their too much good husbandry in granting leases,
and though the presbyterian party was not without an
interest in both houses of parliament, they passed a bill
for the repeal of that act of parliament, by which the
bishops were excluded from sitting there. It was first
proposed in the house of commons by a gentleman who
had been always taken to be of a presbyterian family :
and in that house it found less opposition than was looked
for; all men knowing, that besides the justice of it, and
the prudence to wipe out the memory of so infamous an
act, as the exclusion of them with all the circumstances
was known to be, it would be grateful to the king.
287 But when it came into the house of peers, where all
men expected it would find a general concurrence, it met
with some obstruction ; which made a discovery of an in
trigue that had not been suspected. For though there
were many lords present, who had industriously laboured
the passing the former bill for the exclusion, yet they had
likewise been guilty of so many other ill things, of which
they were ashamed, that it was believed that they would
not willingly revive the memory of the whole, by perse
vering in such an odious particular. Nor in truth did
they. But when they saw that it would unavoidably pass,
(for the number of that party was not considerable,) they
either gave their consents, as many of them did, or gave
their negative without noise. The obstruction came not
from thence. The catholics less owned the contradiction,
nor were guilty of it, though they suffered in it. But the
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. M m

530 Restoration of bishops to the house Con. 387-
truth is, it proceeded from the mercurial brain of the earl
of Bristol, who much affected to be looked upon as the
head of the catholics ; which they did so little desire that
he should be thought, that they very rarely concurred with
him. He well knew that the king desired (which his
majesty never dissembled) to give the Roman catholics
ease from all the sanguinary laws ; and that he did not
desire that they should be liable to the other penalties
which the law had made them subject to, whilst they
should in all other respects behave themselves like good
subjects. Nor had they since his majesty's return sus
tained the least prejudice by their religion, but enjoyed as
much liberty at court and in the country as any other
men; and with which the wisest of them were abun
dantly satisfied, and did abhor the activity of those of
their own party, which they did believe more like to
deprive them of the liberty they enjoyed, than to enlarge
it to them.
288 When the earl of Bristol saw this bill brought into the
house for restoring the bishops to their seats, he went to
the king, and informed his majesty, " that if this bill
should speedily pass, it would absolutely deprive the
catholics of all those graces and indulgence which he
intended to them ; for that the bishops, when they should
sit in the house, whatever their own opinions or inclina
tions were, would find themselves obliged, that they
might preserve their reputation with the people, to con
tradict and oppose whatsoever should look like favour or
connivance towards the catholics : and therefore, if his
majesty continued his former gracious inclination towards
the Roman catholics, he must put some stop (even for
the bishops' own sakes) to the passing that bill, till the
other should be more advanced, which he supposed might
shortly be done ;" there having been already some over
tures made to that purpose, and a committee appointed
in the house of lords to take a view of all the sanguinary

—289. is opposed by the earl of Bristol. (1661.) 531
laws in matters of religion, and to present them to the
house, that it might consider further of [them]. The
king, surprised with the discourse from a man who had
often told him the necessity of the restoring the bishops,
and that it could not be a perfect parliament without their
presence, thought his reason for the delay to have weight
in it, and that the delay for a few days could be attended
with no prejudice to the matter itself; and thereupon was
willing the bill should not be called [for], and that when
it should be under commitment, it should be detained
there for some time ; and that he might, the better to
produce this delay, tell some of his friends, " that the
king would be well pleased, that there should not be
overmuch haste in the presenting that bill for his royal
assent."
289 This grew quickly to be taken notice of in the house,
that after the first reading of that bill, it had been put
off for a second reading longer than was usual, when the
house was at so much leisure ; and that now it was under
commitment, it was obstructed there, notwithstanding all
the endeavours some lords of the committee could use
for the despatch ; the bill containing very few words,
being only for the repeal of a former act, and the expres
sions admitting, that is, giving little cause for any debate.
The chancellor desired to know how this came to pass ;
and was informed by one of the lords of the committee,
" that they were assured that the king would have a stop
put to it, till another bill should be provided, which his
majesty looked for." Hereupon the chancellor spake
with his majesty, who told him all the conference which
the earl of Bristol had held with him, and what he had
consented should be done. To which the other replied,
" that he was sorry that his majesty had been prevailed
with to give any obstruction to a bill, which every body
knew his majesty's heart was so much set upon for de
spatch ; and that if the reason were known, it would
M m 2

532 Ground of the king's favour Con. 289 —
quickly put an end to all the pretences of the catholics ;
to which his majesty knew he was no enemy." The king
presently concluded that the reason was not sufficient,
and wished, " that the bill might be despatched as soon
as was possible, that he might pass it that session ;"
which he had appointed to make an end of within few
days : and so the next day the report was called for and
made, and the bill ordered to be engrossed against the
next morning; the earl not being at that time in the
house. But the next morning, when the chancellor had
the bill engrossed in his hand to present to the house to
be read the third time, the earl came to him to the wool
sack, and with great displeasure and wrath in his counte
nance told him, " that if that bill were read that day, he
would speak against it ;" to which the chancellor gave
him an answer that did not please him : and the bill was
passed that day. And from that time the earl of Bristol
was a more avowed and declared enemy to him, than he
had before professed to be ; though the friendship that
had been between them had been discontinued or broken,
from the time the earl had changed his religion.
290 The king within few days came to the parliament, to
give his royal assent to those bills which were prepared
for him ; and then told them, " that he did thank them
with all his heart, indeed as much as he could for any
thing, for the repeal of that act which excluded the
bishops from sitting in parliament." He said, " it was an
unhappy act in an unhappy time, passed with many un
happy circumstances, and attended with miserable events ;
and therefore he did again thank them for repealing it:
and that they had thereby restored parliaments to their
primitive institutions." This was upon the thirtieth of
July 1661, when the parliament was adjourned to the
twentieth of November following.
291 Because we have mentioned the gracious purposes the
king had to his Roman catholic subjects, of which after-

— 292. to the Roman catholics. (1661.) 533
wards much use was made to his disservice, to which the
vanity and presumption of many of that profession con
tributed very much ; it may not be unseasonable in this
place to mention the ground of that his majesty's good
ness, and the reasons why that purpose of his was not
prosecuted to the purpose it was intended, after so fair a
rise towards it, by the appointment of that committee in
the house of peers, which is remembered above.
292 It is not to be wondered at, that the king, at the age
he was of when the troubles began in England, and when
he came out of England, knew very little of the laws
which had been long since made and were still in force
against Roman catholics, and less of the grounds and
motives which had introduced those laws. And from
the time that he was first beyond the seas, he could not
be without hearing very much spoken against the pro
testant religion, and more for extolling and magnifying
the religion of the church of Rome ; neither of which
discourses made any impression upon him. After the
defeat at Worcester, and his escape from thence into
France, the queen his mother (who had very punctually
complied with the king her husband's injunctions, in not
suffering any body to endeavour to pervert the prince her
son in his religion, and when he came afterwards into
France after he was king, her majesty continued the
same reservation) but after his majesty's return and escape
from Worcester the queen used much more sharpness in
her discourse against the protestants than she had been
accustomed to. The liberty that his majesty formerly
had in the Louvre, to have a place set aside for the ex
ercise of his religion, was taken away : and continual dis
courses were made by the queen in his presence, " that
he had now no hope ever to be restored to his dominions,
but by the help of the catholics ; and therefore that he
must apply himself to them in such a way as might in
duce them to help him."

534 Laws against Roman catholic priests : Con. 393 —
293 About this time there was a short collection and abridg
ment made of all the penal laws, which had been made
and which were still in force in England against the
Roman catholics ; " that all priests for saying mass were
to be put to death ;" the great penalties which they were
to undergo, who entertained or harboured a priest in their
house, or were present at mass, and the like ; with all
other envious clauses, which were in any acts of parlia
ment, that had been enacted upon several treasons and
conspiracies of the Roman catholics, in the reigns of
queen Elizabeth and king James. And this collection
they caused to be translated into French and into Latin,
and scattered it abroad in all places, after they had caused
copies of it to be presented to the queen mother of
France and to the cardinal : so that the king came into
no place where those papers were not shewed to him,
and where he was not seriously asked, " whether it was a
true collection of the laws of England," and " whether it
was possible that any Christian kingdom could exercise
so much tyranny against the catholic religion." The
king, who had never heard of these particulars, did really
believe that the paper was forged, and answered, " he did
not believe that there were such laws :" and when he
came to his lodgings, he gave the chancellor the paper,
and bade him read it, and tell him, " whether such laws
were in force in England." He had heard before of the
scattering of those papers, and knew well who had made
the collection ; who had been a lawyer, and was a pro
testant, but had too good an opinion of the Roman catho
lics, and desired too much to be grateful to them.
294 The chancellor found an opportunity the next day to
enlarge upon the paper to his majesty, and informed him
of " the seasons in which, and the occasions and provoca
tions upon which, those laws had been made; of the
frequent treasons and conspiracies which had been en
tered into by some Roman catholics, always with the

—295- the king dislikes their severity. (1661.) 535
privity and approbation of their priests and confessors,
against the person and life of queen Elizabeth ; and after
her death, of the infamous and detestable gunpowder trea
son to have destroyed king James and his posterity, with
the whole nobility of the kingdom : so that in those
times, the pope having excommunicated the whole king
dom, and absolved the subjects from all their oaths of
fidelity, there seemed no expedient to preserve the crown,
but the using these severities against those who were
professed enemies to it. But that since those times, that
the Roman catholics had lived quietly, that rigour had
not been used : and that the king his father's clemency
towards those of that profession (which clemency ex
tended no further than the dispensing with the utmost
rigour of the laws) was the ground of the scandal of his
being popishly affected, that contributed as much to his
ruin as any particular malice in the worst of his enemies."
295 The king hearkened attentively to all that was said,
and then answered, " that he could not doubt but there
was some very extraordinary reason for the making such
strange laws : but whatever the reason then was, that it
was at present and for many years past very evident, that
there was no such malignity in the Roman catholics, that
should continue that heavy yoke upon their necks. That
he knew well enough, that if he were in England, he had
not in himself the power to repeal any act of parliament,
without the consent of parliament : but that he knew no
reason why he might not profess, that he did not like
those laws which caused men to be put to death for their
religion ; and that he would do his best, if ever God re
stored him to his kingdom, that those bloody laws might
be repealed. And that if there were no other reason of
state than he could yet comprehend, against the taking
away the other penalties, he should be glad that all those
distinctions between his subjects might be removed ; and
that whilst they were all equally good subjects, they

536 Of penal statutes against catholics. Con. 295-=
might equally enjoy his protection." And his majesty
did frequently, when he was in the courts of catholic
princes, and when he was sure to hear the sharpness of the
laws in England inveighed against, enlarge upon the same
discourse : and it had been a very unseasonable presump
tion in any man, who would have endeavoured to have
dissuaded him from entertaining that candour in his
heart.
296 With this gracious disposition his majesty returned
into England; and received his catholic subjects with
the same grace and frankness, that he did his other : and
they took all opportunities to extol their own sufferings,
which they would have understood to have been for him.
And some very noble persons there were, who had served
his father very worthily in the war, and suffered as largely
afterwards for having done so : but the number of those
was not great, but much greater than of those who shew
ed any affection to him or for him, during the time of his
absence, and the government of the usurper. Yet some
few there were, even of those who had suffered most for
his father, who did send him supply when he was abroad,
though they were hardly able to provide necessaries for
themselves : and in his escape from Worcester, he re
ceived extraordinary benefit, by the fidelity of many poor
people of that religion ; which his majesty was never
reserved in the remembrance of. And this gracious dis
position in him did not then appear ingrateful to any.
And then, upon an address made to the house of peers in
the name of the Roman catholics, for some relaxation of
those laws which were still in force against them, the
house of peers appointed that committee which is men
tioned before, to examine and report all those penal
statutes, which reached to the taking away the life of
any Roman catholic, priest or layman, for his religion ;
there not appearing one lord in the house who seemed
to be unwilling that those laws should be repealed. And

-297- Disagreement among the Roman catholics. (1661.) 537
after that committee was appointed, the Roman catholic
lords and their friends for some days diligently attended
it, and made their observations upon several acts of par
liament, in which they desired ease. But on a sudden
this committee was discontinued, and never after re
vived ; the Roman catholics never afterwards being soli
citous for it.
297 The argument was now to be debated amongst them
selves, that they might agree what would please them :
and then there quickly appeared that discord and ani
mosity between them, that never was nor ever will be ex
tinguished ; and of which the state might make much
other use than it hath done. The lords and men of estates
were not satisfied, in that they observed the good-nature
of the house did not appear to extend further, than the
abolishing those laws which concerned the lives of the
priests, which did not much affect them : for besides that
those spectacles were no longer grateful to the people,
they were confident that they should not be without men
to discharge those functions ; and the number of such was
more grievous to them than the scarcity. That which
they desired was, the removal of those laws, which being
let loose would deprive them of so much of their estates,
that the remainder would not preserve them from poverty.
This indulgence would indeed be grateful to them ; for
the other they cared not. Nor were the ecclesiastics at
all pleased with what was proposed for their advantage,
but looked upon themselves as deprived of the honour of
martyrdom by this remission, and that they might under
go restraints, which would be more grievous than death
itself: and they were very apprehensive, that there would
remain some order of them excluded, as there was even a
most universal prejudice against the Jesuits ; or that there
would be some limitation of their numbers, which they
well knew the catholics in general would be very glad of,
though they could not appear to desire [it].

538 The Jesuits' opinion as to the pope's power. Con. 298 —
298 There was a committee chosen amongst them of the
superiors of all orders, and of the secular clergy, that sat
at Arundel house, and consulted together with some of
the principal lords and others of the prime quality of that
religion, what they should say or do in such and such
cases which probably might fall out. They all concluded,
at least apprehended, that they should never be dispensed
with in respect of the oaths, which were enjoined to be
taken by all men, without their submitting to take some
other oath, that might be an equal security of and for
their fidelity to the king, and the preservation of the
peace of the kingdom. And there had been lately scat
tered abroad some printed papers, written by some re
gular and secular clergy, with sober propositions to that
purpose, and even the form of an oath and subscription to
be taken or made by all catholics ; in which there was an
absolute renunciation or declaration against the temporal
authority of the pope, which, in all common discourses
amongst the protestants, all Roman catholics made no
scruple to renounce and disclaim : but it coming now to
be the subject-matter of the debate in this committee, the
Jesuits declared with much warmth, " that they ought not,
nor could they with a good conscience as catholics, deprive
the pope of his temporal authority, which he hath in all
kingdoms granted to him by God himself," with very
much to that purpose ; with which most of the temporal
lords, and very many of the seculars and regulars, were so
much scandalized, that the committee being broken up
for that time, they never attended it again ; the wiser and
the more conscientious men discerning, that there was a
spirit in the rest that was raised and governed by a pas
sion, of which they could not comprehend the ground.
And the truth is, the Jesuits, and they who adhered to
them, had entertained great hopes from the king's too
much grace to them, and from the great liberty they
enjoyed ; and promised themselves and their friends an-

—300. The parliament meets again. (1661.) 539
other kind of indulgence, than they saw was intended to
them by the house of peers. And this was the reason
that that committee was no more looked after, nor any
public address was any further prosecuted.
299 And from this time there was every day so much inso
lence appeared and indiscretion amongst the imprudent
catholics, that they brought so many scandals upon his
majesty, and kindled so much jealousy in the parliament,
that there grew a general aversion towards them. And
the king's party remembered, with what wariness and dis
regard the Roman catholics had lived towards them in
the whole time of the usurpation ; and how little sorrow
they made show of upon the horrid murder of the king,
(which was then exceedingly taken notice of :) and they
who had been abroad with the king remembered, that his
majesty had received less regard and respect from his
catholic subjects, wherever he found them abroad, than
from any other foreign catholics ; who always received
him with all imaginable duty, whilst his own looked as if
they had no dependance upon him. And so we return to
the parliament after its adjournment.
300 The parliament, that had been adjourned upon the
thirtieth of July, met again upon the twentieth of No
vember, with the same zeal and affection to advance the
king's service. And the king himself came to them upon
the same day they met, and told them, " that he knew
that visit was not of course ; yet if there were no more in
it, it would not be strange, that he came to see what he
and they had so long desired to see, the lords spiritual
and temporal, and the commons of England, met together
to consult for the peace and safety of the church and state,
by which parliaments were restored to their primitive lus
tre and integrity :" his majesty said, " he did heartily con
gratulate with them for that day." But he told them
withal, " that he came thither upon another occasion ;
which was to say somewhat to them on his own behalf,

540 The king's speech, with which Con, 300
to ask somewhat of them for himself, which was more
than he had done of them, or of those who met before
them, since his coming into England. Nor did he think,
that what he had to say to them did alone, or did most
concern himself: if the uneasy condition he was in, if the
straits and necessities he was to struggle with, did not
manifestly relate to the public peace and safety, more
than to his own particular, otherwise than as he was
concerned in the public, he would not give them that
trouble that day; he could bear his necessities which
merely related to himself, with patience enough."
301 He told them, " that he did not importune them to
make more haste in the settling the constant revenue of
the crown than was agreeable to the method they had
proposed to themselves, nor to consider the insupportable
weight that lay upon it, the obligations it lay under to
provide for the interest, honour, and security of the
nation, in another proportion than in any former times
it had been obliged to : his majesty well knew, that they
had very affectionately and worthily taken all that into
their thoughts, and would proceed in it with expedition :
but that he came to put them in mind of the crying debts
which did every day call upon him, of some necessary
provisions, which were to be made without delay for the
very safety of the kingdom, of the great sum of money
that should be ready to discharge the several fleets when
they came home, and for the necessary preparations that
were to be made for the setting out new fleets to sea
against the next spring. These were the pressing occa
sions which he was forced to recommend to them with all
possible earnestness, and he did conjure them to provide
for as speedily as was possible, and in such a manner as
might give them security at home and some reputation
abroad." His majesty said, " that he made this discourse
to them with some confidence, because he was very will
ing and desirous that they should thoroughly examine,

 303- the parliament are much pleased. (1661.) 541
whether those necessities which he mentioned were real
or imaginary, or whether they were fallen upon him by
his own fault, his own ill managery, or excesses, and pro
vide for them accordingly. He was very willing that
they should make a full inspection into his revenue, as
well the disbursements as receipts ; and if they should
find that it had been ill managed by any corruptions in
the officers he trusted, or by his own unthriftiness, he
should take the advice and information they should give
him very kindly."
302 He told them, " that he was very sorry that the ge
neral temper and affections of the nation were not so well
composed, as he hoped they would have been, after so
signal blessings from God Almighty upon them all, and
after so great indulgence and condescensions from him
towards all interests. But that there were many wicked
instruments still as active as ever, who laboured night
and day to disturb the public peace, and to make all
people jealous of each other: it would be worthy their
care and vigilance to provide proper remedies for the
diseases of that kind ; and if they should find new dis
eases, they must study new remedies. For those diffi
culties which concerned matters in religion," his majesty
confessed to them, " that they were too hard for him ;
and therefore he did recommend them to their care and
discretion, which could best provide for them."
303 The two houses were abundantly pleased with all that
his majesty had said to them, and immediately betook
them to the consideration of those particulars which he
had principally recommended to them. And though for
the present they looked upon that clause of his majesty's
speech, wherein he referred to them to make an in
spection into his revenue and his expenses, but as a
generous and princely condescension, which would not
become them to make use of, (nor indeed had they at
that time the least prejudice to or jealousy of any who

542 Causes of the king's pecuniary difficulties. Con. 30^
were of the nearest trust about his majesty ;) yet four
years after, when the expenses had grown to be much
greater, and it may be all disbursements not so warrant
able, and when the factions in court and parliament were
at a great height, and men made use of public pretences
to satisfy their private animosities and malice, they made
use of that frank offer of his majesty, to entitle them
selves to make inquisition into public and private receipts
and disbursements, in a very extraordinary manner never
practised before.
3°4 Let no man wonder, that within so little time as a
year and a half, or very little more, after the king's
return, that is, from May to November in the next year,
and after so great sums of money raised by acts of par
liament upon the people, his majesty's debts could be so
crying and importunate, as to disturb him to that degree
as he expressed. It was never enough understood, that in
j all that time he never received from the parliament more
! than the seventy thousand pounds towards his coronation '¦>
nor were the debts which were now so grievous to him
contracted by himself, (though it cannot be supposed but
that he had contracted debts himself in that time :) all the
money that had been given and raised had been applied
to the payment of the land and sea forces, and had done
neither. Parliaments do seldom make their computations
right, but reckon what they give to be much more than is
ever received, and what they are to pay to be as much less
than in truth they owe ; so that when all the money that
was collected was paid, there remained still very much
due to the soldiers, and much more to the seamen : and
the clamour from both reached the king's ears, as if they
had been levied by his warrant and for his service. And
his majesty understood too well, by the experience of the
ill husbandry of the last year, when both the army and
the ships were so long continued in pay, for want of
money to disband and pay them off, what the trouble and

