YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE LIFE

THOMAS WENTWOETH.

THE LIFE

OF

THOMAS WENTWOETH,
EARL OF STRAFFORD
AND
LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND.

ELIZABETH COOPER,
AUTHOR 01? LIFE OF 'ARABELLA STUART, "POPULAR HISTORY OF
AMERICA," ETC., ETC.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

LONDON:
TINSLEY BE0THEK3, 8, CATHEEIN.E ST., STEAND.
1874.
Tlie Rift of Translation is reserved.

LONDON :
BI'.ADBUEY, AGNEW, & CO., HUNTERS, WHITEFBIARS.

By38 z

CONTENTS TO VOL, II.

CHAPTER I. V.
Return of Wentworth to Ireland — Folly of the Irish Clergy —
The Verge of Rebellion — Anger of Wentworth — His Freedom
from Bigotry — His Notions of Religion — Hh Contrast to
Laud — Friendship between rich and poor Men — The Need of
Wentworth's Life — Calls of his Acquaintances — Rewards to
his Helpers— The Jury of Galway — Embassy to the Emperor
— Its Failure 

CHAPTER II.
Prospect of War — Letter of the King — Alarm of Wentworth —
Miserable State of England— Ship Money declared legal —
Deep Interest of Wentworth in the Prosperity of Ireland—
The Elector of Bohemia — Evils of a War— Arguments of
Wentworth successful — New Arrangements for the Coast
guard — Cost of the Ships, &c. — Loss of Sir Beverly Newcomen
—Good News from Sallee— The Derry Fishery — Progress of
the Army — Troubles with the Catholics — The Revenue of Lon
donderry  17

CHAPTER III.
Wentworth takes a Holiday — His new country Seat — Pleasures df
the Chase — Country Sports — Letters to his Wife — The Health
of his eldest Daughter — Laud's love of Eating — His Cruelty —
Falsehoods against Wentworth — His Defence — Beal Nature of
his Slanderers — Their Motives — Wentworth a Good Master—

VI CONTENTS. PAGE
Attachment of his Servants — Intrigues in England — The
Behaviour of the King— His Incapability of Friendship —
Sensitiveness of Wentworth ^Honesty of Laud — His Sincerity
to Wentworth— Sufferings of Wentworth — Meanness of the
King — Success of the Flax Adventure — Conduct of the
Catholic Priests in Ireland — Injustice to the People of York
shire — Remonstrance of Wentworth in their Behalf — His
strange Inconsistency — His mistaken View of Hampden —
Real Character of Hampden — Difference between Wentworth
and Hampden — Hampden by Nature and Education a Royalist
¦ — Proposed as Tutor to the Prince of Wales — Hampden under
a great King — His religious Sentiments — The Test of a high
Nature — Need of such a Discussion in the present Instance —
Object of the present Biography  36

CHAPTER IV.
News— Letter from London — Treatment of the Puritans— Character
of the Puritan Ministers — And of their Congregations — Their
Influence in England— Blindness of the Government— Secret
of the Puritan Force— Tyranny of Laud— Its evil Effects —
Difference between AVentworth and Laud — Results of their
Intimacy — The great Merit of Laud — Attempt to break his
Friendship with Wentworth — Its Failure— Good Sense of Laud
in the Matter— Curious Foresight of Wentworth — Death of
Lord Clare — Lady Clare wishes to bring up the little Went-
worths — Increasing ill-health of Wentworth — Threatened with
Blindness — Inability to rest— Sternness under Suffering no
Proof of Humanity — Sad Condition of Wentworth — The
Ritualists of 1637 — Constant Conversions to Rome .

CHAPTER V.
A hidden Danger — Attempts to force the Liturgy on the Scots —
Their Refusal to receive it — Determined Resistance — Obstinacy
of Laud and the King — Open Rebellion of the Scots — Their
Address to the King — His Answer — His Duplicity — Prepara
tions for War — Letter of Lord Lome— Charles demands Aid
from Ireland — Report of Wentworth— His Opinion of the War

CONTENTS. Vll
PAGE
— His Advice to the King— Plans on Paper— Plans in Realis i-
tion — Sir William Savile — Feeling in Yorkshire — State of the
Irish Army — Plot to bring in foreign Troops to coerce the
Scots and the English Parliament — Letter of the King to
Colonel Gage  . . ... 99

CHAPTER VI.
Laud as a Mediator — Lasting Discord between two noble Minds
may be rendered impossible — When Quarrels endure — How to
mediate successfully— Failure quite certain to Laud's Attempts
— A new Enmity of Wentworth — The Story of Loftus —
Advice of Wentworth to Lord Clifford — His Speech on the
Scots' Religion— Inferences to be drawn from his Arguments —
Arguments in Favour of the Scots — Patience of Wentworth
with Savile — The Covenanters in Ireland — Wentworth pro
mises 500 picked Men for Carlisle — Plans of Wentworth
against ¦ the Scots — His Abuse of the Scots — His utter
Ignorance of their Power — Opinion of Stanhope — Continued
Decay of Wentworth's Health  134

CHAPTER VII.
Preparations for War — Condition of both Parties — Summons to the
"English Nobles — -Loyalty of the Clergy — Response to the
King's Appeal — Continued Duplicity of the King — Irritation
of Wentworth — His Letter of Complaint — Popular Injustice
towards him — His Enemies at Court — Mysterious Allusions to
Desmond — Great Change in Wentworth — Impossible Demands
of the King — New ill-conduct of Savile— Sir Piers Crosby . 161

CHAPTER VIII.
Cold Response of the Country to the King — Preparations for the
Army and Fleet — Importance attached by Wentworth to
Cavalry — Arrival of the King at York— Address of the Mayors
—Unity and Energy of the Scots— Fear of Wentworth for the

Vill CONTENTS.

Safety of Charles— His Advice to the King — Deprecates
making the first Attack — Reception of the 500 men from
Ireland —Expressions of the King towards the Irish and Scots
— Seizure of the Scotch Shipping — The Irish Regiments in
Carlisle — Anxious and minute Counsels of Wentworth — Need
of the greatest Discipline— Interference of the Queen — Indig
nation of Wentworth — His Message to the Queen — News from
Carlisle— Letter from the Pope — Demand on the Lord Mayor
and Aldermen of London — Petition of the Scotch Traitors in
Ireland— The Scotch Oath — Arrival of the King at Berwick —
Need of rapid Measures — Surprisal of the King — Behaviour
of the English Troops — The Pacification of Berwick . . 188-

CHAPTER IX.
Real meaning of the Peace — Continued Preparations for War — Im
possibility of deceiving the Scots — The King sends for Went
worth — Domestic Arrangements of the latter — His Letter to
Lady Clare — Death of Lady Loftus — Arguments for Despotism £19

CHAPTER X.
Arrival of Wentworth in England— Created Earl of Strafford—
Mistaken Nature of his Friendship— Charles incapable of
better Things — Difference between native and enforced
Poverty of Mind— Could not Stratford have been saved— None
tried to help him— Great Lessons afforded by his Life
— A New Prospect of War— King short of Money — His Plans
for raising it — Parliaments in England and Ireland resolved
on — Return of Strafford to Ireland — The King's Address to
the Iiish — Their Loyalty and Liberality — Their loud Praises
of Strafford— His Delight — His Calculations of Help — Stipu
lations with the King — Bedoubled Zeal of the Irish — Credulity
of Strafford — Leaves Ireland — Breaks down at Chester 
Letter to the King — First Act of Consideration shown by the
King to Strafford— His Letter to Strafford— Seizure of a Scotch
Vessel— Inability of Strafford to travel  232

CONTENTS. , IX

CHAPTER XI. TAGE
Opening of the English Parliament — Speech of the King — His
Demand for Money — Demand of the Commons for Redress
of Grievances — Which shall precede — Speech of Pym — His
Views on Ritualism — Advance of the Scots — Dissolution of
Parliament — Frantic Efforts for Money — Attack on Laud — ¦
Treatment of the Londoners — Complaints of the People of
Yorkshire — Desperate Schemes of the King —Character of the
Royal Army — Infatuation of the Royal Generals — Letter of
Strafford — Effects of his Illness on his Judgment — A Council
of AVar — The King starts for York — The Scots enter England
— -Proclamation of the King — Strafford assumes Command —
His utter Unfitness for AVork — His Address to the People of
Yorkshire — His Letter to Conway — Continued Advance of the
Scots— They enter Newcastle — State of the North of England
— Petition of the Scots — Answer of the King — The Scots levy
Contributions — Murmurs of the People — Council of Peers at
York — Promise of a new Parliament — Its Effect on the Money
Lenders — The Treaty at Ripon — Dangers foreboded by
Sirafford — The King promises him Protection — Persuades him
to go to London — Keenness of Lord St. Albans . . . 260