-306. The state of the arsenals. (1661.) 543
charge would be, if the several fleets should return before
money was provided to discharge the seamen ; and for
that the clamour would be only upon him.
305 But there was an expense that he had been engaged
in from the time of his return, and by which he had con
tracted a great debt, of which very few men could take
notice ; nor could the king think fit to discover it, till he
had first provided against the mischief which might have
attended the discovery. It will hardly be believed, that
in so warlike an age, and when the armies and fleets
of England had made more noise in the world for twenty
years, had fought more battles at land and sea, than all
the world had done besides, or any one people had done
in any age before ; and when at his majesty's return there
remained a hundred ships at sea, and an army of near
threescore thousand men at land ; there should not be in
the Tower of London, and in all the stores belonging to
the crown, fire-arms enough, nor indeed of any other
kind, to arm three thousand men ; nor powder and naval
provisions enough to set out five ships of war.
306 From the death of Cromwell, no care had been taken
for supplies of any of the stores. And the changes which
ensued in the government, and putting out and in new
officers ; the expeditions of Lambert against sir George
Booth, and afterwards into the north ; and other prepara
tions for those factions and parties which succeeded each
other ; and the continual opportunities which the officers
had for embezzlement; and lastly, the setting out that fleet
which was sent to attend upon the king for his return ;
had so totally drained the stores of all kinds, that the
magazines were no better replenished than is mentioned
before : which as soon as his majesty knew, as he could
not be long ignorant of it, the first care he took was to
conceal it, that it might not be known abroad or at home,
in how ill a posture he was to defend himself against an
enemy. And then he committed the care of that province

544 Of the revision of the Liturgy. Con. 306-
to a noble person, whom he knew he could not trust too
much, and made sir William Compton master of the ord
nance, and made all the shifts he could devise for monies,
that the work might be begun. And hereby insensibly
he had contracted a great debt : and these were part of
the crying debts, and the necessary provisions which were
to be made without delay for the very safety of the king
dom, which he told the parliament. And in this he had
laboured so effectually, that at the time when the first
Dutch war was entered into, all the stores were more
completely supplied and provided for, and the ships and
all naval provisions in greater strength and plenty, than
they had ever been in the reign of any former king, or in
the time of the usurper himself.
3°7 That part of the king's speech, of the distempers in the
nation by the differences in religion, which he confessed
were too hard for him, and recommended the composing
them to their care and deliberation, gives me a seasonable
opportunity to enter upon the relation, how that affair
stood at that time, and how far the distractions of those
several factions were from being reconciled, though epi
scopacy seemed to be fully restored, and the bishops to
their votes in parliament ; which had been looked upon
as the most sovereign remedy, to cure, reform, or extin
guish all those maladies. The bishops had spent the va
cation in making such alterations in the Book of Common
Prayer, as they thought would make it more grateful to
the dissenting brethren, for so the schismatical party called
themselves ; and such additions, as in their judgments the
temper of the present time and the past miscarriages re
quired. It was necessarily to be presented to the convo
cation, which is the national synod of the church; and
that did not sit during the recess of the parliament, and
so came not together till the end of November: where
the consideration of it took up much time ; all men offer
ing such alterations and additions, as were suitable to their

*-3°9- Some bishops are for-, others against alteration. (1661.) 545
own fancies, and the observations which they had made in
the time of confusion.
308 The bishops were not all of one mind. Some of them,
who had greatest experience, and were in truth wise men,
thought it best "to restore and confirm the old Book of
Common Prayer, without any alterations and additions;
and that it would be the best vindication the Liturgy and
government of the church could receive, that after so
many scandals and reproaches cast upon both, and after a
bloody rebellion, and wars of twenty years, raised, as was
pretended, principally against both, and which had pre
vailed and triumphed in the total suppression and de
struction of both, they should now be restored to be in
all respects the same they had been before. Whereas any
alterations and additions (besides the advantage it might
give to the common adversary, the papist, who would be
apt to say that we had reformed and changed our religion
again) would raise new scruples in the factious and schis-
matical party, that was ashamed of all the old arguments,
which had so often been answered, and stood at present
exploded in the judgment of all sober men ; but would
recover new spirits to make new objections, and complain
that the alterations and additions are more grievous and
burdensome to the liberty of their conscience, than those
of which they had formerly complained."
3°9 Others, equally grave, of great learning and unblem
ished reputation, pressed earnestly both for the altera
tions and additions ; said, " that it was a common reproach
upon the government of the church, that it would not
depart from the least unnecessary expression or word, nor
explain the most insignificant ceremony ; which would
quiet or remove the doubts and jealousies of many con
scientious men, that they did in truth signify somewhat
that was not intended : and therefore, since some power
ful men of that troublesome party had made it their
earnest request, that some such alterations and additions
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. N n

546 Unhappy policy of making Con. 309-
might [be made], and professed that it would give great
satisfaction to many very good men ; it would be great
pity, now there was a fit opportunity for it, which had
not been in former times of clamour, not to gratify them
in those small particulars, which did not make any im
portant difference from what was before." It may be
there were some, who believed that the victory and
triumph of the church would be with the more lustre,
if somewhat were inserted, that might be understood
to reflect upon the rude and rebellious behaviour of the
late times, which had been regulated and conducted by
that clergy: and so both additions and alterations were
made.
310 But the truth is, what show of reason soever and ap
pearance of charity the latter opinion seemed to carry
with it, the former advice was the more prudent, and
would have prevented many inconveniences which en
sued. Whatever had been pretended or desired, the
alterations which were made to please them did not
reduce one of them to the obedience of the church ; and
the additions raised the clamour higher than it had been.
And when it was evident that they should not be left
longer without a Liturgy, they cried aloud for the same
they had before, though they had inveighed against it for
near a hundred years together.
311 It is an unhappy policy, and always unhappily applied,
to imagine that that classis of men can be recovered and
reconciled by partial concessions, or granting less than
they demand. And if all were granted, they would have
more to ask, somewhat as a security for the enjoyment of
what is granted, that shall preserve their power, and
shake the whole frame of the government. Their faction
is their religion : nor are those combinations ever entered
into upon real and substantial motives of conscience, how
; erroneous soever, but consist of many glutinous materials,
; of will, and humour, and folly, and knavery, and ambi-

 3,a* concessions to the dissenters. (1661.) 547
tion, and malice, which make men cling inseparably to
gether, till they have satisfaction in all their pretences, or
till they are absolutely broken and subdued, which may
always be more easily done than the other. And if some
few, how signal soever, (which often deceives us,) are
separated and divided from the herd upon reasonable
overtures, and secret rewards which make the overtures
look the more reasonable ; they are but so many single
men, and have no more credit and authority (whatever
they have had) with their companions, than if they had
never known them, rather less ; being less mad than they
were makes them thought to be less fit to be believed.
And they, whom you think you have recovered, carry
always a chagrin about them, which makes them good
for nothing, but for instances to divert you from any more
of that kind of traffick.
312 And it is very strange, that the clergy did not at this
time remember what had so lately befallen the poor
church of Scotland, upon the transmission of their Liturgy,
which had been composed with this very prospect that
now dazzled their eyes. "To receive a Liturgy from
England was below the dignity of that nation, which were
governed by their own laws, with [out] dependance upon
any other. Besides there were many errors in that
Liturgy that they could never submit to, and some de
fects which ought to be supplied; and if such a one
should be compiled, in which all those exceptions, which
were well enough known, might be provided for, they would
gladly receive it." All this was carefully performed ; and
what reception it had afterwards is too well known, and
will ever be remembered by the scars which still remain
from those wounds. And then the great objection that
was most impudently urged was, " that it differed from
the Liturgy of the church of England, which they were
ready to have received, and would have declared to the
world, that the two nations had but one religion ; where-
N 11 2

548 The factious preachers Con. 312-
as the book sent to them would have manifested the con
trary, and was the product of a few particular men, to
whose spirit and humour they would not sacrifice their
native liberty of conscience."
3J3 They of the same fraternity in England at this present
governed themselves by the same method, though, God
be thanked, not yet with the same success. And there
is great reason to believe, that the very men, who laboured
so much for the alterations which were made, and pro
fessed to receive so much satisfaction in them, did it for
no other end, but to procure more opportunity to con
tinue and enlarge the contentions ; and to gain excuse
and credit to the ill things they had done, by the redress
and reparation that was given them in the amendment of
many particulars, against which they had always com
plained. There was not one of them who had used that
importunity and made that profession, who afterwards
was conformable to the government of the church, or
frequented those churches where or when the Liturgy
was used.
314 Whilst the clergy was busy and solicitous to prepare
this remedy for the present distempers, the people of all
the several factions in religion assumed more license than
ever they had done. The presbyterians in all their pulpits
inveighed against the Book of Common Prayer that they
expected, and took the same liberty to inveigh against
the government of the church, as they had been accus
tomed to before the return of the king ; with reflections
upon the persons of the bishops, as if they assumed a
jurisdiction that was yet at least suspended. And the
other factions in religion, as if by concert, took the same
liberty in their several congregations. The anabaptists
and the quakers made more noise than ever, and assem
bled together in greater numbers, and talked what refor
mations they expected in all particulars. These insolences
offended the parliament very much : and the house of

 3*5 assume much license. (1662.) 549
commons expressed much impatience, that the Liturgy
was so long in preparation, that the act of uniformity
might without delay be passed and published ; not with
out some insinuations and reflections, that his majesty's
candour, and admission of all persons to resort to his
presence, and his condescension to confer with them, had
raised their spirits to an insolence insupportable ; and
that nothing could reduce them to the temper of good
subjects, but the highest severity.
5*5 It is very true, from the time of his majesty's coming
into England, he had not been reserved in the admission
of those who had been his greatest enemies, to his pre
sence. The presbyterian ministers he received with
grace ; and did believe that he should work upon them
by persuasions, having been well acquainted with their
common arguments by the conversation he had had in
Scotland, and was very able to confute them. The in
dependents had as free access, both that he might hinder
any conjunction between the other factions, and because
they seemed wholly to depend upon his majesty's will
and pleasure, without resorting to the parliament, in
which they had no confidence ; and had rather that
episcopacy should flourish again, than that the presby
terians should govern. The king had always admitted
the quakers for his divertisement and mirth, because he
thought, that of all the factions they were the most inno
cent, and had least of malice in their natures against his
person and his government : and it was now too late,
though he had a worse opinion of them all, to restrain
them from coming to him, till there should be some law
made to punish them ; and therefore he still called upon
the bishops, to cause the Liturgy to be expedited in the
convocation. And finding that those distempers had
that influence upon the house of commons, that the dis
pleasure and jealousy which they conceived from thence
did retard their counsels, and made them less solicitous

550 The king's speech to the Con. 315-
to advance his service in the settling his revenue, they
having sat near three months after their coming together
again upon their adjournment, without making any con
siderable progress in it ; he sent for the speaker and the
house of commons to attend him at Whitehall, where he
spake unto them, though very graciously, in a style that
seemed to have more of expostulation and reprehension
than they had been accustomed to.
316 He said, "he spake his heart to them when he told
them, that he did believe, that from the first institu
tion of parliaments to that hour, there had never been a
house of commons fuller of affection and duty to their
king, than they were to him ; never any that was more
desirous and solicitous to gratify their king, than they
were to oblige him ; never a house of commons, in which
there were fewer persons without a full measure of zeal
for the honour and welfare of the king and country, than
there are in this : in a word," he said, " he knew most of
their persons and names, and could never hope to find
better men in their places. Yet after all this, he could
not but lament, and even complain, that he and they and
the kingdom were yet without that present fruit and
advantage, which they might reasonably promise them
selves from such a harmony of affections, and unity in
resolutions to advance the public service, and to provide
for the peace and security of the kingdom ; that they did
not expedite those good counsels, which were most ne
cessary for both. He knew not how it came to pass,
but for many weeks past, even since their last adjourn
ment, private and particular business had almost thrust
the consideration of the public out of doors ; and he did
not know that they were nearer the settling his revenue,
than they had been at Christmas. He was sure he had
communicated his condition to them without reserve ;
what he had coming in, and what his necessary disburse
ments were. And," he said, " he was exceedingly de-

— ;— 318. house of commons at Whithall, March i. (1662.) 551
ceived, if whatever they gave him were any otherwise
given to him, than to be issued out for their own use
and benefit ; and if they considered it well, they would
find that they were the richer by what they gave, since it
was all to be laid out that they might enjoy the rest
in peace and security."
317 He said, " he need not put them in mind of the miser
able effects that had attended the wants and necessities
of the crown ; that he needed not to tell them, that there
was a republican party still in the kingdom, which had
the courage still to promise themselves another revolu
tion : and he thought he had as little need to tell them,
that the only way, with God's blessing, to disappoint
their hopes, and indeed to reduce them from those ex
travagant hopes and desires, was, to let them see that
they had so provided for the crown, that it had where
withal to support itself, and to secure his people ; which
he was sure was all he desired, and desired only for their
preservation. Therefore he conjured them, by all the
professions of affection which they had made to him,
by all the kindness which he knew they had for him,
that they would, after all their deliberations, betake
themselves to some speedy resolutions, and settle such
a real and substantial revenue upon him, as might hold
some proportion with the necessary expenses he was at
for the peace and benefit and honour of the kingdom ;
that they who looked for troubles at home might despair
of their wishes ; and that our neighbours abroad, by see
ing that all is well at home, might have that esteem and
value of his majesty, as might secure the honour and
interest of the nation, and make the happiness of the
kingdom and of that city once more the admiration and
envy of the world."
318 He told them, " that he heard that they were very
zealous for the church, and very solicitous and even
jealous that there was not expedition enough used in that

552 The Liturgy presented to the house of lords, Con. 3 18-
affair : he thanked them for it, since he presumed that it
proceeded from a good root of piety and devotion. But,
he said, " that he must tell them, that he had the worst
luck in the world, if after all the reproaches of being
a papist while he was abroad, he was suspected to be
a presbyterian now he was come home. He knew they
would not take it unkindly, if he told them, that he was
as zealous for the church of England as any of them
could be, and was enough acquainted with the enemies of
it on all sides ; that he was as much in love with the
Book of Common Prayer as they could wish, and had
prejudice enough to those who did not love it, who he
hoped in time would be better informed, and so change
their minds ; and they might be confident, he did as
much desire to have an uniformity settled as any man
amongst them. He prayed them to trust him in that
affair, and promised them to hasten the despatch of it
with all convenient speed ; they might rely upon him in
it." He said, " he had transmitted the Book of Common
Prayer, with those alterations and additions which had
been presented to him by the convocation, to the house
of peers with his approbation, that the act of uniformity
might relate to it; so that he presumed that it would shortly
be despatched there : and that when they had done all
they could," he said, " the well settling that affair would
require great prudence and discretion, and the absence of
all passion and precipitation."
319 His majesty concluded with assuring them, " that he
did promise himself great fruits from that conversation
he had with them, and that they would justify the con
fidence he had in their affections, by letting the world
see, that they took his concernments to heart, and were
ready to do whatsoever he desired for the peace and wel
fare of the kingdom."
320 When the Book of Common Prayer was, by the king's
command, presented to the house of lords by the two

— 3-321- with the king's confirmation. (1662.) 553
archbishops (for it had been approved by the convocation
of the province of York, as well as by that of Canterbury)
confirmed by his majesty under the great seal of England ;
the book itself took up no debate : only the earl of
Northumberland proposed, "that the old Book of Com
mon Prayer might be confirmed without any alteration
or addition, and then the same act of uniformity that
had been in the time of queen Elizabeth would be like
wise applied to it ; whereas a new act of uniformity
might take up much time and raise much debate, all
which would be avoided by adhering to the old."
321 Whatever that lord's opinion was, he was known to be
of the presbyterian party. And it was answered, " that if
that proposition had been heartily made when the king
came into England, it would have met with a general
approbation, and prevented much sharpness and animosity,
which had since risen by those who opposed that excel
lent form. But after the clergy had so bitterly inveighed
against many parts thereof, and prevailed with his majesty
to suspend the use of it till it might be revised, as by his
declaration of the five and twentieth of October he had
done, and thereupon had granted his commission under
the great seal of England to several bishops and other
divines, to review the Book of Common Prayer, and to
prepare such alterations and additions as they thought fit
to offer ; and that afterwards his majesty had been pleased
to authorize the convocations of both the provinces of
Canterbury and York, called and assembled by his ma
jesty's authority, to review the said Book of Prayer, and
the Book of the Form and Manner of the making and
consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons ; and that
now after the bishops and clergy of both provinces had,
upon great deliberation and upon reviewing those books,
prepared and consented to some alterations, and to the
addition of several prayers to be used upon emergent
^occasions, all which his majesty had already ratified and

554 Debates in the house of peers Con. 321 —
confirmed ; it could not but be understood matter of
great levity and offence, to reject this book, that was now
with all this ceremony and solemnity presented, for no
other reason but because they liked better the old book,
which had been for twenty years discontinued and re
jected." And therefore it was moved, " that there might
not be such an affront put upon the convocation, and
upon the king himself." And so with little more public
contest the book itself was consented and submitted to.
322 But then the act of uniformity depended long, and
took up much debate in both houses. In the house of
peers, where the act first began, there were many things
inserted, which had not been contained in the former act
of uniformity, and so seemed to carry somewhat of
novelty in [them] . It admitted " no person to have any
cure of souls or any ecclesiastical dignity in the church
of England, but such who had been or should be ordained
priest or deacon by some bishop, that is, who had not
episcopal ordination ; excepting only the ministers or
pastors of the French and Dutch churches in London
and other places, allowed by the king, who should enjoy
the privileges they had."
323 This was new ; for there had been many, and at pre
sent there were some, who possessed benefices with cure
of souls, and other ecclesiastical promotions, who had
never received orders but in France or in Holland ; and
these men must now receive new ordination, which had
been always held unlawful in the church, or by this act
of parliament must be deprived of their livelihood, which
they enjoyed in the most flourishing and peaceable time
of the church. And therefore it was said, " that this
had not been the opinion of the church of England ; and
that it would lay a great reproach upon alf other pro
testant churches who had no bishops, as if they had no
ministers, and consequently were no churches : for that
it was well known the church of England did not allow

-3-324. upon the act of 'uniformity, fyc. (1662.) 555
reordination, as the ancient church never admitted it ;
insomuch as if any priest of the church of Rome re
nounces the communion thereof, his ordination is not
questioned, but be is as capable of any preferment in this
church, as if he had been ordained in it. And therefore
the not admitting the ministers of other protestants to
have the same privilege, can proceed from no other
ground, than that they looked not upon them as minis
ters, having no ordination ; which is a judgment the
church of England had not ever owned : and that it
would be very imprudent to do it now."
324 To this it was answered, " that the church of England
judged none but her own children, nor did determine
that other protestant churches were without ordination.
It is a thing without her cognizance : and most of the
learned men of those churches had made necessity the
chief pillar to support that ordination of theirs. That
necessity cannot be pleaded here, where ordination is
given according to the unquestionable practice of the
church of Christ : if they who pretend foreign ordination
are his majesty's subjects, they have no excuse of neces
sity, for they might in all times have received episcopal
ordination, and so they did upon the matter renounce
their own church ; if they are strangers, and pretend to
preferment in this church, they ought to conform and to
be subject to the laws of the kingdom, which concern
only those who desire to live under the protection [there
of]. For the argument of reordination, there is no such
thing required. Rebaptization is not allowed in or by
any church : yet in all churches where it is doubted, as it
may be often with very good reason, whether the person
hath been baptized or no, or if it hath been baptized by
a midwife or lay person ; without determining the validity
or invalidity of such baptism, there is an hypothetical
form, ' If thou hast not been already baptized, I do bap
tize,' &c. So in this case of ordination, the form may be

556 A clamour raised about Con. 324
the same, ' If thou hast not been already ordained, then
I do ordain,' &c. If his former ordination were good,
this is void ; if the other was invalid or defective, he hath
reason to be glad that it be thus supplied." After much
debate, that clause remained still in the act : and very
many, who had received presbyterian orders in the late
times, came very willingly to be ordained in the manner
aforesaid by a bishop ; and very few chose to quit or lose
a parsonage or vicarage of any value upon that scruple.
325 There was another clause in the bill, that made very
much more noise afterwards, though for the present it
took not up so much time, and in truth was little taken
notice of : that is, a form of subscription that every man
was to make, who received, or before he received, any
benefice or preferment in the church ; which compre
hended all the governors, superiors, and fellows, in all
the colleges and halls of either university, and all school
masters and the like, who are subservient towards learn
ing. Every such person was to declare " his unfeigned
assent and consent to all and every thing contained and
prescribed in and by the book entitled The Book of
Common Prayer," &c. The subscription was generally
thought so reasonable, that it scarce met with any oppo
sition in either house. But when it came abroad, and
was to be submitted to, all the dissenting brethren cried
out, " that it was a snare to catch them, to say that
which could not consist with their conscience." They
took great pains to distinguish and to make great differ
ence between assent and consent : " they could be con
tent to read the book in the manner they were obliged
to do, which shewed their consent ; but declaring; their
unfeigned assent to every thing contained and prescribed
therein would imply, that they were so fully convinced in
their judgments, as to think that it was so perfect, that
nothing therein could be amended, which for their part
they thought there might. That there were many ex-

-3-326. the clause of assent and consent. (1662.) 557
pressions in the rubric, which they were not bound to
read; yet by this assent they declared their approba
tion thereof." But after many tedious discourses of this
tyrannical imposition, they grew by degrees ashamed
of it ; and were persuaded to think, that assent and con
sent had so near the same signification, that they could
hardly consent to do what they did not assent to : [so]
that the chiefest amongst them, to avoid a very little
inconvenience, subscribed the same.
326 But there was shortly after another clause added, that
gave them trouble indeed. When the bill had passed
the lords' house, it was sent of course to the commons ;
where though all the factions in religion had too many
friends, for the most contrary and opposite one to another
always were united and reconciled against the church,
yet they who were zealous for the government, and who
hated all the other factions at least enough, were very
much superior in number and in reputation. And the
bill was no sooner read there, than every man according
to his passion thought of adding somewhat to it, that
might make it more grievous to somebody whom he did
not love ; which made the discourses tedious and ve
hement and full of animosity. And at last they agreed
upon a clause, which contained another subscription and
declaration, which every [man] was to make before he
[could] be admitted into any benefice [or] ecclesiastical
promotion, or to be a governor or fellow in either of the
universities. He must first declare, " that it is not lawful,
upon any pretence whatsoever, to take arms against the
king ; and that he doth abhor that traitorous position of
taking arms by his authority against his person, or against
those that are commissioned by him; and that he will
conform to the Liturgy of the church of England, as it is
now by law established." And he doth declare, " that
he doth hold that there lies no obligation upon him, or
on any other person, from the oath commonly called The

558 Debates upon the amendments Con. 326 —
solemn League and Covenant, to endeavour any change
or alteration of government, either in church or state;
and that the same was in itself an unlawful oath, and
imposed upon the subjects of this realm against the
known laws and liberties of the kingdom;" with some
other clauses, which need not be mentioned, because
they were afterwards left out. And with this addition,
and some other alterations, they returned the bill again
to the lords for their approbation.
327 The framing and forming this clause had taken up
very much time, and raised no less passion in the house
of commons ; and now it came among the lords, it was
not less troublesome. It added to the displeasure and
jealousy against the bishops, by whom it was thought to
be prepared, and commended to their party in the lower
house. Many lords, who had taken the covenant, were
not so much concerned that the clergy (for whom only
this act was prepared) should be obliged to make this
declaration ; but apprehended more, that when such a
clause should be once passed in one act of parliament,
it could not after be disputed, and so would be inserted
into all other acts which related to the function of any
other offices, and so would in a short time be required of
themselves. And therefore they opposed it warmly, " as
a thing unnecessary, and which would widen the breach,
instead of closing up the wounds that had been made ;
which the king had made it his business to do, and the
parliament had hitherto concurred with his majesty in
that endeavour. That many men would believe or fear,
(which in such a case is the same,) that this clause might
prove a breach of the act of indemnity, which had not
only provided against indictments and suits at law and
penalties, but against reproaches for what was past, which
this clause would be understood to give new life to. For
what concerned the conformity to the Liturgy of the
church as it is now established, it is provided for as fully

^-3-328. made by the commons. (1662.) 559
in the former subscription in this act, and therefore is
impertinent in this place. That the covenant contained
many good things in it, as defending the king's person,
and maintaining the protestant religion : and therefore to
say that there lies no obligation upon it, would neither
be for the service of the king or the interest of the
church ; especially since it was well known, that it had
wrought upon the conscience of many to serve the king
in the late revolution, from which his majesty had re
ceived great advantage. However it was now dead, all
men were absolved from taking it, nor could it be im
posed or offered to any man without punishment ; and
they, who had in the ill times been forced to take it, did
now inviolably and cheerfully perform all the duties of
allegiance and fidelity to his majesty. If it had at any
time produced any good, that was an excuse for the
irregularity of it : it could do no mischief for the future ;
and therefore that it was time to bury it in oblivion."
328 Many men believed, that though they insisted princi
pally on that part which related to the covenant, they
were in truth more afflicted with the first part; in which
it was declared, " that it was not lawful, upon any pre
tence whatsoever, to take arms against the king; and
that he doth abhor that traitorous proposition of taking
arms by his authority against his person :" which con
clusions had been the principles which supported their
rebellion, and by which they had imposed upon the peo
ple, and got their concurrence. They durst not oppose
this, because the parliament had already by a former act
declared the law to be so in those particulars : yet this
went much nearer to them, that by their own particular
declaration (for they looked upon it as that which in a
short time must be their own) they should upon the
matter confess themselves to have been traitors, which
they had not yet been declared to have been ; and no
man could now justify the calling them so.

560 The lords consent to most of Con. 329 —
329 They who were most solicitous that the house should
concur with the commons in this addition, had fieldroom
enough to expatiate upon the gross iniquity of the cove
nant. They made themselves very merry with the alle
gation, " that the king's safety and the interest of the
church were provided for by the covenant, when it had
been therefore entered into, to fight against the king and
to destroy the church. That there was no one lawful or
honest clause in the covenant, that was not destroyed or
made of no signification by the next that succeeded ;
and if it were not, the same obligation was better pro
vided for by some other oaths, which the same men had
or ought to have taken, and which ought to have re
strained them from taking the covenant: and therefore
it may justly be pronounced, that there is no obligation
upon any man from thence. That there was no breach
of the act of indemnity, nor any reproach upon any man
for having taken it, except what would result from his
own conscience. But that it was most absolutely ne
cessary, for the safety of the king's person, and the peace
of the kingdom, that they who had taken it should de
clare, that they do not believe themselves to be bound by
it : otherwise they may still think, that they may fight
against the king, and must conspire the destruction of
the church. And they cannot take too much care, or
use too much diligence, to discover who are of that
opinion ; that they may be strictly looked unto, and
restrained from doing that which they take themselves
obliged to do. That the covenant is not dead, as was
alleged, but still retains great vigour ; was still the idol
to which the presbyterians sacrificed : and that there
must and would always be a general jealousy of all those
who had taken it, until they had declared that it did not
bind them ; especially of the clergy, who had so often
enlarged in their pulpits, how absolutely and indis
pensably all men were obliged to prosecute the end of it,

331- the amendments proposed by the commons. (1663.) 561
which is to destroy the church, whatever danger it brings
the king's person to. And therefore they of all men
ought to be glad of this opportunity that was offered, to
vindicate their loyalty and obedience ; and if they were
not ready to do so, they were not fit to be trusted with
the charge and care of the souls of the king's subjects."
330 And in truth there were not any more importunate for
the enjoining this declaration, than many who had taken
the covenant. Many who had never taken it, and had
always detested it, and paid soundly for being known to
do so, were yet very sorry that it was inserted at this
time and in this place ; for they foresaw it would make
divisions, and keep up the several factions, which would
have been much weakened, and in a short time brought
to nothing, if the presbyterians had been separated from
the rest, who did perfectly hate and were as perfectly
hated by all the rest. But since it was brought upon
the stage, and it had been the subject of so much debate,
they believed the house of lords could not now refuse to
concur with the commons, without undergoing some re
proach and scandal of [not] having an ill opinion enough
of the covenant ; of which as they were in no degree
guilty, so they thought it to be of mischievous conse
quence to be suspected to be so. And therefore, after they
had expunged some other parts of that subscription which
had been annexed to it, and mended some other expres
sions in other places, which might rather irritate than
compose those humours which already boiled too much,
they returned the bill to the house of commons ; which
submitted to all that they had done : and so it was pre
sented to the king, who could not well refuse his royal
assent, nor did in his own judgment or inclination dislike
what was offered to him.
331 By this act of uniformity there was an end put to all
the liberty and license, which had been practised in all
churches from the time of his majesty's return, and by
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. O O

562 Noticithstanding complaints of presbyterians, the act Con. 331 —
his declaration that he had emitted afterwards. The
Common Prayer must now be constantly read in all
churches, and no other form admitted : and what clergy
man soever did not fully conform to whatsoever was con
tained in that book, or enjoined by the act of uniformity,
by or before St. Bartholomew- day, which was about three
months after the act was published ; he was ipso facto
deprived of his benefice, or any other spiritual promotion
of which he stood possessed, and the patron was to present
another in his place, as if he were dead : so that it was
not in the king's power to give any dispensation to any
man, that could preserve him against the penalty in the
act of uniformity.
332 This act was no sooner published, (for I am willing to
continue this relation to the execution of it, because
there were some intervening accidents that were not
understood,) than all the presbyterian ministers expressed
their disapprobation of it with all the passion imaginable.
They complained, " that the king had violated his pro
mise made to them in his declaration from Breda," which
was urged with great uningenuity, and without any
shadow of right ; for his majesty had thereby referred
the whole settlement of all things relating to religion, to
the wisdom of parliament ; and declared, " in the mean
time, that nobody should be punished or questioned, for
continuing the exercise of his religion in the way he had
been accustomed to in the late confusions." And his
majesty had continued this indulgence by his declaration
after his return, and thereby fully complied with his
promise from Breda ; which he should indeed have vio
lated, if he had now refused to concur in the settlement
the parliament had agreed upon, being in truth no less
obliged to concur with the parliament in the settlement
that the parliament should propose to him, than he was
not to cause any man to be punished for not obeying the
former laws, till a new settlement should be made. But

-3-334- °f indemnity is in general well received. ( 1 662.) 563
how evident soever this truth is, they would not acknow
ledge it ; but armed their proselytes with confident as
sertions, and unnatural interpretations of the words in
the king's declaration, as if the king were bound to grant
liberty of conscience, whatever the parliament should or
should not desire, that is, to leave all men to live accord
ing to their own humours and appetites, let what laws
soever be made to the contrary. They declared, " that
they could not with a good conscience either subscribe
the one or the other declaration: they could not say that
they did assent or consent in the first, nor declare in the
second that there remained no obligation from the cove
nant ; and therefore that they were all resolved to quit
their livings, and to depend upon Providence for their
subsistence."
333 There cannot be a better evidence of the general affec
tion of the kingdom, than that this act of parliament
had so concurrent an approbation of the two houses of
parliament, after a suppression of that form of devotion
for near twenty years, and the highest discountenance and
oppression of all those who were known to be devoted or
affected to it. And from the time of the king's return,
when it was lawful to use it, though it was not enjoined,
persons of all conditions flocked to those churches where
it was used. And it was by very many sober men be
lieved, that if the presbyterians and the other factions in
religion had been only permitted to exercise their own
ways with [out] any countenance from the court, the
heart of all the factions against the church would have
been broken before the parliament did" so fully declare
itself.
334 And there cannot be a greater manifestation of the
distemper and license of the tinie, than the presumption
of those presbyterian ministers, in the opposing and con
tradicting an act of parliament ; when there was scarce a.
man in that number, who had not been so great a pro-
0 o 2

564 Reflections on the presbyterian ministers, who Con. 334 —
moter of the rebellion, or contributed so much to it, that
they had no other title to their lives but by the king's
mercy ; and that there were very few amongst them,
who had not come into the possession of the churches
they now held, by the expulsion of the orthodox min
isters who were lawfully possessed of them, and who
being by their imprisonment, poverty, and other kinds of
oppression and contempt during so many years, departed
this life, the usurpers remained undisturbed in their liv
ings, and thought it now the highest tyranny to be re
moved from them, though for offending the law, and
disobedience to the government. That those men should
give themselves an act of oblivion of all their transgres
sions and wickedness, and take upon them again to pre
tend a liberty of conscience against the government,
which they had once overthrown upon their pretences ;
was such an impudence, as could not have fallen into the
hearts even of those men from the stock of their own
malice, without some great defect in the government,
and encouragement or countenance from the highest
powers. The king's too gracious disposition and easiness
of access, as hath been said before, had from the be
ginning raised their hopes and dispelled their fears ;
whilst his majesty promised himself a great harvest in
their conversion by his gentleness and affability. And
they insinuated themselves by a profession, " that it was
more the regard of his service, than any obstinacy in
themselves, which kept them from conformity to what
the law had enjoined ; that they might still preserve
their credit with their parishioners, and by degrees bring
them to a perfect obedience:" whereas indeed all the
corruption was in the clergy ; and where a prudent and
orthodox man was in the pulpit, the people very willingly
heard the Common Prayer.
335 Nor did this confidence leave them, after the passing
and publishing this act of uniformity: but the London

—33^- have too free access to the king. (1662.) 565
ministers, who had the government of those in the coun
try, prevailed with the general (who without any violent
inclinations of his own was always ready for his wife's
sake) to bring them to the king, who always received
them with too much clemency, and dismissed them with
too much hope. They lamented " the sadness of their
condition, which (after having done so much service to
his majesty, and been so graciously promised by him his
protection) must now be exposed to all misery and
famine." They told him " what a vast number of
churches" (five times more than was true) would become
void by this act, which would not prove for his service ;
and that they much feared, the people would not con
tinue as quiet and peaceable as they had been under
their oversight." They used all the arguments they
thought might work upon him; and he seemed to be
the more moved, because he knew that it was not in his
power to help them. He told them, " he had great com
passion for them ; and was heartily sorry that the par
liament had been so severe towards them, which he
would remit, if it were in his power ; and therefore that
they should advise with their friends, and that if they
found that it would be in his power to give them any
ease, they should find him inclined to gratify them in
whatsoever they desired :" which gracious expressions
raised their spirits as high as ever ; and they reported to
their friends much more than in truth the king had said
to them, (which was no new artifice with them,) and
advised their friends in all parts "to be firm to their
principles," and assured them, " that the rigour of the
act of parliament should not be pressed against them."
336 It cannot be denied, that the king was too irresolute,
and apt to be shaken in those counsels which with the
greatest [deliberation] he had concluded, by too easily
permitting, or at least not restraining, any men who
waited upon him, or were present with him in his re-

566 The king promises to suspend the execution Con. 336 —
cesses, to examine and censure what was resolved; an
infirmity that brought him many troubles, and exposed
his ministers to ruin : though in his nature, judgment,
and inclinations, he did detest the presbyterians ; and by
the experience he had of their faculties, pride, and inso
lence in Scotland, had brought from thence such an ab
horrence of them, that for their sakes he thought better
of any of the other factions. Nor had he any kindness
for any person whom he suspected to adhere to them :
for the lord Lautherdale took all pains to be thought no
presbyterian ; and pleased himself better with no humour,
than laughing at that people, and telling ridiculous stories
of their folly and foul corruptions. Yet the king, from
the opinion he had of their great power to do him good
or harm, which was oftentimes unskilfully insinuated to
him by men who he knew were not of their party, but
were really deceived themselves by a wrong computation
and estimate of their interest, was not willing to be
thought an enemy to them. And there were too many
bold speakers about the court, too often admitted into
his presence, who being without any sense of religion,
thought all rather ought to be permitted, than to undergo
any trouble and disturbance on the behalf of any one.
337 The continued address and importunity of these minis
ters, as St. Bartholomew's day approached nearer, more
disquieted the king. They enlarged with many words "on
the great joy that they and all their friends had received,
from the compassion his majesty so graciously had ex
pressed on their behalf, which they would never forget,
or forfeit by any undutiful carriage." They confessed
" that they found, upon conference with their friends who
wished them well, and upon perusal of the act of parlia
ment, that it was not in his majesty's power to give them
so much protection against the penalty of the act of par
liament, as they had hoped, and as his great goodness
was inclined to give them. But that it would be an

 34* • of the act of indemnity. (1662.) 567
unspeakable coijhfort to them, if his majesty's grace to
wards them were so manifested, that the people might
discern that th^s extreme rigour was not grateful to him,
but that he could be well content if it were for some
time suspended ; and therefore they were humble suitors
to him, that be would by his letters to the bishops, or by
a proclamation, or an act of council, or any other way his
majesty should think fit, publish his desire that the execu
tion of the act of uniformity, as to all but the reading of
the Liturgy, which they would conform to, might be sus
pended for three months ; and that he would take it well
from the bishops or any of the patrons, who would so far
comply with his desire, as not to take any advantage of
those clauses in the statute, which gave them authority
to present as in a vacancy. They doubted not there
would be many, who would willingly submit to his ma
jesty's pleasure : but whatever the effect should be, they
would pay the same humble acknowledgments to his ma
jesty, as if it had produced all that they desired."
338 Whether his majesty thought it would do them no
good, and therefore that it was no matter if he granted
it ; or that he thought it no prejudice to the church, if
the act were suspended for three months ; or that he was
willing to redeem himself from the present importunity,
(an infirmity he was too often guilty of;) true it is, he
did make them a positive promise, "that he would do
what they desired ;" with which they were abundantly
satisfied, and renewed their encouragement to their friends
"to persevere to the end." And this promise was so
lemnly given to them in the presence of the general, who
was to solicit the king's despatch, that his pleasure might
be known in due time. It was now the long vacation,
and few of the council were then in town, or of the bi
shops, with whom his majesty too late thought it neces
sary to confer, that such an instrument might be prepared
as was fit for the affair. Hereupon the king told the

568 The king finds himself unable to Con. 338-
chancellor (who was not thought friend enough to the
presbyterians to be sooner communicated with) all that
had passed, what the ministers had desired, and what he
had promised ; and bade him " to think of the best way
of doing it."
339 The chancellor was one of those who would have been
glad that the act had not been clogged with many of
those clauses, which he foresaw might produce some in
conveniences ; but when it was passed, he thought it
absolutely necessary to see obedience paid to it without
any connivance : and therefore, as he had always dissuaded
the king from giving so much countenance to those ap
plications, which he always knew published more to be
said than in truth was ever spoken, and was the more
troubled for this progress they had made with the king ;
he told his majesty, " that it was not in his power to
preserve those men, who did not submit to do all that
was to be done by the act, from deprivation." He gave
many reasons which occurred, why " such a declaration
as was desired would prove ineffectual to the end for
which it was desired, and what inconveniences would
result from attempting it." His majesty alleged many
reasons for the doing it, which he had received from those
who desired it, and seemed sorry that they were no
better; however concluded, "that he had engaged his
word, and that he would perform what he had pro
mised ;" and required him not to oppose it. The chan
cellor had always been very tender of his honour ; and
advised him "to be very wary in making any promise,
but when he had made it, to perform it, though to his
disadvantage :" and it was no new thing to him, to be
reproached for opposing the resolving to do such or such
a thing, and then to be reproached again for pursuing the
resolution.
340 The king was at Hampton-court, and sent for the
archbishop of Canterbury, the bishops of London and of

— 341- suspend the act of indemnity. (1662.) 569
Winchester, to attend him, with the chief justice Bridg-
man, and the attorney general : there were likewise the
chancellor, the general, the duke of Ormond, and the
secretaries. His majesty acquainted them with " the
importunities used by the London ministers, and the
reasons they had offered why a further time should be
given to them to consider of what was so new to them ;
and what answer he had given to them ; and how they
had renewed their importunity with a desire of such a
declaration from him as is mentioned before, in which he
thought there was no inconvenience, and therefore had
promised to do it, and called them now together to ad
vise of the best way of doing it." The bishops were very
much troubled, that those fellows should still presume to
give his majesty so much vexation, and that they should
have such access to him. They gave such arguments
against the doing what was desired, as could not be an
swered ; and for themselves, they desired " to be excused
for not conniving in any degree at the breach of the act
of parliament, either by not presenting a clerk where
themselves were patrons, or deferring to give institution
upon the presentation [of others] : and that his majesty's
giving such a declaration or recommendation would be
the greatest wound to the church, and to the government
thereof, that it could receive."
341 The chancellor, who did really believe that the king
and his service would suffer more by the breach of his
word and promise, than either could do from doing the
thing desired, confessed " that he believed it would do
them little good, which would not be imputed to his
majesty, when he had done all he could do ; and that it
would be a greater conformity, if the ministers generally
performed what they offered to do, in reading all the
service of the church, than had been these many years ;
and that once having done what was known to be so con
trary to their inclinations, would be an engagement upon