CHAPTER XII.
Opening of the Long Parliament — Speech of Pym — AVarning sent
to Strafford — He disregards it— Insincerity of Pym's Praises
of the King— Errors of his Speech — Attack on Strafford —
Causes of Strafford's Unpopularity — His Disadvantages— Un
fairness of his Enemies — Resolution to impeach him — Selection
of the Committee of Impeachment ..... 294

CHAPTER XIII.
Arrival of Strafford in London — Goes to the House of Lords —
Arrested by the Commons — Impeached by Pym — Delivers his
Sword— Committed to Prison— Letter to his Wife — Sent to
the Tower — Arrest of Radcliffe — Conduct of the Irish — Arrest

X CONTENTS. PAGE
of Laud — Letter to Lady Strafford — Death of Wandesforde —
Articles of Impeachment — Letter to Lady Strafford — Reforms
of the Long Parliament — Release of the Puritan Ministers —
The real Measure of Strafford's Guilt — Ireland " a Conquered
Nation " — Preparations for the Trial  304

CHAPTER XIV.
Scene of the Trial — Entrance of Strafford — Effect of his Presence
— Speech of Lord Arundel — The second Day — Speech of Pym
— A Mixture of Right and Wrong — Real Guilt of Strafford —
Defects of the Trial — Extracts from Pym's Speech — False
Parts of the Charge — Omission of all Strafford's Merits — The
Irish Remonstrance — Indignation of Strafford — His Self-Con
trol — Jealous Cruelty of his Accusers with regard to his State
of Health — He breaks down — Unable to leave his Prison
from Illness for a Day — Threats of the Commons if he
remains absent — Failure to prove him guilty of High
Treason — Unworthy Trick of Pym and Vane — Notes of the
Junto — Use made of them — The great Point of Difference —
A Benevolent Despotism — Defence of Strafford — Retaliation is
not Law— Self-Contradiction of Pym  318

CHAPTER XV.
Speech of Strafford — Its great Effect — Answer of Pym — A Moment
of relenting — It fails— Second Reading of the Bill — Noble
Conduct of Lord Digby — His Speech — Why it failed — Reasons
for the Implacability of Pym — Excuses for his Unfairness —
Critics and Spectators have no such Excuses — Impartial Justice
the most solemn Duty of third Parties — Shameful Treatment
of Digby— The Bill of Attainder passed — Sympathy of tlie
King — His Letter to Strafford — Rage of the Mob — Petition of
the Londoners — Speech of St. John — Speech of the King — Its
Reception — The Mob — The Straffordians — Petition to the
Lords — Alleged Plot — Letter of Strafford to the King — Appli
cation to the Judges— Their Decision— Its Value — One Chance
for Strafford — No great Courage needed in the King to save
him — The King wavers — The Resource of a " Coward —
Honour due to Juxon — Miserable Excuses of the King — He

CONTENTS. XI

ratifies the Bill of Attainder — General Astonishment — Still a
faint Hope left — Strafford may be saved — Plan of Holles —
The last Chance destroyed by the King — His Letter — Com
ments on the Conduct of Charles — Feelings of Strafford on
hearing that the King had consigned him to Death — Promise
of the Parliament to restore his Estates to his Children —
Letter of Strafford to the Parliament — Rare Fervour and
Faithfulness of Strafford in Friendship — Deep Attachment of
Radcliffe and Wandesforde to him. — Letter of Radcliffe — Letter
of Strafford to his Son — Letter of Mountnorris — Strafford
seeks an Interview with Laud — Denied by the Lieutenant —
Message of Strafford to Laud — Letter to his Secretary — Letter
to Radcliffe . .  330

CHAPTER XVI.
State of London on the Morning of May 12, 1641— Laud and
Charles — Apprehensions of the Lieutenant of the Tower —
Strafford leaves the Tower — His last Sight of Laud — Great
Respect shown by the Crowd — Group on the Scaffold —
Passionate Grief of Sir George AVentworth— Strafford en
deavours to compose him — The last Scene — Death of Lord
Strafford — His Funeral Honours — His Family . . . 406

Note.— The limits of the present work not allowing of those illus
trations of special points whicli, for the relief of the general reader and
the use of the student, are often referred to notes and appendices, all
who desire a minute account of the Trial, and especially of the Bill of
Attainder, are advised to study the Journal of the Long Parliament, by
Sir Simon D'Ewes, and the folio of Rushworth deTOted to the Trial
alone. The MS. State Papeis are singularly defective on this part.