570 The presbyterian ministers endeavour Con. 341 —
them in a short time to comply with the rest of their ob
ligations: and therefore," he said, "he should not dissuade
his majesty from doing what he had promised ;" which
indeed he had good reason to think he was resolved to do,
whatever he was advised to the contrary. The king de
manded the judgment of the lawyers, " whether he could
legally dispense with the observation of the act for three
months;" who answered, "that notwithstanding any thing
he could do in their favour, the patrons might present
their clerk as if the incumbents were dead, upon their
not-performance of what they were enjoined." Upon the
whole matter the king was converted ; and with great
bitterness against that people in general, and against the
particular persons whom he had always received too gra
ciously, concluded that he would not do what was desired,
and that the connivance should not be given to any of
them.
342 The bishops departed full of satisfaction with the king's
resolution, and as unsatisfied with their friend the chan
cellor's inclination to gratify that people, not knowing the
engagement that was upon him. And this jealousy pro
duced a greater coldness from some of them towards him,
and a greater resentment from hi in, who thought he had
deserved better from their function and their persons,
than was in a long time, if ever, perfectly reconciled. Yet
he never declined in the least degree his zeal for the go
vernment of the church, or the interest of those persons ;
nor thought they could be blamed for their severity
against those ministers, who were surely the proudest
malefactors, and the most incapable of being gently treat
ed, of any men living. For if any of the bishops used
them kindly, and endeavoured to persuade them to con
formity, they reported " that they had been caressed and
flattered by the bishops, and offered great preferments,
which they had bravely refused to accept for the preser
vation of a good conscience :" and in reports of this kind,

— : -344- to raise discontents in the people. (1662.) 571
few of them ever observed any rules of ingenuity or sin
cerity.
343 When they saw that they were to expect and undergo
the worst, they agreed upon a method to be observed by
them in the leaving and parting with their pulpits : and
the last Sunday they were to preach, they endeavoured to
infuse murmur, jealousy, and sedition into the hearts of
their several auditories ; and to prepare them " to expect
and bear with patience and courage all the persecutions
which were like to follow, now the light of the gospel
was so near being extinguished." And all those sermons
they called their farewell sermons, and caused to be
printed together, with every one of the preachers' pic
tures before their sermons ; which in truth contained all
the vanity and ostentation with reference to themselves,
and all the insinuations to mutiny and rebellion, that
could be warily couched in words which could not be
brought within penalty of law, though their meaning was
well understood.
344 When the time was expired, better men were put into
their churches, though with much murmuring of some of
their parishes for a time, increased by their loud clamour,
" that they had been betrayed by the king's promise that
they should have three months longer time:" which drew
the like clamour upon them by those, who had hearkened
to their advice in continuing their obstinacy in confidence
of a dispensation ; whereas otherwise they would have
conformed, as very many of their party did. And many
of the other who were cozened by them, and so lost the
livings they had, made all the haste they could to make
themselves capable of getting others, by as full subscrip
tions and conformity as the act of uniformity required.
And the greatest of them, after some time, and after they
found that the private bounty and donatives, which at
first flowed in upon them in compassion of their sufferings
and to keep up their courages, every day begun to slacken,
and would in the end expire, subscribed to those very de-

572 Great animosities in parliament Con. 344 —
clarations which they had urged as the greatest motives
to their nonconformity. And the number was very small,
and of very weak and inconsiderable men, that continued
refractory, and received no charge in the church : though
it may without breach of charity be believed, that many
who did subscribe had the same malignity to the church,
and to the government of it ; and it may be did more
harm, than if they had continued in their inconformity.
345 The long time spent in both houses upon the act of
uniformity had made the progress of all other public
business much the slower; or rather, the multitude of
private bills which depended there, (and with which for
mer parliaments had been very rarely troubled,) and the
bitterness and animosities which arose from thence, ex
ceedingly disquieted and discomposed the house ; every
man being so much concerned for the interest of his
friends or allies, that he was more solicitous for the de
spatch of those, than of any which related to the king and
the public, which he knew would by a general concurrence
be all passed before the session should be made ; whereas
if the other should be deferred, the session would quickly
follow, (which the king by frequent messages desired to
hasten, having received news already of the queen's having
been at sea many days,) and the benefit of those pretences
would be lost, and with greater difficulty be recovered in
a succeeding session. Then as those private bills were for
the particular benefit and advantage of some persons, which
engaged all their friends to be very solicitous for their de
spatch ; so for the most part they were to the loss and
damage of other persons, who likewise called in aid of all
their friends to prevent the houses' consent : and by this
means so many factions were kindled in both houses, be
tween those who drove on the interest of their own or of
their relations, who mutually looked upon one another as
enemies, and against those who for justice and the dignity
of parliament would have rejected all or most of the ad
dresses of that kind ; that in most debates which related

— 347- about private bills. (1662.) 573
to neither, the custom of contradiction, and the aversion
to persons, very much disturbed and prolonged all de
spatch.
346 It cannot be denied, that after a civil war of so many
years, prosecuted with that height of malice and revenge ;
so many houses plundered and so many burned, in which
the evidences of many estates were totally destroyed, and
as many by the unskilful providence of others, who in
order to preserve them had buried their writings so un
warily under ground, that they were taken up so defaced
or rotted, that they could not be pleaded in any court of
justice ; many who had followed the king in the war, and
so made themselves liable to those penalties which the
parliament had prepared for them and subjected them to,
had made many feigned conveyances, with such limitations
and so absolutely, (that no trust might be discovered by
those who had power to avoid it,) that they were indeed
too absolute to be avoided by themselves, and their estates
become so much out of their own disposal, that they could
neither apply them to the payment of their just debts or
to the provision for their children ; I say, there were
many such cases, which could be no other way provided
for but by an act of parliament, and to which an act of par
liament, without too much severity and rigour, could not
be denied. And against any of those there appeared none
or very little opposition to be made.
347 But the example and precedent of such drew with them
a world of unreasonable pretences ; and they, who were
not in a condition to receive relief in any court of justice,
thought they had a ground to appeal to parliament. They
who had been compelled, for raising the money they were
forced to pay for their delinquency, to sell land, and could
not sell it but at a very low value, (for it was one species
of the oppression of that time, that when a powerful man
had an aspect upon the land of any man who was to com
pound, and so in view like to sell it, no other man would

574 The parliament proceeds with Con. 347-
offer any money for it, so that he was sure at last to have
it upon his own price ;) now all that monstrous power was
vanished, they who had made those unthrifty bargains and
sales, though with all the formalities of law, by fines and
recoveries and the like, (which is all the security that can
be given upon a purchase,) especially if the purchaser was
of an ill name, came with all imaginable confidence to the
parliament, to have their land restored to [them]. Every
man had raised an equity in his own imagination, that he
thought ought to prevail against any descent, testament,
or act of law; and that whatever any man had been
brought to do, which common reason would make mani
fest that he would never have done if he could have
chosen, was argument sufficient of such a force, and ought
to find relief in parliament, from the unbounded equity
they were masters of and could dispense, whatever for
malities of law had preceded or accompanied the transac
tion. And whoever opposed those extravagant notions,
which sometimes deprived men of the benefit of the act
of oblivion, was thought to be without justice, or which
to them was worse, to be without any kindness to the
king's party. And without question, upon those motives,
or others as unreasonable, many acts were passed of very
ill example, and which many men were scandalized at in
the present, and posterity will more censure hereafter,
when infants who were then unborn shall find themselves
disinherited of those estates, which their ancestors had
carefully provided should descend to them ; upon which
irregularities the king made reflection when he made the
session.
348 But notwithstanding all these incongruities, and the in
dispositions which attended them, they performed all those
respects towards the king, which he did or could expect
from them ; there being scarce a man, who opposed the
granting any thing that was proposed for the benefit of
his majesty, or the greatness of the crown : and though

-349- great duty towards the king. (1662.) 575
some of the particulars mentioned before did sometimes
intervene, to hinder and defer the present resolutions and
conclusions in those counsels, the resolutions and conclu
sions in a short time after succeeded according to the
king's wish. The militia and many other regalities were
declared and settled according to the original sense of the
law, and the authority of the crown vindicated to the
height it had been at upon the heads of the greatest
kings who had ever reigned in the nation. Monies were
raised by several bills, sufficient as they conceived to have
paid all the debts the king or the kingdom owed ; for in
their computations they comprehended the debts that
were owing before his majesty's return, and for which the
public faith had been engaged : and if as much had been
paid as th^y^oneeived they had given, probably it might
have been enough to have discharged all those. They
settled a constant revenue upon the crown, which accord
ing to the estimate they made would amount to the yearly
revenue of twelve hundred thousand pounds, a propor
tion double to what it was in the reign of queen Eliza
beth, and it may be of any king preceding ; and declared,
" that if it did not amount to that full value, they would
supply it at another meeting." And though it hath not
in truth amounted to that sum in his majesty's receipts,
the parliament hath imputed it rather to ill managery, and
letting farms at too easy rates, than to an error in their
computation. For the present, it was looked upon by the
king and by his ministers as answerable to his expecta- 1
tion. And so, upon notice of the queen's being upon the
coast, and afterwards of her arrival at Portsmouth, the
king appointed the houses to present all their bills to him
upon the nineteenth of May for his royal assent, it being
few days above a year from the time of their being first
convened.
349 When the king came to the parliament, and they had
presented the great number of bills which they had pre-

576 The king's speech to the parliament. Con. 349 —
pared, and after he had given his royal assent to most of
them, his majesty told them, " that he thought there had
been very few sessions of parliament, in which there had
been so many bills as he had passed that day : he was
confident, never so many private bills, which he hoped
they would not draw into example. It was true," he said,
" the late ill times had driven men into great straits, and
might have obliged them to make conveyances colourably,
to avoid inconveniences, and yet not afterwards to be
avoided ; and men had gotten estates by new and greater
frauds than had been heretofore practised ; and therefore
in this conjuncture extraordinary remedies might be ne
cessary ; which had induced him to comply with their ad
vice in passing those bills : but he prayed them that this
should be rarely done hereafter : that the good old rules
of the law are the best security ; and he wished that men
might not have too much cause to fear, that the settle
ments which they make of their estates shall be too easily
unsettled when they are dead by the power of parlia
ment."
35° He said, " they had too much obliged him, not only in
the matter of those bills which concerned his revenue,
but in the manner of passing them, with so great affec
tion and kindness, that he knew not how to thank them
enough. He did assure them, and prayed them to assure
their friends in the country, that he would apply all that
they had given to him to the utmost improvement of the
peace and happiness of the kingdom ; and that he would,
with the best advice and good husbandry he could, bring
his own expenses within a narrower compass." And he
said, "now he was speaking to them of his own good
husbandry, he must tell them, that would not be enough ;
he could not but observe, that the whole nation seemed
to him a little corrupted in their excess of living. All
men spend much more in their clothes, in their diet, in
all their expenses, than they had used to do. He hoped

3551 • The chancellor's speech. (1662.) 577
it had only been the excess of joy after so long sufferings.
that had transported him and them to those other ex
cesses ; but," he desired them, " that they might all take
heed that the continuance of them did not indeed corrupt
their natures. He did believe that he had been that
way very faulty himself: he promised that he would
reform, and that if they would join with him in their
several capacities, they would by their examples do more
good, both in city and country, than any new laws would
do." He said many other good things that pleased them,
and no doubt he intended all he said ; but the ways
and expedients towards good husbandry were no where
pursued.
351 The chancellor, by the king's command, enlarged upon
"the general murmurs upon the expense, and that it
should so much exceed all former times." He put them
in mind, "how the crown had been used since those
times, how the king had found it at his blessed return :
that as soon as he came hither, besides the infinite sums
that he forgave, he gave more money to the people than
he had since received from them," (he meant, I suppose,
the release of all the rents, debts, and receipts which
were due to him ;) " that at least two parts of three that
they had since given him had issued for the disbanding of
armies never raised by him, and for payment of fleets
never sent out by him, and of debts never incurred by
him." He put them in mind " of the vast disparity be
tween the former times and these in which they now
lived, and consequently [of] the disproportion in the ex
pense the crown was now at, for the protection and
benefit of the subject, to what it formerly underwent.
How great a difference there was in the present greatness
and power of the two crowns, and what they had been
then possessed of, was evident to all men ; and if the
greatness and power of the crown of England should not
be in some proportion improved too, it might be liable to
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. P P

578 The parliament is prorogued.— The earl Con. 351-
inconveniences it would not undergo alone. How our
neighbours and our rivals, who court one and the same
mistress, trade and commerce, with all the world, are ad
vanced in shipping, power, and an immoderate desire to
engross the whole traffick of the universe, was notorious
enough ; and that this unruly appetite would not be
restrained or disappointed, nor the trade of the nation be
supported and maintained, with the same fleets and forces
which had been maintained in the happy times of queen
Elizabeth. He needed not speak of the naval power of
the Turks, who, instead of sculking abroad in poor single
ships as they were wont to do, domineer now on the
ocean in strong fleets, make naval fights, and had brought
some Christians to a better correspondence, and another
kind of commerce and traffick with them, than was ex
pected," (for at that time the Dutch had made a low and
dishonourable peace with the pirates of Algiers and
Tunis :) " insomuch as they apprehend no enemy upon
the sea, but what they find in the king of England's ships,
which had indeed brought no small damage upon them,
with no small charge to the king, but a great reputation
to the nation.
352 " He did assure them, that the charge the crown was
then at, by sea and land, for the peace and security and
wealth and honour of the nation, amounted to no less
than eight hundred thousand pounds in the year ; all
which did not cost the crown before the late troubles
fourscore thousand pounds the year : and therefore that
nobody could blame them for any supply they had given,
or addition they had made to the revenue of the crown."
He told them, " that the new acquisitions of Dunkirk,
Mardike, Tangier, Jamaica, and Bombayne, ought to be
looked upon as jewels of an immense magnitude in the
royal diadem ; and though they were of present expense,
they were like in a short time, with God's blessing, to
bring vast advantages to the trade, navigation, wealth,

—3-353- of Sandwich takes possession of Tangier. (1662.) 579
and honour of the king and kingdom. His majesty had
enough expressed his desire to live in a perfect peace
and amity with all his neighbours ; nor was it an ill in
gredient towards the firmness and stability of that peace
and amity which his royal ancestors had held with them,
that he hath some advantages in case of a war, which
they were without." The same day the parliament was
prorogued to the eighteenth day of February following.
353 It was about the end of May, when the queen came to
Hampton-court. The earl of Sandwich, after he had
reduced those of Algiers and Tunis to good conditions,
went to Tangier, which was to be delivered to him before
he was to go to Lisbon for the reception of the queen :
and delivered to him it was, though by an accident that
might have caused it to be delivered into another hand.
There was never the least doubt, but that the queen
regent did resolve religiously to perform all the condi
tions on the part of Portugal ; and the government was
yet in her hands. But the king growing towards his
majority, and of a nature not like to comply long with
his mother's advice ; factions began likewise to grow in
that court. The delivery of Tangier, and into the hands
of heretics, was much murmured at ; as like more to
irritate the pope, who did already carry himself towards
them very unlike a common father, notwithstanding the
powerful interposition of France, which, upon the peace
lately made between the two crowns, was already ceased :
so that they now apprehended, that this new provocation
would give some excuse to the court of Rome, to comply
more severely with the importunities from Spain, which
likewise upon this occasion they were sure would be
renewed with all possible instance. And though the
queen had lately sent a governor to Tangier, whom she
therefore made choice of, as a man devoted to her, and
who would obey her commands in the delivery of this
p p 2

580 The Portuguese are not able Con. 354 —
place ; yet it is certain, he went thither with a contrary
resolution.
354 Very few days before the earl of Sandwich came thither,
the governor marched out with all the horse and above
half the foot of the garrison into the country, and fell
into an ambush of the Moors, who being much more
numerous cut off the whole party : and so the governor
with so many of the chief officers and soldiers being
killed, the town was left so weak, that if the Moors had
pursued their advantage with such numbers as they might,
and did intend within few days to bring with them, they
would have been able to have made little resistance.
And the earl of Sandwich coming happily thither in that
conjuncture, [it] was delivered into his hands, who con
voyed the remainder of the garrison into Portugal, where
they were like to be stoned by the people ; and then,
having put a good garrison of horse and foot which were
sent from England into it, he delivered it up to the earl
of Peterborough, who had a commission from the king to
be governor thereof; and himself with the fleet sailed to
Lisbon, where he had been long expected, and found his
house and equipage ready, he being then to appear in
the quality of extraordinary ambassador to demand the
queen.
355 His arrival there happened likewise in a very happy
conjuncture ; for the Spanish army, stronger than it had
been before, was upon its march to besiege a seaport
town, which lay so near Lisbon, that being in the enemy's
hands [it] would very much have infested their whole
trade, and was not strong enough long to have resisted so
powerful an enemy. But upon the fame of the English
fleet's arrival, the Spaniard gave over that design, and
retired : since as it was impossible that they should be
able to take that place, which the fleet was so ready to
relieve; so they knew not but that the English might

—357- to pay the quern's portion. (1662.) 581
make a descent into their own quarters, which kept them
from engaging before any other town. But the alarum
the march of that army had given had so much disturbed
Portugal, which never keep their whole forces on foot,
but draw them together upon such emergent occasions ;
that they were compelled to make use of most of that
money, which they said had been laid up and should be
kept for the payment of the queen's portion, which was
to be transported with her into England.
356 Whereupon, after the ambassador had been received
with all possible demonstration of respect and public joy,
and had had his solemn audience from the king and from
the queen regent and the queen his mistress ; and some
English gentlemen of quality, who were sent by the king,
were admitted to those places of attendance about the
queen, to which his majesty had assigned them : the
queen mother, with infinite apologies, told the ambas
sador, "that the straits and poverty of the kingdom [were]
so great upon the late advance of the Spanish army, that
there could at this present be only paid one half of
the queen's portion, and that the other half should in
fallibly be paid within a year, with which she hoped the
king her brother would be satisfied ; and that for the
better doing it, she resolved to send back the same am
bassador, who had brought so good a work with God's
blessing to so good an end, with her daughter to the
king."
357 The earl of Sandwich was much perplexed, nor did
easily resolve what he was to do. His instructions were
to receive the whole portion, which he knew the king
expected, and which they were not able to pay. He had
already received Tangier, and left a strong garrison in it,
and had neither authority to restore it, nor wherewithal
to carry back the men. And at last, after he had used
all the means to have the whole paid, and was so fully
informed, that he did in truth believe that they could do

582 The queen arrives in England. — Causes of Con. 357 —
no more, he resolved that he would receive the queen
aboard the fleet. That which they were ready to deliver
for half the portion was not in money, but to be made up
by jewels, sugar, and other commodities, which should
not be overvalued. The ambassador was contented to
give his receipt for the several species of the money they
would deliver, leaving the value to be computed in Eng
land ; but expressly refused to accept the jewels, sugar,
and merchandises at any rates or prices ; but was con
tented to receive them on board the ships, and to deliver
them in specie at London to any person who should be
appointed by them to receive them, who should be obliged
to pay the money they were valued [at], and to make up
the whole sum that should be paid to the king for the
moiety. In conclusion, all things were delivered on
board the ships ; and Diego Silvas, a Jew of great wealth
and full credit at Amsterdam, was sent with it, and
obliged to make even the account with the king's minis
ters at London, and to pay what should remain due. And
a new obligation was entered into by the crown of Portu
gal, for the payment of the other moiety within the space
of a year. And the queen with all her court and retinue
were embarked on board the fleet ; and without any ill
accidents her majesty arrived safely at Portsmouth : and
having rested only three or four days there, to recover the
indisposition contracted in so long a voyage at sea, her
majesty, together with the king, came to Hampton-court
at the time mentioned before, the twenty-ninth of May,
the king's birthday, full two years after his majesty's re
turn and entering London.
358 However the public joy of the kingdom was very
manifest upon this conjunction, yet in a short time there
appeared not that serenity in the court that was ex
pected. They who had formerly endeavoured to prevent
it, used ever after all the ill arts they could to make it
disagreeable, and to alienate the king's affection from the

— 359* misunderstanding between their majesties. (1662.) 583
queen to such a degree, that it might never be in her
power to prevail with him to their disadvantage ; an
effect they had reason to expect from any notable interest
she might gain in his affections, since she could not be
uninformed by the ambassador of the disservice they had
formerly endeavoured to do her.
359 There was a lady of youth and beauty, with whom the
king had lived in great and notorious familiarity from the
time of his coming into England, and who, at the time of
the queen's coming, or a little before, had been delivered
of a son whom the king owned. And as that amour had
been generally taken notice of, to the lessening of the
good reputation the king had with the people ; so it un
derwent the less reproach from the kings being young,
vigorous, and in his full strength; and upon a full pre
sumption that when he should be married, he would con
tain himself within the strict bounds of virtue and con
science. And that his majesty himself had that firm
resolution, there want not many arguments, as well from
the excellent temper and justice of his own nature, as
from the professions he had made with some solemnity to
persons who were believed to have much credit, and who
had not failed to do their duty, in putting him in mind
" of the infinite obligations he had to God Almighty, and
that he expected another kind of return from him, in the
purity of mind and integrity of life :" of which his majesty
was piously sensible, albeit there was all possible pains
taken by that company which were admitted to his hours
of pleasure, to divert and corrupt all those impressions
and principles, which his own conscience and reverent
esteem of Providence did suggest to him ; turning all
discourse and mention of religion into ridicule, as if it
were only an invention of divines to impose upon men of
parts, and to restrain them from the liberty and use of
those faculties which God and nature had given them,
that they might be subject to their reproofs and deter-

584 Causes of misunderstanding. Con. 360 —
minations ; which kind of license was not grateful to the
king, and therefore warily and accidentally used by those
who had pleasant wit, and in whose company he took too
much delight.
360 The queen had beauty and wit enough to make herself
very agreeable to him ; and it is very certain, that at
their first meeting, and for some time after, the king had
very good satisfaction in her, and without doubt made
very good resolutions within himself, and promised him
self a happy and an innocent life in her company, with
out any such uxoriousness as might draw the reputa
tion upon him of being governed by his wife, of which
he had observed or been too largely informed of some
inconvenient effects in the fortune of some of his near
est friends, and had long protested against such a re
signation ; though they who knew him well, did not
think him so much superior to such a condescension,
but that if the queen had had that craft and address
and dexterity that some former queens had, she might
have prevailed as far by degrees as they had done. But
the truth is, though she was of years enough to have had
more experience of the world, and of as much wit as
could be wished, and of a humour very agreeable at some
seasons; yet she had been bred, according to the mode
and discipline of her country, in a monastery, where she
had only seen the women who attended her, and con
versed with the religious who resided there, and without
doubt in her inclinations was enough disposed to have
been one of that number. And from this restraint she
was called out to be a great queen, and to a free conver
sation in a court that was to be upon the matter new
formed, and reduced from the manners of a licentious age
to the old rules and limits which had been observed in
better times ; and to which regular and decent conformity
the present disposition of men or women was not enough
inclined to submit, nor the king enough disposed to exact.

-362. between their majesties. (1663.) 585
361 There was a numerous family of men and women that
were sent from Portugal, the most improper to promote
that conformity in the queen that was necessary for her
condition and future happiness, that could be chosen : the
women for the most part old and ugly and proud, inca
pable of any conversation with persons of quality and a
liberal education. And they desired and indeed had con
spired so far to possess the queen themselves, that she
should neither learn the English language, nor use their
habit, nor depart from the manners and fashions of her
own country in any particulars ; " which resolution," they
told her, "would be for the dignity of Portugal, and would
quickly induce the English ladies to conform to her ma
jesty's practice :" and this imagination had made that im
pression, that the tailor who had been sent into Portugal
to make her clothes, could never be admitted to see her or
receive any employment. Nor when she came to Ports
mouth, and found there several ladies of honour and
prime quality to attend her in the places to which they
were assigned by the king, did she receive any of them,
till the king himself came ; nor then with any grace,
or the liberty that belonged to their places and offices.
She could not be persuaded to be dressed out of the
wardrobe that the king had sent to her, but would wear
the clothes which she had brought, until she found that
the king was displeased, and would be obeyed : where
upon she conformed against the advice of her women,
who continued their opiniatrety, without any one of them
receding from their own mode, which exposed them the
more to reproach.
362 When the queen came to Hampton-court, she brought
with her a formed resolution, that she would never suffer
the lady who was so much spoken of to be in her pre
sence : and afterwards to those she would trust she said,
" her mother had enjoined her so to do." On the other
hand, the king thought that he had so well prepared her

586 Causes of misunderstanding Con. 363-
to give her a civil reception, that within a day or two
after her majesty's being there, himself led her into her
chamber, and presented her to the queen, who received
her with the same grace as she had done the rest ; there
being many lords and other ladies at the same time there.
But whether her majesty in the instant knew who she
was, or upon recollection found it afterwards, she was no
sooner sat in her chair, but her colour changed, and tears
gushed out of her eyes, and her nose bled, and she faint
ed ; so that she was forthwith removed into another room,
and all the company retired out of that where she was
before. And this falling out so notoriously when so many
persons were present, the king looked upon it with won
derful indignation, and as an earnest of defiance for the
decision of the supremacy and who should govern, upon
which point he was the most jealous and the most resolute
of any man ; and the answer he received from the queen,
which kept up the obstinacy, displeased him more. Now
the breach of the conditions grew matter of reproach ; the
payment of but half the portion was objected to the am
bassador, who would have been very glad that the quarrel
had been upon no other point. He knew not what to say
or do ; the king being offended with him for having said
so much in Portugal to provoke the queen, and not in
structing her enough to make her unconcerned in what
had been before her time, and in which she could not
reasonably be concerned ; and the queen with more indig
nation reproaching him with the character he had given
of the king, of his virtue and good-nature : whilst the
poor man, not able to endure the tempest of so much in
justice from both, thought it best to satisfy both by dy
ing; and from the extreme affliction of mind which he
underwent, he sustained such a fever as brought him
to the brink of his grave, till some grace from both
their majesties contributed much to the recovery of his
spirits.

 3^3- between tfieir majesties. (1663.) 587
363 111 the mean time the king forbore her majesty's com
pany, and sought ease and refreshment in that jolly com
pany, to which in the evenings he grew every day more
indulgent, and in which there were some who desired
rather to inflame than pacify his discontent. And they
found an expedient to vindicate his royal jurisdiction, and
to make it manifest to the world, that he would not be
governed ; which could never without much artifice have
got entrance into his princely breast, which always enter
tained the most tender affections; nor was ever any
man's nature more remote from thoughts of roughness or
hardheartedness. They magnified the temper and con
stitution of his grandfather, who indeed to all other pur
poses was a glorious example : " that when he was en
amoured, and found a return answerable to his merit, he
did not dissemble his passion, nor suffered it to be matter
of reproach to the persons whom he loved ; but made all
others pay them that respect which he thought them
worthy of: brought them to the court, and obliged his
own wife the queen to treat them with grace and favour ;
gave them the highest titles of honour, to draw reverence
and application to them from all the court and all the
kingdom ; raised the children he had by them to the
reputation, state, and degree of princes of the blood, and
conferred fortunes and offices upon them accordingly.
That his majesty, who inherited the same passions, was
without the gratitude and noble inclination to make
returns proportionable to the obligations he received.
That he had, by the charms of his person and of his pro
fessions, prevailed upon the affections and heart of a
young and beautiful lady of a noble extraction, whose
father had lost his life in the service of the crown. That
she had provoked the jealousy and rage of her husband
to that degree, that he had separated himself from her:
and now the queen's indignation had made the matter so
notorious to the world, that the disconsolate lady had no

588 Causes of misunderstanding Con. 364 —

place of retreat left, but must be made an object of in
famy and contempt to all her sex, and to the whole
world."
364 Those discourses, together with a little book newly
printed at Paris, according to the license of that nation,
of the amours of Henry IV, which was by them presented
to him, and too concernedly read by him, made that im
pression upon his mind, that he resolved to raise the
quality and degree of that lady, who was married to a
private gentleman of a competent fortune, that had not
the ambition to be a better man than he was born. And
that he might do so, he made her husband an earl of
Ireland, who knew too well the consideration that he
paid for it, and abhorred the brand of such a nobility,
and did not in a long time assume the title. The lady
thus qualified was now made fit for higher preferment :
and the king resolved, for the vindication of her honour
and innocence, that she should be admitted of the bed
chamber of the queen, as the only means to convince the
world, that all aspersions upon her had been without
ground. The king used all the ways he could, by treat
ing the queen with all caresses, to dispose her to gratify
him in this particular, as a matter in which his honour
was concerned and engaged ; and protested unto her,
which at that time he did intend to observe, " that he
had not had the least familiarity with her since her ma
jesty's arrival, nor would ever after be guilty of it again,
but would live always with her majesty in all fidelity for
conscience sake." The queen, who was naturally more
transported with choler than her countenance declared
her to be, had not the temper to entertain him with those
discourses which the vivacity of her wit could very plen
tifully have suggested to her ; but brake out into a tor
rent of rage, which increased the former prejudice, con
firmed the king in the resolution he had taken, gave ill
people more credit to mention her disrespectfully, and

-3~3°^- between their majesties. (1662.) 589
more increased his aversion from her company, and, which
was worse, his delight in those, [who meant] that he
should neither love his wife or his business, or any thing
but their conversation.
365 These domestic indispositions and distempers, and the
impression they made of several kinds upon the king's
spirit and his humour, exceedingly discomposed the minds
of the gravest and most serious men ; gave the people
generally occasion of speaking loudly, and with a license
that the magistrates knew not how to punish, for the
publication of the scandal : and the wisest men despaired
of finding remedies to apply to the dissoluteness and de
bauchery of the time, which visibly increased. No man
appeared to suffer or likely to suffer more than the chan
cellor, against whom though no particular person owned
a malignity, the congregation of the witty men for the
evening conversation were enough united against his
interest ; and thought his influence upon the king's ac
tions and counsels would be too much augmented, if the
queen came to have any power, who had a very good
opinion of him : and it is very probable, that even that
apprehension increased the combination against her ma
jesty.
366 The lady had reason to hate him mortally, well know
ing that there had been an inviolable friendship between
her father and him to his death, which had been notorious
to all men ; and that he was an implacable enemy to the
power and interest she had with the king, and had used
all the endeavours he could to destroy it. Yet neither
she nor any of the other adventured to speak ill of him
to the king, who at that time would not have borne it ;
except for wit's sake they sometimes reflected upon some
what he had said, or acted some of his postures and man
ner of speaking, (the skill in mimicry being the best
faculty in wit many of them had ;) which license they
practised often towards the king himself, and therefore

590 The chancellor endeavours Con. 366-
his majesty thought it to be the more free from malice.
But by these liberties, which at first only raised laughter,
they by degrees got the hardiness to censure both the
persons, counsels, and actions of those who were nearest
his majesty's trust, with the highest malice and presump
tion ; and too often suspended or totally disappointed
some resolutions, which had been taken upon very mature
deliberation, and which ought to have been pursued.
But (as hath been said before) this presumption had not
yet come to this length.
367 The king imparted the trouble and unquietness of his
mind to nobody with equal freedom as he did to the
chancellor: to him he complained of all the queen's per-
verseness and ill humours, and informed him of all that
passed between them, and obliged him to confer and
advise the queen, who, he knew, looked upon him as a
man devoted to her service, and that he would speak very
confidently to her whatsoever he thought ; and therefore
gave him leave to take notice to her of any thing he had
told him. It was too delicate a province for so plain-
dealing a man as he was to undertake : and yet he knew
not how to refuse it, nor indeed did despair totally of
being able to do some good, since the queen was not
yet more acquainted with any man than with him, nor
spake so much with any man as with him ; and he be
lieved, that he might hereby have opportunity to speak
sometimes to the king of some particulars with more
freedom than otherwise he could well do, at least more
effectually.
368 He had never heard before of the honour the king had
done that lady, nor of the purpose he had to make her of
his wife's bedchamber. He spake with great boldness to
him upon both ; and did not believe that the first was
proceeded in beyond revocation, because it had not come
to the great seal, and gave him many arguments against
it, which he thought of weight. But upon the other

—369* to reconcile their majesties. (1662.) 591
point he took more liberty, and spake " of the hardheart-
edness and cruelty in laying such a command upon the
queen, which flesh and blood could not comply with." He
put him in mind of what he heard his majesty himself
say, upon the like excess which a neighbour king had
lately used, in making his mistress to live in the court,
and in the presence of the queen : that his majesty had
then said, " that it was such a piece of ill-nature, that he
could never be guilty of; and if ever he should be guilty
of having a mistress after he had a wife, which he hoped
he should never be, she should never come where his wife
was ; he would never add that to the vexation, of which
she would have enough without it." And yet he told him,
" that such friendships were not new in that other court,
nor scandalous in that kingdom ; whereas in this it was so
unheard of and so odious, that a woman who prostituted
herself to the king was equally infamous to all women of
honour, and must expect the same contempt from them,
as if she were common to mankind : and that no enemy
he had could advise him a more sure way to lose the
hearts and affections of the people, of which he was now
so abundantly possessed, than the indulging to himself
that liberty, now it had pleased God to give him a wife
worthy of him. That the excess he had already used in
that and other ways had lost him some ground ; but that
the continuance in them would break the hearts of all
his friends, and be only grateful to those who wished the
destruction of monarchy:" and concluded with asking his
pardon for speaking so plainly, and besought his majesty
to remember "the wonderful things which God had done
for him, and for which he expected other returns than he
had yet received."
369 The king heard him with patience enough, yet with
those little interruptions which were natural to him, es
pecially to that part where he had levelled the mistresses
of kings and princes with other lewd women, at which he

The chancellor endeavours Con. 369-
expressed some indignation, being an argument often de
bated before him by those who would have them looked
upon above any other [men's] wives. He did not appear
displeased with the liberty he had taken, but said, "he
knew it proceeded from the affection he had for him ;"
and then proceeded upon the several parts of what he had
said, more volubly than he used to do, as upon points in
which he was conversant, and had heard well debated.
37° To the first, he began with the story of an accident
that had fallen out the day before; he said, "the lady
had then told him, that she did hope that the chancellor
was not so much her enemy as he was generally reported
to be, "for she was sure he was not guilty of one discourtesy
of which he had been accused to her, and therefore might
be as innocent in others ; and then told his majesty, that
the day before, the earl of Bristol" (who was never with
out some reason to engage himself in such intrigues, and
had been a principal promoter of all those late resolutions)
" came to her, and asked her whether the patent was not
yet passed. She answered, No. He asked if she knew
the reason ; which she seeming not to do, he told her
that he came in confidence to tell her, and that if she did
not quickly curb and overrule such presumption, she would
often meet it to her prejudice ; then told her a long rela
tion, how the patent had been carried to the chancellor
prepared for the seal, and that he according to his cus
tom had superciliously said, that he would first speak with
the king of it, and that in the mean time it should not
pass ; and that if she did not make the king very sensible
of this his insolence, his majesty should never be judge of
his own bounty. And then the lady laughed, and made
sharp reflections upon the principles of the earl of Bris
tol," (who had throughout his life the rare good fortune
of being exceedingly beloved and exceedingly hated by
the same persons, in the space of one month; and now
finding that there was a stop of the patent, made a very

-373> to reconcile their majesties. (1662.) 593
natural guess where it must be, and gratified his own
appetite in the conclusion,) " and pulled the warrant out
of her pocket, where she said it had remained ever since
it was signed, and she believed the chancellor had never
heard of it : she was sure there was no patent prepared,
and therefore he could not stop it at the seal."
371 The truth is : though according to the custom she had
assumed the title as soon as she had the warrant, that
the other pretence might be prosecuted, she made not
haste to pass the patent, lest her husband might stop it ;
and after long deliberation was not so confident of the
chancellor, as to transmit it to the seal that was in his
custody, but, the honour being Irish, sent it into that
kingdom to pass the great seal there, where she was sure
it could meet no interruption.
372 When the king had made this relation, and added some
sharp remarks upon the earl of Bristol, as a man very
particularly knowii and understood by him ; he said,
" that he had undone this lady, and ruined her reputa
tion, which had been fair and untainted till her friendship
for him ; and that he was obliged in conscience and ho
nour to repair her to the utmost of his power. That he
would always avow to have a great friendship for her,
which he owed as well to the memory of her father as to
her own person ; and that he would look upon it as the
highest disrespect to him, in any body who should treat
her otherwise than was due to her own birth, and the
dignity to which he had raised her. That he liked her
company and conversation, from which he would not be
restrained, because he knew there was and should be all
innocence in it : and that his wife should never have
cause to complain that he brake his vows to her, if she
would live towards him as a good wife ought to do, in
rendering herself grateful and acceptable to him, which it
was in her power to do ; but if she would continue un
easy to him, he could not answer for himself, that he
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. 0 q

594 The chancellor endeavours Con. 372-
should not endeavour to seek content in other company.
That be had proceeded so far in the business that con
cerned the lady, and was so deeply engaged in it, that she
would not only be exposed to all imaginable contempt, if
it succeeded not ; but his own honour would suffer so
much, that he should become ridiculous to the world, and
be thought too in pupilage under a governor ; and there
fore he would expect and exact a conformity from his
wife herein, and which should be the only hard thing he
would ever require from her, and which she herself might
make very easy, for the lady would behave herself with
all possible duty and humility unto her, which if she
should fail to do in the least degree, she should never
see the king's face again : and that he would never be
engaged to put any other servant about her, without first
consulting with her, and receiving her consent and appro
bation. Upon the whole," he said, "he would never
recede from any part of the resolution he had taken and
expressed to him : and therefore he required him to use
all those arguments to the queen, which were necessary
to induce her to a full compliance with what the king
desired."
373 The chancellor addressed himself to the queen with as
full liberty and plainness as he had presumed to use to
his majesty, but could not proceed so far at a time, nor
hold so long conferences at once. When he first lamented
the misintelligence he observed to be between their ma
jesties, and she perceived the king had told him some
particulars, she protested her own innocence, but with so
much passion and such a torrent of tears, that there was
nothing left for him to do, but to retire, and tell her,
"that he would wait upon her in a fitter season, and
when she should be more capable of receiving humble
advice from her servants, who wished her well ;" and so
departed.
374 The next day he waited upon her again at the hour

—375- to reconcile their majesties. (1662.) 595
assigned by her, and found her much better composed
than he had left her. She vouchsafed to excuse the
passion she had been in, and confessed " she looked upon
him as one of the few friends she had, and from whom
she would most willingly at all times receive counsel :
but that she hoped he would not wonder or blame her, if
having greater misfortunes upon her, and being to struggle
with more difficulties, than any woman had ever been put
to of her condition, she sometimes gave vent to that
passion that was ready to break her heart." He told her,
" he was desirous indeed to serve her, of which he would
not make great or many protestations, since she could
not but believe it, except she thought him to be a fool,
or mad, since nothing could contribute so much to his
happiness, as an eminent sympathy between the king and
her in all things : and he could not give her a greater
evidence of his devotion, than in always saying that to
her which was fit for her to hear, though it did not please
her ; and he would observe no other rule towards her,
though it should render him ungracious to her."
375 She seemed well satisfied with what he said, and told
him "he should never be more welcome to her, than
when he told her of her faults:" to which he replied,
" that it was the province he was accused of usurping
with reference to all his friends." He told her, "that
he doubted she was little beholden to her education, that
had given her no better information of the follies and
iniquities of mankind, of which he presumed the climate
from whence she came could have given more instances,
than this cold region would afford ;" though at that time
it was indeed very hot. He said, " if her majesty had
been fairly dealt with in that particular, she could never
have thought herself so miserable, and her condition so
insupportable as she seemed to think it to be ; the ground
of which heavy complaint he could not comprehend."
Whereupon with some blushing and confusion and some
Qq2

596 The chancellor endeavours Con. 375 —
tears [she said], "she did not think that she should have
found the king engaged in his affection to another lady ;"
and then was able to say no more : which gave the chan
cellor opportunity to say, " that he knew well, that she
had been very little acquainted with or informed of the
world ; yet he could not believe that she was so utterly
ignorant, as to expect that the king her husband, in the
full strength and vigour of his [youth], was of so innocent
a constitution, as to be reserved for her whom he had
never seen, and to have had no acquaintance or familiarity
with the sex;" and [asked], "whether she believed, when
it should please God to send a queen to Portugal, she should
find that court so full of chaste affections." Upon which
her majesty smiled, and spake pleasantly enough, but as if
she thought it did not concern her case, and as if the king's
affection had not wandered, but remained fixed.
376 Upon which the chancellor replied with some warmth,
" that he came to her with a message from the king,
which if she received as she ought to do, and as he hoped
she would, she would be the happiest queen in the world.
That whatever correspondences the king had entertained
with any other ladies, before he saw her majesty, con
cerned not her ; nor ought she to inquire more into them
or after them, than into what other [excesses] he had
used in his youth in France, Holland, or Germany. That
he had authority to assure her, that all former appetites
were expired, and that he dedicated himself entirely and
without reserve to her ; and that if she met his affection
with that warmth and spirit and good humour, which she
well knew how to express, she would live a life of the
greatest delight imaginable. That her good fortune, and
all the joy she could have in this world, was in her own
power, and that she only [strove] to drive it from her."
She heard all this with apparent pleasure, and infinite ex
pression0, of her acknowledgments of the king's bounty ; .
thanked the chancellor more than enough, and desired

-37^- to reconcile their majesties. (1662.) 597
him " to help in returning her thanks to his majesty, and
in obtaining his pardon for any passion or peevishness she
might have been guilty of, and in assuring him of all
future obedience and duty." »
377 Upon this good temper he approached to the other part
of his message, " how necessary it would be that her ma
jesty should gratify this good resolution and justice and
tenderness in the king, by meeting it with a proportion
able submission and resignation on her part to whatsoever
his majesty should desire of her;" and then insinuated
what would be acceptable with reference to the lady.
But this was no sooner mentioned, than it raised all the rage
and fury of yesterday, with fewer tears, the fire appearing
in her eyes, where the water was. She said, " that the
king's insisting upon that particular could proceed from
no other ground but his hatred of her person, and to ex
pose her to the contempt of the world, who would think
her worthy of such an affront, if she submitted to it;
which before she would do, she would put herself on
board any little vessel, and so be transported to Lisbon :"
with many other extravagant expressions, which her pas
sion suggested in spite of her understanding ; and which
he interrupted with a very ill countenance, and told her,
" that she bad not the disposal of her own person, nor
could go out of the house where she was without the
king's leave ;" and therefore advised her " not to speak
any more of Portugal, where there were enough who
would wish her to be." He told her, "that he would
find some fitter time to speak with her, and till then only
desired that she would make show of no such passion to
the king ; and that whatever she thought fit to deny that
the king proposed to her, she should deny in such a man
ner, as should look rather like a deferring than an utter
refusal, that his majesty might not be provoked to enter
into the same passion, which would be superior to hers."
378 The chancellor made the more haste to inform the king

598 The chancellor endeavours Con. 378 —
of all that had passed, that he might prevail with him to
suspend for some little time the prosecuting that argu
ment further with the queen. He gave him an account
of all the good and kind things she had said with refer
ence to his majesty, of the professions she had made of all
duty and obedience to him throughout the whole course
of her life ; " that her unwillingness to obey him in this
one particular proceeded only from the great passion of
love which she had for him, that transported her beyond
the limits of her reason." He confessed, " he had not
discoursed it so fully with her majesty as he resolved to
have done, because a sudden passion had seized upon her,
which she must have some time to overrule ;" and there
fore he entreated his majesty " for a day or two to forbear
pressing the queen in that matter, till he had once more
waited upon her, by which he hoped he might in some
degree dispose her majesty to give him satisfaction." And
though he was in no degree pleased with the account, yet
the other did think, that he would for a little have re
spited the further discourse of it.
379 But the king quickly found other counsellors, who told
him, " that the thing he contended for was not of so much
importance as the manner of obtaining it ; that the con
tention now was, who should govern ; and if he suffered
himself to be disputed with, he must resolve hereafter
to do all things precario." And as this advice was more
suitable to his present passion and purpose, so it was em
braced greedily and resolutely. The fire flamed that night
higher than ever : the king reproached the queen with
stubbornness and want of duty, and she him with tyranny
and want of affection : he used threats and menaces, which
he never intended to put in execution, and she talked loudly
"how ill she was treated, and that she would return again
to Portugal." He replied, " that she should do well first
to know whether her mother would receive her : and he
would give her a fit opportunity to know that, by sending

-381. to reconcile their majesties. (1662.) 599
to their home all her Portuguese servants ; and that he
would forthwith give order for the discharge of them all,
since they behaved themselves so ill, for to them and their
counsels he imputed all her perverseness."
380 The passion and noise of the night reached too many
ears to be a secret the next day ; and the whole court
was full of that, which ought to have been known to
nobody. And the mutual carriage and behaviour between
their majesties confirmed all that they had heard or could
imagine : they spake not, hardly looked on one another.
Every body was glad that they were so far from the
town, (for they were still at Hampton-court,) and that
there were so few witnesses of all that passed. The
queen sat melancholic in her chamber in tears, except
when she drove them away by a more violent passion in
choleric discourse : and the king sought his divertisements
in that company that said and did all things to please
him ; and there he spent all the nights, and in the morn
ing came to the queen's chamber, for he never slept in
any other place. Nobody knew how to interpose, or
indeed how to behave themselves, the court being far
from one mind ; with this difference, that the young and
frolic people of either sex talked loudly all that they
thought the king would like and be pleased with, whilst
the other more grave and serious people did in their souls
pity the queen, and thought that she was put to bear
more than her strength could sustain.
381 The chancellor came not to the court in two or three
days ; and when he did come thither, he forbore to see
the queen, till the king sent him again to her. His ma
jesty informed him at large, and with more than his
natural passion, of all that had passed; and "of the
foolish extravagancy" (as he called it) " of returning to
Portugal ; and of the positive resolution he had taken,
and the orders he had given, for the present sending away
all the Portugueses, to whom he did impute all his wife's

600 The chancellor endeavours Con. 381 —
frowardness." He renewed his former declaration, " that
he would gain his point, and never depart from that
resolution;" yet was content to be blamed by the chan
cellor, for having proceeded with so much choler and
precipitation, and seemed to think that he had done
better, if he had followed his former advice. But then
he added, " that besides the uneasiness and pain within
himself, the thing was more spoken of in all places, and
more to his disadvantage, whilst it was in this suspense,
than it would be when it was once executed ; which
would put a final end to all debates, and all would be
forgotten."
382 The chancellor desired his majesty to believe, " that he
would endeavour, by all the ways he could devise, to per
suade the queen to submit to his pleasure, because it is
his pleasure ; and that he would urge some arguments to
her, which he could not himself answer ; and therefore
he was not without hope that they might prevail. But
he desired him likewise to believe, that he had much
rather spend his pains in endeavouring|to convert his ma
jesty from pursuing his resolution, which he did in his
conscience believe to be unjust, than in persuading her
majesty to comply with it, which yet he would very
heartily do." He desired him " to give him leave to put
him in mind of a discourse his majesty had held with
him many years ago, upon an occasion that he had ad
ministered by telling him what his father, the late king,
had said to him : that he had great reason to acknow
ledge it [due] to God's immediate blessing, and in truth
to his inspiration, that he continued firm in bis religion :
for though his father had always taken pains himself to
inform and instruct him, yet he had been so much de
ceived by others that he put about him when he was
young, a company of the arrantest knaves and puritans"
(they were his own words) " that could be found in the
two kingdoms ; whereof he named two or three, who

-384- to reconcile their majesties. (1662.) 601
were enemies to the church, and used to deride all reli
gion. That when he had related this discourse accident
ally of his late majesty, the king replied, that if it should
please God ever to give him a wife and children, he
would make choice of such people to be about both in all
places of near trust, who in their natures and manners,
and if it were possible in their very humours, were such
as he wished his wife and children should be ; for he did
believe that most young people (and it may be elder)
were upon the matter formed by those whom they saw
continually and could not but observe." The king an
swered with some quickness, " that he remembered the
discourse very well, and should think of it ; but that the
business which he had commended to him must be done,
and without delay."
383 When the chancellor was admitted to the queen, he
presumed with all plainness to blame her "for the il-
limited passion [with] which she had treated the king,
and thereby provoked him to greater indignation than she
could imagine, or in truth sustain : " and [begged], " that
for her own sake she would decline and suppress such
distempers, which could have no other effect, than in
making the wound incurable; which it would do, in a
very little time more, inevitably, and reduce all her faith
ful servants to an incapacity of serving her." She ac
knowledged with tears, " that she had been in too much
passion, and said somewhat she ought not to have said,
and for which she would willingly ask the king's pardon
upon her knees ; though his manner of treating her had
wonderfully surprised her, and might be some excuse for
more than ordinary commotion. That she prayed to God
to give her patience, and hoped she should be no more
transported with the like passion upon what provocation
soever."
384 Then he entreated, " that he might find some effect of
that her good resolution, in permitting him to enlarge

602 The chancellor endeavours Con. 384—
upon the argument he was obliged to discourse to her ;
and that if he offered any humble advice, it should be
such as he was most confident would prove for her benefit,
and such as he would himself submit to if he were in her
condition." He told her, "he came not to justify and
defend the proposition that had been made to her con
cerning the lady, as a just or a reasonable proposition ; he
had not dissembled his own opinion as to either, and when
he should now insist upon it again, which he must do, he
could not but confess that it was a very hard injunction,
not to be yielded to without some reluctancy:" but he
besought her to tell him, " whether she thought it in her
power to divert it ; or that it was not in the king's power
to impose it upon her."
385 She answered, " she knew it was in her own power to
consent or not to consent to it ; and that she could not
despair, but that the king's justice and goodness might
divert him from the prosecution of a command so un
reasonable in him, and so dishonourable to her. She
would not dispute the king's power, what it might im
pose, being sure that she could not rescue herself from
it : but," she said, " nobody knew better than he, whether
the king was obliged to leave the choice of her own ser
vants to herself; and if it were otherwise, she had been
deceived."
386 He told her, "that she had and would always enjoy
that privilege : but that it was always understood in con
ditions of that nature, that as the husband would not
impose a servant, against whom just exceptions could be
made ; so it was presumed, that no wife would refuse to
receive a servant, that was esteemed and commended by
her husband. That he did assure her, upon as much
knowledge as he was capable to have in affairs of such a
nature, that the king would exact an entire conformity
to his pleasure in this particular ; and then the question
would only be, whether it would be better that she con-

—3^7- to reconcile their majesties. (1662.) 603
form herself with alacrity to an obedience, with those cir
cumstances which might be obliging and meritorious on
her part ; or that it should be done without her consent,
and with all the repugnancy she could express, which
could only be in angry words and ungracious circum
stances, which would have a more bitter operation in
her own breast and thoughts, than any where else : and
therefore he did very importunately advise her to submit
to that cheerfully, that she could not resist ; which if she
should not do, and do out of hand, she would too late
repent."
387 To which she replied with great calmness, " that it may
be worse could not fall out than she expected ; but why
she should repent the not giving her consent, she could
not apprehend, since her conscience would not give her
leave to consent :" which when she saw him receive with
a face of trouble and wonder, which it was his misfortune
and weakness never to be able to conceal or dissemble,
she continued her discourse, and said, " she could not
conceive how any body could, with a good conscience,
consent to what she could not but suppose would be an
occasion and opportunity of sin." To which he suddenly
replied, " that he now understood her ; and that she ought
to have no such apprehension, but to believe the profes
sions the king made, of the sincerity whereof she would
hereby become a witness ; and if there should be any ter
giversation, the opportunity, which she fancied, would be
more frequent at a distance than by such a relation, which
nothing but a resolved innocence could make desirable by
either party." To which he added, " that he thought her
majesty had [too mean and low an opinion] of her person
and her parts, if she thought it could be in the power of
any other lady to deprive her of the interest she had a
right to, if she did all that became her to retain it ; and
which in that case she could not lose but by the highest

604 The chancellor in vain endeavours Con. 388 —
fraud and perjury, which she could not justly entertain
the suspicion of."
388 There cannot be a greater patience and intentness of
hearing, than the queen manifested during the time of his
discourse, sometimes seeming not displeased, but oftener by
a smile declaring that she did not believe what he said : and
in conclusion, in few words declared, "that the king might
do what he pleased, but that she could not consent to it ;"
and pronounced it with a countenance, as if she both
hoped and believed, that her obstinacy would in the end
prevail over the king's importunity : and it is very pro
bable, that she had advice given her to that purpose.
The chancellor concluded with telling her, " that he would
give her no more trouble upon this particular: that he
was sorry he had not credit enough to prevail with her
majesty in a point that would have turned so much to her
benefit ; and that she would hereafter be sorry for her
refusal." And when he had given the king a faithful
account of all that had passed ; and "that he believed them
both to be very much to blame, and that that party would
be most excusable who yielded first ; be made it his hum
ble suit, " that he might be no more consulted with, nor
employed in an affair in which he had been so unsuc
cessful."
389 The king came seldom into the queen's company, and
when he did he spake not to her ; but spent his time in
other divertisements, and in the company of those who
made it their business to laugh at all the world, and who
were as bold with God Almighty as with any of his crea
tures. He persevered in all his resolutions without any
remorse ; directed a day for all the Portugueses to be em
barked, without assigning any considerable thing of bounty
to any of them, or vouchsafing to write any letter to the
king or queen of Portugal of the cause of the dismission of
them. And this rigour prevailed upon the great heart of

-39 *• to reconcile their majesties. (1662.) 605
the queen, who had not received any money to enable her
to be liberal to any of those, who had attended her out
of their own country, and promised themselves places of
great advantage in her family : and she earnestly desired
the king, " that she might retain some few of those who
were known to her, and of most use, that she might not
be wholly left in the hands of strangers ;" and employed
others to make the same suit to the king on her behalf.
Whereupon the countess of Penalva, who had been bred
with her from a child, and who, by the infirmity of her
eyes and other indisposition of health, scarce stirred out
of her chamber, was permitted to remain in the court :
and some other inferior servants in her kitchen and in the
lowest offices, besides those who were necessary to her
devotions, were left here. All the rest [were] transported
to Portugal.
390 The officers of the revenue were required to use all
strictness in the receipt of that part of the portion that
was brought over with the fleet ; and not to allow any of
those demands which were made upon computation of the
value of money, and other allowances, upon the account :
and Diego de Silva, who was designed in Portugal with
out any good reason to be the queen's treasurer, and upon
that expectation had undertaken that troublesome pro
vince to see the money paid in London by what was as
signed to that purpose, was committed to prison for not
making haste enough in the payment and in finishing the
account ; and his commitment went very near the queen,
as an affront done to herself. The Portugal ambassador,
who was a very honest man, and so desirous to serve the
king that he had upon the matter lost the queen, was
heartbroken; and after a long sickness, which all men
believed would have killed him, as soon as he was able to
endure the air, left Hampton-court, and retired to his
own house in the city.
391 In all this time the king pursued his point : the lady

606 The chancellor in vain endeavours Con. 391 —
came to the court, was lodged there, was every day in the
queen's presence, and the king in continual conference
with her ; whilst the queen sat untaken notice of : and if
her majesty rose at the indignity and retired into her
chamber, it may be one or two attended her ; but all the
company remained in the room she left, and too often
said those things aloud which nobody ought to have
whispered. The king (who had in the beginning of this
conflict appeared still with a countenance of trouble and
sadness, which had been manifest to every body, and no
doubt was really afflicted, and sometimes wished that he
had not proceeded so far, until he was again new chafed
with the reproach of being governed, which he received
with the most sensible indignation, and was commonly
provoked with it most by those who intended most to
govern him) had now vanquished or suppressed all those
tendernesses and reluctances, and appeared every day
more gay and pleasant, without any clouds in his face,
and full of good humour ; saving that the close observers
thought it more feigned and affected than of a natural
growth. However, to the queen it appeared very real,
and made her the more sensible, that she alone was left
out in all jollities, and not suffered to have any part of
those pleasant applications and caresses, which she saw
made almost to every body else ; an universal mirth in all
company but in hers, and in all places but in her cham
ber ; her own servants shewing more respect and more
diligence to the person of jthejady, than towards their
own mistress, who they found could do them less good.
The nightly meeting continued with the same or more
license ; and the discourses which passed there, of what
argument soever, were the discourse of the whole court
and of the town the day following : whilst the queen had
the king's company those few hours which remained of
the preceding night, and which were too little for sleep.
392 All these mortifications were too heavy to be borne :

~39a- to reconcile their majesties. (1662.) 607
so that at last, when it was least expected or suspected,
the queen on a sudden let herself fall first to conversation
and then to familiarity, and even in the same instant to a
confidence with the lady ; was merry with her in public,
talked kindly of her, and in private used nobody more
friendly. This excess of condescension, without any pro
vocation or invitation, except by multiplication of injuries
and neglect, and after all friendships were renewed, and
indulgence yielded to new liberty, did the queen less
good than her former resoluteness had done. Very many
looked upon her with much compassion, commended the
greatness of her spirit, detested the barbarity of the
affronts she underwent, and censured them as loudly as
they durst ; not without assuming the liberty sometimes
of insinuating to the king himself, " how much his own
honour suffered in the neglect and disrespect of her own
servants, who ought at least in public to manifest some
duty and reverence towards her majesty ; and how much
he lost in the general affections of his subjects : and that,
besides the displeasure of God Almighty, he could not
reasonably hope for children by the queen, which was the
great if not the only blessing of which he stood in need,
whilst her heart was so full of grief, and whilst she was
continually exercised with such insupportable afflictions."
And many, who were not wholly unconversant with the
king, nor strangers to his temper and constitution, did
believe that he grew weary of the struggle, and even
ready to avoid the scandal that was so notorious, by the
Jady^s withdrawing from the verge of the court and being
no longer seen there, how firmly soever the friendship
might be established. But this sudden downfall and
total abandoning her own greatness, this low demeanour
and even application to a person she had justly abhorred
and worthily contemned, made all men conclude, that it
was a hard matter to know her, and consequently to serve
her. And the king himself was so far from being recon-

608 The parliament meets, Feb. 18. Con. 392-$
ciled by it, that the esteem, which he could not hitherto
but retain in his heart for her, grew now much less. He
concluded that all her former aversion expressed in those
lively passions, which seemed not capable of dissimulation,
was all fiction, and purely acted to the life by a nature
crafty, perverse, and inconstant. He congratulated his
own ill-natured perseverance, by which he had discovered
how he was to behave himself hereafter, and what reme
dies he was to apply to all future indispositions : nor had
he ever after the same value of her wit, judgment, and
understanding, which he had formerly ; and was well
enough pleased to observe, that the reverence others had
for all three was somewhat diminished.
393 The parliament assembled together at the same time in
February to which they had been adjourned or prorogued,
and continued together till the end of July following.
They brought the same affection and duty with them
towards the king, which they had formerly ; but were
much troubled at what they had heard and what they
had observed of the divisions in court. They had the
same fidelity for the king's service, but not the same
alacrity in it : the despatch was much slower in all mat
ters depending, than it had used to be. The truth is ;
the house of commons was upon the matter not the
same : three years sitting, for it was very near so long
since they had been first assembled, had consumed very
many of their members ; and in the places of those who
died, great pains were taken to have some of the king's
menial servants chosen ; so that there was a very great
number of men in all stations in the court, as well below
stairs as above, who were members of the house of com
mons. And there were very few of them, who did not
think themselves qualified to reform whatsoever was amiss
in church or state, and to procure whatsoever supply the
king would require.
394 They, who either out of their own modesty, or in re-

"395- The commons have undergone considerable change. (1663.) 609
gard of their distant relation to his service, had seldom
had access to his presence, never had presumed to speak
to him ; now by the privilege of parliament every day
resorted to him, and had as much conference with him as
they desired. They, according to the comprehension
they had of affairs, represented their advice to him for
the conducting his affairs ; according to their several
opinions and observations represented those and those
men as well affected to his service, and others, much
better than they, who did not pay them so much respect,
to be ill-affected, and to want duty for his majesty. They
brought those, who appeared to them to be most zealous
for his service, because they professed to be ready to do
any thing he pleased to prescribe, to receive his majesty's
thanks, and from himself his immediate directions how to
behave themselves in the house; when the men were
capable of no other instruction, than to follow the ex
ample of some discreet man in whatsoever he should vote,
and behave themselves accordingly.
395 To this time, the king had been content to refer the
conduct of his affairs in the parliament to the chancellor
and the treasurer; who'had every day conference with some
select persons of the house of commons, who had always
served the king, and upon that account had great interest
in that assembly, and in regard of the experience they
had and their good parts were hearkened to with rever
ence. And with those they consulted in what method to
proceed in disposing the house, sometimes to propose,
sometimes to consent to what should be most necessary
for the public ; and by them to assign parts to other
men, whom they found disposed and willing to concur in
what was to be desired : and all this without any noise,
or bringing many together to design, which ever was and
ever will be ingrateful to parliaments, and, however it
may succeed for a little time, will in the end be attended
with prejudice^
CLARENDON LD7E, VOL. I. R r

610 Character of Con. 396-
396 But there were two persons now introduced to act
upon that stage, who disdained to receive orders, or to
have any method prescribed to them ; who took upon
them to judge of other men's defects, and thought their
own abilities beyond exception.
397 The one was sir Harry Bennet, who had procured him
self to be sent agent or envoy into Spain, as soon as the
king came from Brussels ; being a man very well known
to the king, and for his pleasant and agreeable humour
acceptable to him : and he remained there at much ease
till the king returned to England, having waited upon his
majesty at Fuentarabia in the close of the treaty between
the two crowns, and there appeared by his dexterity to
have gained good credit in the court of Spain, and par
ticularly with don Lewis de Haro ; and by that short
negotiation he renewed and confirmed the former good
inclinations of his master to him. He had been obliged
always to correspond with the chancellor, by whom his
instructions had been drawn, and to receive the king's
pleasure by his signification ; which he had always done,
and professed much respect and submission to him :
though whatever orders he received, and how positive
soever, in particulars which highly concerned the king's
honour and dignity, he observed them so far and no
further than his own humour disposed him ; and in some
cases flatly disobeyed what the king enjoined, and did
directly the contrary, as in the case of the Jesuit Peter
Talbot; who having carried himself with notorious in.
solence towards the king in Flanders, had transported
himself into England, offered his service to Cromwell, and
after his death was employed by the ruling powers into
Spain, upon his undertaking to procure orders, by which
the king should not be suffered longer to reside in Flan
ders : of all which his majesty having received full ad
vertisement, he made haste to send orders into Spain to
sir Harry Bennet, " that he should prepare don Lewis

— 399- Sir Harry Bennet. (1663.) 611
for his reception by letting him know, that though that
Jesuit was his natural subject, he had so misbehaved him
self, that he looked upon him as a most [inveterate]
enemy and a traitor ; and therefore his majesty desired,
that he might receive no countenance there, being, as
he well knew, sent by the greatest rebels to do him
prejudice."
398 This was received by sir Harry Bennet before the
arrival of the man, who found no inconvenience by it ;
and instead of making any complaint concerning him, he
writ word, " that Talbot had more credit than he in that
court ; that he professed to have great devotion for the
king ; and therefore his advice was, that the king would
have a better opinion of him, and employ him in his
service:" and himself received him into his full confi
dence, and consulted with no man so much as with him ;
which made all men believe that he was a Roman catho
lic, who did believe that he had any religion. But he
had made his full excuse and defence for all this at the
interview at Fuentarabia, from whence the king returned
with marvellous satisfaction in his discretion as well as in
his affection. And until, contrary to all his expectation,
he heard of the king's return into England, all his
thoughts were employed how to make benefit of the
duke of York's coming into Spain to be admiral of the
galleys ; which he writ to hasten all that might be.
399 Though he continued his formal correspondence with
the chancellor, which he could not decline ; yet he held
a more secret intelligence with Daniel O'Neile of the
bedchamber, with whom he had a long friendship. As
soon as the king arrived in England, he trusted O'Neile
to procure any direction from the king immediately in
those particulars which himself advised. And so he ob
tained the king's consent, for his consenting to the old
league that had been made between England and Spain
in the time of the late king, and which Spain had ex-
K r 2

612 Character of Con. 399—
pressly refused to renew after the death of that king,
(which was suddenly proclaimed in Spain, without ever
being consulted in England;) and presently after leave to
return into England without any letter of revocation :
both which were procured, or rather signified, by O'Neile,
without the privity of the chancellor or of either of the
secretaries of state ; nor did either of them know that he
was from Madrid, till they heard he was in Paris, from
whence he arrived in London in a very short time after.
So far the chancellor was from that powerful interest or
influence, when his credit was at highest.
400 But he was very well received by the king, in whose
affections he had a very good place : and shortly after his
arrival, though not so soon as he thought his high merit
deserved, his majesty conferred the only place then void
(and that had been long promised to a noble person, who
had behaved himself very well towards his majesty and
his blessed father) upon him, which was the office of
privy purse ; received him into great familiarity, and into
the nightly meeting, in which he filled a principal place
to all intents and purposes. The king very much desired
to have him elected a member in the house of commons,
and commanded the chancellor to use his credit to obtain
it upon the first opportunity : and in obedience to that
command, he did procure him to be chosen about the
time we are now speaking of, when the parliament as
sembled in February.
401 The other person was Mr. William Coventry, the
youngest son to a very wise father, the lord Coventry,
who had been lord keeper of the great seal of England
for many years with a universal reputation. This gentle
man was young whilst the war continued : yet he had
put himself before the end of it into the army, and had
the command of a foot company, and shortly after tra
velled into France ; where he remained whilst there was
any hope of getting another army for the king, or that

— 4°2- Mr. William Coventry. (1663.) 613
either of the other crowns would engage in his quarrel.
But when all thoughts of that were desperate, he returned
into England ; where he remained for many years with
out the least correspondence with any of his friends be
yond the seas, and with so little reputation of caring
much for the king's restoration, that some of his own
family, who were most zealous for his majesty's service,
and had always some signal part in any reasonable design,
took care of nothing more, than that nothing they did
should come to his knowledge ; and gave the same advice
to those about the king, with whom they corresponded,
to use the same caution. Not that any body suspected
his being inclined to the rebels, or to do any act of
treachery ; but that the pride and censoriousness of his
nature made him unconversable, and his despair that any
thing could be effectually done made him incompetent to
consult the ways of doing it. Nor had he any conversa
tion with any of the king's party, nor they with him, till
the king was proclaimed in London ; and then he came
over with the rest to offer his service to his majesty at
the Hague, and had the good fortune to find the duke of
York without a secretary. For though he had a Walloon
that was, in respect of the languages of which he was
master, fit for that function in the army, and had dis
charged it very well for some years ; yet for the province
the duke was now to govern, having the office of high
admiral of England* he was without any fit person to dis
charge the office of secretary with any tolerable sufficiency :
so that Mr. Coventry no sooner offered his service to the
duke, but he was received into that employment, very
honourable under such a master, and in itself of the
greatest profit next the secretaries of state, if they in that
respect be to be preferred.
402 He had been well known to the king and duke in
France, and had a brother whom the king loved well and
had promised to take into his bedchamber, as he shortly

614 Character of Con. 402—
after did, Harry Coventry, who was beloved by every
body, which made them glad of the preferment of the
other ; whilst they who knew the worst of him, yet knew
him able to discharge that office, and so contributed to
the duke's receiving him. He was a sullen, ill-natured,
proud man, whose ambition had no limits, nor could be
contained within any. His parts were very good, if he
had not thought them better than any other man's ; and
he had diligence and industry, which men of good parts
are too often without, which made [him] quickly to have
at least credit and power enough with the duke ; and he
was without those vices which were too much in request,
and which make men most unfit for business and the
trust that cannot be separated from it.
403 He had sat a member in the house of commons, from
the beginning of the parliament, with very much reputa
tion of an able man. He spake pertinently, and was
always very acceptable and well heard ; and was one of
those with whom they, who were trusted by the king in
conducting his affairs in the lower house, consulted very
frequently ; but not so much, nor relied equally upon his
advice, as upon some few others who had much more
experience, which he thought was of use only to ignorant
and dull men, and that men of sagacity could see and
determine at a little light, and ought rather to persuade
and engage men to do that which they judged fit, than
consider what themselves were inclined to do : and so did
not think himself to be enough valued and relied upon,
and only to be made use of to the celebrating the designs
and contrivance of other men, without being signal in the
managery, which he aspired to be. Nor did any man
envy him the province, if he could indeed have governed
it, and that others who had more useful talents would
have been ruled by him. However, being a man who
naturally loved faction and contradiction, he often made
experiments how far he could prevail in the house, by

-4°4- Mr. William Coventry. (1663.) 615
declining the method that was prescribed, and proposing
somewhat to the house that was either beside or contrary
to it, and which the others would not oppose, believing,
in regard of his relation, that he had received newer
directions : and then if it succeeded well, (as sometimes
it did,) he had argument enough to censure and inveigh
against the chancellor, for having taken so ill measures of
the temper and affections of the house ; for he did not
dissemble in his private conversation (though his outward
carriage was very fair) that he had no kindness for him,
which in gratitude he ought to have had ; nor had he
any thing to complain of from him, but that he wished
well and did all he could to defend and support a very
worthy person, who had deserved very well from the
king, against whom he manifested a great and causeless
animosity, and desired to oppress for his own profit, of
which he had an immoderate appetite.
404 When those two persons, sir Harry Bennet and Mr.
Coventry, (between whom there had been as great a
league of friendship as can be between two very proud
men equally ill-natured,) came now to sit together in the
house of commons ; though the former of them knew no
more of the constitution and laws of England than he did
of China, nor had in truth a care or tenderness for church
or state, but believed France was the best pattern in the
world ; they thought they should have the greatest wrong
imaginable, if they did not entirely govern it, and if the
king took his measures of what should be done there from
any body but themselves. They made friendships with
some young men, who spake confidently and often, [and]
upon some occasions seemed to have credit in the house.
And upon a little conversation with those men, who,
being country gentlemen of ordinary condition and mean
fortunes, were desirous to have interest in such a person
as sir Harry Bennet, who was believed to have great credit
with the king ; he believed he understood the house,

616 Of sir H. Bennet and Mr. Coventry : Con. 405 —
and what was to be done there, as well as any man in
England.
405 He recommended those men to the king " as persons
of sublime parts, worthy of his majesty's caressing : that
he would undertake to fix them to his service ; and when
they were his own, he might carry what he would in the
house of commons." The men had parts indeed and good
affections, and often had resorted to the chancellor, re
ceived advice from him, and thought themselves beholden
to him ; being atthat time entirely governed by sir Hugh
Pollard, who was himselfstill advised by the chancellor
(wTETTwhom he had a long and "fast friendship) how he
should direct his friends, having indeed a grparpr piTty in
the house of commons willing to be disposed of bv_him,
than any man that ever sat_therp in my time/ But now
these gentlemen had got a better patron ; the new cour
tier had raised their value, and talked in another dialect
to them, of recompenses and rewards, than they had heard
formerly. He carried them to the king, and told his ma
jesty in their own hearing, " what men of parts they were,
what services they had done for him, and how much greater
they could do :" and his majesty received and conferred
with them very graciously, and dismissed them with pro
mises which made them rich already.
406 The two friends before mentioned agreed so well be
tween themselves, that whether they spake together or
apart to the king, they said always the same things, gave
the same information, and took care that both their
masters might have theyTsame opinions and judgments.
They magnified the affections of, the house of commons,
" which were so great and united, :>that they would do
whatsoever his majesty would require. . JThat there were
many worthy and able men, of whose, wisdom the house
was so well persuaded, that they commonly consented to
whatsoever they proposed : and that these men com
plained, Ihat they had no directions given to them which

- 4°o« their misrepresentations to the king. (1663.) 617
way they might best serve the king ; they knew not what
he desired, which when they should do, it would quickly
appear how much they were at the king's disposal, and all
things which now depended long would be hereafter de
spatched in half the time."
4°7 The king wondered very much, " that his friends in the
house were no better informed, of which he had never
heard any complaint before, and wished them to speak
with the chancellor :" for neither of these men were yet
arrived at the confidence to insinuate in the least degree
any ill-will or prejudice to him, though they were not
united in any one thing more than the desire of his ruin,
and the resolution to compass it by all the ill arts and de
vices they could use ; but till it should be more season
able, they dissembled to both their masters to have a high
esteem of him, having not yet credit enough with either
to do him harm. They said, " they would very willingly
repair to him, and be directed by him : but they desired
that his majesty himself would first speak to him (because
it would not so well become them) to call those persons,
whom they had recommended to him, to meet together
with the rest with whom he used to advise ; which the
persons they named they were sure would be very glad
of, having all of them a great esteem of the chancellor,
and being well known to him," as indeed they were, and
most of them obliged by him.
408 The king willingly undertook it: and being shortly
after attended by the chancellor, his majesty told him
all that the other two had said to him, and did not forget
to let him know the great good-will they had both pro
fessed towards him. He asked him " what he thought of
such and such men," and particularly named Mr. Clifford
and Mr. Churchill, and some other men of better quality
and much more interest, " who," he said, " took it ill that
they were not particularly informed what the king de
sired, and which way they might best serve him ;" and

618 Of sir H. Bennet and Mr. Coventry: Con. 408— ¦
bade him, " that at the next meeting of the rest, these
men might likewise have notice to be present, together
with sir Harry Bennet and Mr. William Coventry ;" for
Harry Coventry (who was a much wiser man than his
brother, and had a much better reputation with wise
men) was constantly in those councils.
409 The chancellor told him, " that great and notorious
meetings ana" cabals in"~p^rTianienthad been ahvaysodi-
ous in parliament : and though they might produce some
success in one or two particulars till they were discovered,
they had always ended unluckily ; until they were intro
duced in the late ill times by so great a combination, that
they could not receive any discountenance. Yet that
they, who compassed all their wicked designs by those
cabals, were so jealous that they might be overmatched
by the like practices, that when they discovered any three
or four of those, who were used to concur with them, to
have any private meetings, they accused them to conspire
against the parliament. That when his majesty returned,
and all the world was full of joy and delight to serve him,
and persons were willing and importunate to receive di
rection how they might do it in that convention; care
had been taken without any noise, or bringing any pre
judice upon those who were willing to be instruments
towards the procuring what was desirable, and to prevent
what would be ingrateful, that little notice might be
taken of them, which had good success.
410 « fhat since this parliament the lord treasurer and be
had, by his majesty's direction, made choice of some
persons eminent for their affection to the crown, of great
experience and known abilities, to confer with for the
better preparing and conducting what was to be done
in the house of commons : but the number-o£_thein was
notjsg great as to give any umbrage. Nor did they meet
oftener together with them, than upon "accidents and con
tingencies was absolutely necessary ; but appointed those

— 412, their misrepresentations to the king. (1663.) 619
few who had a mutual confidence in each other, and every
one of which had an influence upon others and advised
them what to do, to meet by themselves, either at the
lord Bridgman's or Mr. Attorney's chambers, who still
gave notice to the other two of what was necessary, and
received advice. That there were very few of any notable
consideration who did not frequently [repair] to both of
them, either to dine with them or to perform some office
of civility ; with every one of whom they conferred, and
said what was necessary to inform and oblige them what
was fit for them to do.
411 " That two of those who were named by his majesty,
Mr. Clifford and Mr. Churchill, were honest gentlemen,
and received the advice they were to follow from sir
Hugh Pollard, who had in truth a very particular influ
ence upon all the Cornish and Devonshire men. And
that his majesty might know that he had not been well
informed, that the others named by him took it unkindly
that they did not know his pleasure, who were leading
men, as indeed they were ; he assured his majesty that
there was not one of those who was not particularly con
sulted with, and advertised by some person who was
chosen by every one of them for that [purpose]; and
that they would by no means resort to any meeting,
fearing to undergo the odious name of undertakers, which
in all parliaments hath been a brand : but as they had
never opposed any thing that related to his service, so
upon any private insinuation they had been ready to pro
pose any thing which would not have been so acceptable
from any, who had been known to have relation to his
service, or to depend upon those who had."
412 He besought his majesty to consider, "whether any
thing had hitherto, in near three years, fallen out amiss,
or short of what he had expected, in the wary adminis
tration that had been in that affair ;" and did not conceal
his own fears, "that putting it into a more open and

620 An alteration in the management CoK. 41 3 —
wider channel, his majesty's own too public speaking with
the members of parliament, and believing what every man
who was present told him passed in debates, and who for
want of comprehension as well as memory committed
many mistakes in their relations, would be attended with
some inconveniences not easy to be remedied." 'The king
was not dissatisfied with the discourse, but seemed to ap
prove it : however he would have sir Harry Bennet, Mr.
Clifford, and Churchill, called to the next meeting ; and
because they were to be introduced into company they
had not used to converse with, that it should be at the
chancellor's chamber, who should let the rest know the
good opinion his majesty had of those who were added to
the number^
413 By this means and with these circumstances this altera
tion was made in the conduct of the king's service in the
parliament ; upon which many other alterations followed
by degrees, though not at once. Yet presently it ap
peared, that this introduction of new confidents was not
acceptable to those who thought they had very well dis
charged their trust. Sir Harry Bennet was utterly un
known to them, a man unversed in any business, who
never had nor ever was like to speak in the house, except
in his ear who sat next him to the disadvantage of some
who had spoken, and had not the faculties to get himself
beloved, and was thought by all men to be a Roman
catholic, for which they had not any other reason but
from his indifference in all things which concerned the
church.
414 When they met first at the chancellor's chamber, as
the king had directed, they conferred freely together
with little difference of opinion : though it appeared that
they who had used to be together before did not use the
same freedom as formerly in delivering their particular
judgments, not having confidence enough in the new
comers, who in their private meetings afterwards took

_4I5- of the house of commons. (1663.) 621
more upon them, rather to direct than to advise ; so that
the other grew unsatisfied in their [conversation]. And
though the meetings continued at one of the places be
fore mentioned, some always discontinued their attend
ance ; so that by degrees there were less resolutions taken
than had been formerly ; nor was there so cheerful a con
currence, or so speedy a despatch of the business depend
ing in the house, as had been.
4X5 However, there appeared nothing of disunion in the
parliament, but the same zeal and concurrence in all
things which related to the king. The murmurs and
discontents were most in the country, where the people
began to talk with more license and less reverence of the
court and of the king himself, and to reproach the par
liament for their raising so much money, and increasing
of the impositions upon the kingdom, without having
done any thing for the redress of any grievance that lay
upon the people. The license with reference to religion
grew every day greater, the conventicles more frequent
and more insolent, which disturbed the country exceed
ingly; but not so much as the liberty the papists assumed,
who behaved themselves with indiscretion, and bragged
as if they had a toleration, and cared not what the magis
trates could do. The parliament had a desire to have
provided against those evils with the same rigour: but
though there would have been a general consent in any
provision that could be made against the fanatics and the
conventicles, yet there would not be the like concurrence
against the papists ; and it was not possible to carry on
the one without the other. And therefore the court, that
they might be sure to prevent the last, interrupted all
that was proposed against the former, which they wished
provided against, and chose to have neither out of fear of
both ; which increased the disorders in the country, and
caused more reflections upon the court : so that this

622 The king's speech at the Con. 416—
session of parliament produced less of moment than any
other.
416 And the king, after they had given him four subsidies,
which was all the money they could be drawn to give,
that he might part as kindly with them as he used to do,
and upon discovery of several seditious meetings amongst
the officers of the disbanded army, which he could best
suppress when he had most leisure, he resolved to pro
rogue the parliament. And so sending for them upon
the twenty-seventh of July, he thanked them for the
present which they had made to him of the four subsidies,
"which," he told them, "he would not have received
from them, if it were not absolutely necessary for their
peace and quiet as well as his : and that it would yet do
him very little good, if he did not improve it by very
good husbandry of his own ; and by retrenching those
very expenses, which in many respects might be thought
necessary enough. But they should see that he would
much rather impose upon himself than upon his subjects ;
and that if all men would follow his example in retrench
ing their expenses, (which possibly they might do with
much more convenience than he could do his,) the kingdom
would in short time gain what they had given him that
day." He told them, " he was very glad that they were
going into their several countries, where their presence
would do much good : and he hoped their vigilance and
authority would prevent those disturbances which the
restless spirits of ill and unquiet men would be always
contriving, and of which his majesty did assure them they
promised themselves some effects that summer. And
that there had been more pains and unusual ways taken
to kindle the old fatal fears and jealousies than he thought
he should ever have lived to have seen, at least to have
seen so countenanced."
417 He told them, "that he had expected to have had some

— 4IO>. prorogation of the parliament. (1663.) 623
bills presented to him against the several distempers in
religion, against seditious conventicles, and against the
growth of popery : but that it might be they had been
in some fear of reconciling those contradictions in religion
into some conspiracy against the public peace, to which
himself doubted men of the most contrary motives in con
science were inclinable enough. He did promise them
that he would lay that business to heart, and the mis
chiefs which might flow from those licenses ; and if he
lived to meet with them again, as he hoped he should,
he would himself take care to present two bills to them
to that end. And that, as he had already given it in
charge to the judges, in their several circuits, to use their
utmost endeavours to prevent and punish the scandalous
and seditious meetings of sectaries, and to convict the
papists ; so he would be as watchful, and take all the
pains he could, that neither the one or the other should
disturb the peace of the kingdom." And adding many
gracious expressions of his esteem and confidence in their
affections, he caused them to be prorogued towards the
end of March, which would be the beginning of the year
1664.
418 The king had an intention at that time to have pre
pared against the next meeting two such bills as he men
tioned to them, and was well enough content that the
parliament had not presented such to him, which he well
foresaw would not have been such as he should have been
pleased with. He would have liked the most rigorous
acts against all the other factions in religion, but did not
think the papists had deserved the same severities, which
would have been provided against them with the other, it
being very apparent, that the kingdom generally had re
sumed their old jealousies of them, provoked by the very
unwary behaviour of that people, who bragged of more
credit in the court than they could justify, though most
men thought they had too much : and that was the rea-

624 Imprudent behaviour, of the papists. Con. 418 —
son that he had commanded the chancellor to require the
judges, who were then beginning their circuits, to cause
the Roman catholics to be convicted, which he believed
would allay much of the jealousies in the country, as for
the present it did. And then he resolved to cause two
such bills to be prepared for several reasons, of which the
principal was, that he might divide them into two bills ;
presuming that when he had sent one against either, they
would not affect reducing both into one, which was that
which the catholic party most apprehended.
419 His majesty was himself very unsatisfied with the im
prudent carriage of the catholics, and thought they did
affect too much to appear as if they stood upon the level
with all other subjects : and he received very particular
and unquestionable information, that some priests had
made it an argument to some whom they endeavoured to
make their proselytes, "that the king was of their religion
in his heart, and would shortly declare it to all the world;"
with which his majesty was marvellously offended, and did
heartily desire that any of those indiscreet persons might
be proceeded against with severity. Yet he had no mind
that any man should be put to death, which could hardly
be avoided if any man should be brought to trial in the
case aforesaid, except he had granted his pardon, which
with these circumstances would have carried scandal in it.
Besides, he did think the wisest of that party had not
carried themselves with modesty enough, with what was
good for themselves and for his majesty's honour. And
therefore he had, without imparting it to any friends of
theirs, given that direction to the judges for convicting
them, as the best means to reclaim them to a better tem
per: and he had a purpose, that the bill he meant should
be prepared should more effectually perform that part,
without exposing them to any notable inconveniences in
their persons or their fortunes, if they behaved themselves
well and warily.

421- The king designs to convict them. (1663.) 625
420 He did believe, that it was necessary for his service
that they should be all convicted, that it might be evi
dent to himself what their numbers consisted of and
amounted to, which he believed would be found much
inferior to what they were generally computed, and then
the danger from their power would not be thought so
formidable : and it could be no prejudice to them with
out a further proceeding upon their conviction, which he
was resolved to restrain, as he well might, and had done
hitherto; resolving within himself, that no man should
suffer under those penal laws which had been made
against them in the age before, if they lived like good
subjects, and administered no occasion of scandal. And
as he was not reserved in declaring that his gracious pur
pose towards them, (as hath been said before ;) so hitherto
it had not been attended by any murmurs: and yet he
was not without a purpose of keeping such a power over
them, as might make them wholly depend upon him.
421 His majesty did, in his judgment and inclination, put a
great difference between those Roman catholics, who being
of ancient extraction had continued of the same religion
from father to son, without having ever been protestant,
amongst whom there were very few who had not behaved
themselves very worthily ; and those, who since the late
troubles had apostatized from the church of England to
that of the Roman, without any such evidence of con
science, as might not administer just reason to suspect
that their inducements had been from worldly tempta
tions. And he did resolve in his bill to make a distinc
tion between those classes, and to prevent, or at least to
discourage, those lapses which fell out too frequently in
the court ; nor did men believe that they need make any
apology for it, but appeared the more confidently in all
places. He did resolve likewise to contract and lessen the
number of the ecclesiastical persons, who upon missions
resorted hither as to an infidel nation, (which was and is
CLARENDON LIFE, VOL. I. S S

626 Measures taken to frustrate the king's Con. 421 —
a grievance that the catholics would be glad to be eased
in,) and to reduce them into such an order and method
by this bill, that he might himself know the names of all
priests remaining in the kingdom, and their several sta
tions where they resided ; which must have produced such
a security to those who stayed, and to those with whom
they stayed, as would have set them free from any ap
prehension of any penalties imposed by preceding parlia
ments.
422 But this design (which comprehended many other par
ticulars) vanished as soon as it was discovered. The
king's own discourse of a bill that he would cause to be
drawn against the Roman catholics awakened great
jealousies; nor did they want instruments or oppor
tunities to discover what the meaning of it could be.
Nor was the king reserved in the argument, but commu
nicated it with those who he knew were well affected to
that party, and to one or two of themselves who were re
puted to be moderate men, and to desire nothing but the
exercise of their religion with the greatest secrecy and
caution, and who often informed him and complained
" of the folly and vanity of some of their friends, and
more particularly of the presumption of the Jesuits."
And such kind of factions and divisions there are amongst
them, which might be cultivated to very happy produc
tions : but such ingenuity, as to be contented with what
might gratify all their own pretences, there is not amongst
them.
423 These moderate men complained already, " that the
king was deceived by their enemy the chancellor," who
indeed was generally very odious to them, for no other
reason, but because they knew he was irreconcilable to
their profession ; not that they thought he desired that
the laws should be put in execution against them ; and
some of the chief of them believed him to be much their
friend, and had obligations to him. But they all lamented

*~434- design of convicting the papists. (1663.) 627
this direction given to the judges for their conviction,
"which," they informed the king, "was the necessary
preamble to the highest persecution the law had prepared
against them. That till they were convicted they were
in the same predicament with the rest of his subjects ;
but as soon as they were convicted," (which the judges
now caused to be prosecuted throughout the kingdom,)
"they were liable to all the other penalties, which his
majesty was inclined to protect them from." They pre
sented to him a short memorial of the disadvantages
which were consequent to a conviction, in which they
alleged some particulars which were not clear in the law,
at least had never been practised in the severest times.
424 Though the king had well weighed all he had done
before he did it, and well knew, after all their insinuations
and allegations, that none of those inconveniences could
ensue to them, if he restrained any further prosecution,
which he always had intended to do ; yet they wrought
so far upon him, that he was even sorry that he had pro
ceeded so far : and though it was not fit to revoke any
part of it, yet he cared not how little it was advanced.
And for the bill he meant to present in the next session,
they said, " all their security and quiet they had enjoyed
since his majesty's happy return depended wholly upon
the general opinion, that he had favour for them, and
satisfaction in their duty and obedience as good subjects,
and their readiness to do him any service, which they
would all make good with their lives and all that they
had. But if he should now discover any jealousy of their
fidelities, and that there was need of a new law against
them, which his purpose of providing a bill implied, what
mitigation soever his majesty intended in it, it would not
be in his majesty's power to restrain the passion of other
men ; but all those animosities which had been hitherto
covered and concealed, as grateful to him, would upon
this occasion break out to their destruction : and there-
s s 2

628 Discontents in the country. Con. 424-
fore they hoped, that whatever business the parliament
might express against them when they came together,
they should receive no invitation or encouragement by
any jealousy or displeasure his majesty should manifest to
have towards them."
425 These and the like arguments, or the credit of those
who urged them, made that impression, that he declined
any further thought of that bill ; nor was there ever after
mention of it. The catholics grew bolder in all places,
and conversant in those rooms of the court into which
the king's chaplains never presumed to enter ; and to
crown all their hopes, the lady, declared herself of that
faith, and inveighed sharply against the church she had
been bred in.
426 During the interval of the parliament, there was not
such a vacation from trouble and anxiety as was expected.
The domestic unquietness in the court made every day
more noise abroad : infinite scandals and calumnies were
scattered amongst the people ; and they expressed their
discontents upon the great taxes and impositions which
they were compelled to pay, and publicly reproached the
parliament ; when they were in truth vexed and grieved
at heart for that which they durst not avow, and did
really believe that God was angry with the nation, and
resolved to exercise it under greater tribulation than he
had so lately freed them from. The general want of
money was complained of, and a great decay of trade;
so that the native commodities of the kingdom were not
transported. Yet both these were but pretences, and
resulted from combinations rather than from reason. For
it appeared by the customs, that the trade was greater
than it had ever been, though some of our native com
modities, especially cloth, seemed for some time to be at
a stand ; which proceeded rather from the present glut,
which in the general license the interlopers had irregu
larly transported in great quantities, by which the prices

-437- Sudden fall of rents. (1663.) 629
were brought low, and could only be recovered by a re
straint for some time, which the merchant adventurers
put upon themselves, and would have put upon the inter
lopers, who were at last too hard for them, even upon the
matter to the suppressing the company, that had stood in
great reputation for very many years, and had advanced
that manufacture to a great height ; and whether it de
served that discountenance, time must decide. How un
reasonable the other discourse was of want of money,
there needs no other argument, but the great purchases
which were every day made of great estates ; nor was
any considerable parcel of land in any part of England
offered to be sold, but there was a purchaser at hand
ready to buy it.
427 However, these pretences, together with the sudden
bringing up all the money, that was collected for the
king, in specie to London, which proceeded from the
bankers' advancing so much present money for the emer
gent occasions, for which they had those assignments
upon the money of the country, did really produce such
a sudden fall of the rents throughout the kingdom, as
had never been knowii before : so that men were com
pelled to abate generally a fourth part of their annual
rents at the least, or to take their lands into their own
hands, for which they were as ill provided. All this
mischief fell upon the nobility and greatest gentry, who
were owners of the greatest estates, every body whose
estate lay in land undergoing a share in the suffering,
which made the discontent general ; which they thought
the best [way] to remedy would be to raise no more
taxes, which they took to be the cause why the rents
fell. In the mean time the expenses of the court, and
of all who depended upon it, grew still higher, and the
king himself less intent upon his business, and more loved
his pleasures, to which he prescribed no limits, nor to the
expenses which could not but accompany them.

Danger of an insurrection. Con. 42.8-
428 There was cause enough to be jealous of the public
peace ; there being every day discoveries made of private
meetings and conferences between officers of the old
army; and that correspondences were settled between
them throughout the kingdom in a wonderful method ;
and that they had a grand committee residing in London,
who had the supreme power, and which sent orders to
all the rest, who were to rise in one day, and meet at
several rendezvouses. Hereupon several persons were
apprehended and committed to prison ; and the king
himself often took the pains to examine them ; and they
confessed commonly more to his majesty himself than
upon any other examination. Proclamations issued often
for the banishing all officers, who had ever borne arms
against the king twenty miles from London, which did
more publish the apprehension of new troubles.
429 There can be no doubt, but that there were many se
ditious purposes amongst that people, of which there often
appeared so full evidence, that many were executed for
high treason, who were tried and condemned by the judges
at the general sessions at Newgate : yet there was often
cause to believe that many men were committed, who in
truth had not been more faulty than in keeping ill com
pany and in hearing idle discourses. Informing was grown
a trade, which many affected to get money by : and as
the king's ministers could not reject in a time of so much
jealousy, so the receiving them gave them great trouble ;
for few of them were willing to be produced as evidence
against those they accused, pretending, sometimes with
reason, " that if they were known they should be ren
dered useless for the future, whereas they were yet un
suspected and admitted into all councils." All the sects
in religion spake with more boldness in their meetings,
and met more frequently than they had used to do in the
times that sir Richard Browne and sir John Robinson had
been lord mayors; and the officers who succeeded them

— 431- Character of secretary Nicholas. (1663.) 631
proved less vigilant. A general despondency seemed to
possess the minds of men, as if they little cared what
came to pass ; which did not proceed so much from
malice, as from the disease of murmuring, which had
been contracting above twenty years, and became almost
incorporated into the nature of the nation.
43° There happened about this time an alteration in the
court, that produced afterwards many other alterations
which were not then suspected, yet even at that time
was not liked in the court itself, and less out of it. The
keeper of the privy purse, who was more fit for that pro
vince than for any other to which he could be applied,
did not think himself yet preferred to a station worthy of
his merit and great qualifications. Some promises the
king had made to him when he was at Fuentarabia, and
had long much kindness for his person and much delight
in his company : so that his friend, Mr. O'Neile, who was
still ready to put his majesty in mind of all his services,
had nothing hard to do but to find a vacancy that might
give opportunity for his advancement ; and he was dex
terous in making opportunities which he could not find,
and made no scruple to insinuate to the king, "that the
abilities of neither of his secretaries were so great but
that he might be better served." Indeed his majesty,
who did not naturally love old men, had not so much
esteem of them as their parts and industry and integrity
deserved, and would not have been sorry if either or both
of them had died.
431 Secretary Nicholas had served the crown very many
years with a very good acceptation, was made secretary of
state by the late king, and loved and trusted by him in
his nearest concernments to his death : nor had any man,
who served him, a more general reputation of virtue and
piety and unquestionable integrity throughout the king
dom. He was a man to whom the rebels had been
always irreconcilable ; and from the end of the war lived

632 Of secretary Morrice. Con. 431-
in banishnent beyond the seas, was with his majesty from
the time he left France (for whilst the king was in France
with his mother, to whom the secretary was not gracious,
he remained at a distance; but from the time that his
majesty came into Germany he was always with him) in
the exercise of the same function he had under his father,
and returned into England with him, with hope to repair
his fortune by the just perquisites of his office, which had
been very much impaired by his long sufferings and ba
nishment. He had never been in his youth a man of
quick and sudden parts, but full of industry and ap
plication, (which it may be is the better composition,)
and always versed in business and all the forms of de
spatch. He was now some years above seventy, yet truly
performed his office with punctuality, and to the satis
faction of all men who repaired to him: and the king
thought it an envious as well as an ill-natured thing to
discharge such an officer because he [had] lived too long.
432 The other secretary was secretary Morrice, whose merit
had been his having transacted all that had been between
the king and the general, which was thought to be much
more than it was. Yet he had behaved himself very well,
and as much disposed the general as he was capable of
being disposed; and his majesty had preferred him to
that office purely to gratify and oblige the general ; and
he had behaved himself very honestly and diligently in
the king's service, and had a good reputation in the house
of commons, and did the business of his office without
reproach. He had lived most part of his time in the
country, with the repute of a wise man and a very good
scholar, as indeed he was both in the Latin and Greek
learning; but being without any knowledge in the mo
dern languages, he gave the king often occasion to laugh
at his unskilful pronunciation of many words. In the
Latin despatches, which concern all the northern parts,
he was ready, and treated with those ambassadors fluently

— 435- Intrigue to remove secretary Nicholas. (1663.) 633
and elegantly; and for all domestic affairs no man doubted
his sufficiency, except in the garb and mode and humour
of the court.
433 And the inducement that brought him in made it unfit
to remove him, lest it might grieve the general, whose
friend and kinsman he was : so that there was no expe
dient to provide for sir Harry Bennet, but by removing
secretary Nicholas by his own consent; for the king
would not do it otherwise to so old and faithful a servant.
And his majesty was the more inclined to it, because it
would give him the opportunity to bring another person
into the office of the privy purse, of whom he was lately
grown very fond, and towards whom he had, when he
came into England, a greater aversion than to any gentle
man who had been abroad with him ; and that was sir
Charles Berkley, who was then captain of the duke of
York's guard, and much in the good grace of his royal
highness.
434 Whilst this intrigue was contriving and depending,
great care was taken that it might not come to the
notice of the chancellor, lest if he could not divert the
king from desiring it, which they believed he would not
attempt, he might dissuade his old friend the secretary,
with whom he had held a long and particular friendship,
from hearkening to any proposition, or [accepting] any
composition ; which they believed not unreasonably that
the other would be very solicitous in, as well to keep a
man in, whom he could entirely trust, as to keep another
out, of whose abilities he had no esteem, and in whose
affection he had no confidence : and it was thought by
many, that the same apprehension prevailed with the good
old roan himself to cherish the secrecy. Certain it is,
that the whole matter was resolved and consented to,
before ever the chancellor had a suspicion of it.
435 O'Neile, who had always the skill to bring that to pass
by others which he could not barefaced appear in himself,

Intrigue to remove secretary Nicholas, Con. 435 —
insinuated to Mr. Ashburnham, who pretended, and I
think had, much friendship for the secretary, "that the
king thought the secretary too old to take so much pains,
and often wished that his friends would persuade him to
retire, that there might be a younger man in the office,
who could attend upon his majesty at all hours and in all
journeys ; but that his majesty always spake kindly of
him, and as if he resolved to give him an ample recom
pense:" and in confidence told him, "that the king had
an impatient desire to have sir Harry Bennet secretary of
state." Ashburnham was well versed in the artifices of
court too ; and thought he might very well perform the
office of a friend to his old confident, and at the same
time find a new and more useful friend for himself, by
having a hand in procuring a large satisfaction for the
old, and likewise facilitating the way for the introduction
of a new secretary, who could not forget the obligation.
So he told O'Neile, " that all the world knew that he
had for many years professed a great friendship for secre
tary Nicholas," (they had been both servants at the same
time to the duke of Buckingham, when he was killed,)
" and that he should be much troubled to see him dis
placed in his old age with contempt ; but if his majesty
would dismiss him with honour and reward, that he might
be able to provide for his wife and children, he would
make no scruple to persuade him to quit his employment."
O'Neile had all he looked for, and only enjoined him
secrecy, " that it might not come to the king's ear that
he had communicated this secret to any man; and he did
presume, that before any resolution was taken in it, his
majesty would speak of it to the chancellor."
436 Within a day or two the king sent for Ashburnham,
and told him " he knew he was a friend to the secretary,
who was now grown old, and not able to take the pains
he had done ; that he had served his father and himself
very faithfully, and had spent his fortune in his service ;

— 43^- who declares himself willing to resign. (1663.)
that if he were willing to retire, for without his consent
lie would do nothing, he would give him ten thousand
pounds, or any other recompense he should choose," im
plying a title of honour : but intimated, though he re
ferred all to his own will, " that he wished, and that it
would be acceptable to him, that the office might be
vacant and at his majesty's disposal."
437 He undertook the employment very cheerfully, and
quickly imparted all that had passed from the king, and
all that he knew before, to the secretary ; who was not
fond of the court, and thought he had lived long enough
there, having seen and observed much that he was grieved
at heart to see. He considered, that though this message
was very gracious, and offered a noble reward for his
service, it did withal appear that the king did desire he
should be gone ; and having designed a successor to him,
who had already much credit with him, if he should seem
sullen or unwilling, he might in a short time be put out
without any consideration, or at most with the promise of
one. Thereupon he wished his friend " to assure the
king, that he would very readily do whatsoever his ma
jesty thought necessary for his service ; but he hoped,
that after above forty years spent in the service of the
crown, he should not be exposed to disgrace and con
tempt. That he had a wife and children, who had all
suffered with him in exile till his majesty's return, and
for whom he could not make a competent provision with
out his majesty's bounty ; and therefore he hoped, that
before his majesty required the signet, he would cause
the recompense he designed to be more than what he had
mentioned, and to be first paid."
438 This province could not be put into a fitter hand, for it
was managed with notable skill. And as soon as it was
known that the secretary would willingly resign, which
was feared, and that only a better recompense was ex
pected, every body was willing that the king should

636 The chancellor's interest declines, though Con. 438—
[make] the act look as graciously as might be, that the
successor might be attended with the less envy. And
Mr. Ashburnham cultivated their impatience so skilfully,
that it cost the king, in present money and land or lease,
very little less than twenty thousand pounds, to bring in
a servant whom very few cared for, in the place of an old
servant whom every body loved : and he received all that
was promised before he resigned his place. And if the
change had been as good for the king as it was for the
good old secretary, every body would have been glad.
And thus sir Harry Bennet was at the king's charge ac
commodated, even to the satisfaction of his own ambition :
and his majesty was as well pleased that he had gotten
sir Charles Berkley into the other office about his person,
whom he every day loved with more passion, for what
reason no man knew nor could imagine.
439 And from this time they who stood at any near dis
tance could not but discern, that the chancellor's interest
and credit with the king manifestly declined : not that
either of these two pretended to be his rival, or appeared
to cross any thing in council that he proposed or advised ;
on the contrary, they both professed great respect towards
him. One of them, being no privy counsellor, made great
professions and addresses to him by himself, and by some
friends who had much credit with him ; protested "against
meddling at all in business, and that he only hoped to
gain a fortune by his majesty's favour, upon which he
might be able to live ;" nor did it appear afterwards, that
he did to his death wish that the chancellor's power
should be lessened : and the other made all the profes
sions imaginable of affection and respect to him, and
repaired upon occasions to him for advice and for direc
tion. Nor in truth could either of them have done him
any prejudice at that time with the king by pretending
to do it ; but by pretending the contrary, by degrees got
power to do it.

— 44°- the king is still favourable to him. (1663.) 637
440 His majesty did not in the least degree withdraw his
favour from him, heard him as willingly, came as often
to him, was as little reserved in any thing ; only in one
particular he did with some solemnity conjure him never
to mention it to him again, in which he did not yet
punctually obey him, nor avoid seasonably saying any
thing to him which he believed to be his duty, and which
his majesty never seemed to take ill. And whenever he
spake to him of either of the other two gentlemen, which
he frequently did with much kindness, he always added
somewhat of both their respects and esteem for him, as a
thing that pleased him well ; and said once, " that it
concerned them, for whenever he should discern it to be
otherwise, he should make them repent it." Yet not
withstanding all this, from that time counsels were not so
secret, and greater liberty [was] taken to talk of the
public affairs in the evening conversation, than had been
before, when they happened sometimes to be shortly
mentioned in the production of some wit or jest; but
now they were often taken into debate, and censured
with too much liberty with reference to things and
persons ; and the king himself was less fixed and more
irresolute in his counsels ; and inconvenient grants came
every day to the seal for the benefit of particular persons,
against which the king had particularly resolved, and at
last by importunity would have passed. Lastly, both
these persons were most devoted to thejadyj and much
depended upon her interest, and consequently were ready
to do any thing that would be grateful to her.

END OF VOL. I.