THE LIFE

OF

THOMAS WENTWOETH.

OHAPTEE I.

Towaeds the middle of November Lord "Wentworth
returned to Ireland. The accession of good spirits"
which followed his cordial reception in England had
died away long before his second departure from his
native land. He returned to labours hard as ever, and
which had lost their freshness. He, too, had no
longer the prestige of novelty in the eyes of the
nation, and the well-deserved honours which would
have recreated it had been refused by the King.
Did Lord Wentworth ever ponder over the past,
over the days gone by ; when, with Pym and Hampden,
with Seymour and St. John, and others of that im
mortal band, he pleaded and fought, and suffered im
prisonment for the liberties of the people ? Did he
call to mind how gratefully those efforts had been
received by those for whom they were" made, and how,
reflecting within the rapturous appreciations from Avith-

1636.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1636- out, he had cried, exultingly, " Our hearts are a gift
fit for a king?"
Well, the King had the gift. And what was his
valuation of it?
Alas! Such thoughts as these would never do.
The Lord Deputy of Ireland must to work, to work.
That alone was to comprise his life on earth from
henceforth. Work without appreciation, without affec
tion. " For, in good faith, George, all here below are
grown wondrous indifferent ! "
The first trouble that beset him on his arrival in
Dublin was caused by the folly and injustice of the
Protestant clergy.
The bigoted spirit of Laud was abroad ; his deter
mination to reduce every man in the three kingdoms
to the profession of the ritualistic Church of England
was well known. Everywhere this meddlesome old
man was causing mischief and revolt. For if there
was one thing in which the three kingdoms were
united, it.was in the resolution that he should not play
the Pope. He had been a constant torment to Lord
Wentworth during the last three years, by endeavour
ing to persuade him to enforce pains and penalties and
exactions agamst the Roman Catholics and Puritans of
Ireland. Lord Wentworth was a staunch member of
the Church of England, but his mind was far too
capacious to dream of conversion by persecution. And
the only excuse for persecution now, was the conversion
of the people for their own sake alone. For they had
fully bought the right of exemption, and by paying
the contribution, had swept aAvay all excuse of fines
for the needs of the country. Yet, the Lord Deputy
found that the Protestant bishops and their chancellors

THE LIFE OF THOMAS AVENT WORTH.
had taken advantage of his absence, once more, to 1636.

attempt the levy of the abhorred fine of twelvepence
on every one who absented himself from Church on
Sundays. The whole nation was aroused. The priests and
friars took joyful advantage of the opportunity to
excite the people - against the English, to persuade
them they were betrayed, and enrage them with the
apprehension of a terrible persecution. But for the
wisdom and presence of Lord Wentworth, the rebellion
of 1641 would have been anticipated. He instantly
and indignantly stopped the Sunday fine, and at once
wrote to Secretary Coke, to prevent any appeal
against his decree. For this was one of his greatest
difficulties. In dealing with the recusants of all sects,
Laud, even, was against him and the King was with
Laud. By his corrections of the scandals in the
Protestant Church, Wentworth had made the clergy
his enemies, and he well knew how dire a temptation
to the King would be the money accruing from the
renewed fine, and he hastened to put the matter in its
true light before the English Council.
And, first, he pointed out the imminent danger of
rebellion — a rebellion which would cost far more to put
down than the amount of the fine.
" It is well known," said he, " what furious outrages
and sad effects such rumours and fears have produced
in this nation, and we that are upon the place do
clearly see that with this people : Quo quid crudelius
jictum facilius creditur, especially in anything where
their religion is rubbed upon, or the English govern
ment concerned.
" It will be ever far forth of my heart to conceive
B 2

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1636- that a conforming in religion is not, above all other
things, principally to be intended.
"For, undoubtedly, till we be brought under one
form of divine service, the Crown is never safe on
this side, but yet the time and circumstances may very
well be discoursed ; and, sure, I do not hold^this a fit
reason to disquiet or sting them in this kind, and my
reasons are divers.
" This course alone will never bring them to church,
being rather an engine to drain money out of their
pockets, than to raise a right belief and faith in their
hearts, and so doth not, indeed, tend to that end it sets
forth. " The subsidies are now in paying, which were given
with an universal alacrity, and very graceful it will be
in the King to indulge them otherwise, as much as may
be, till they be paid.
" It were too much, at once, to distemper them, by
bringing plantations upon them and disturbing them in
the exercising of their religion, so long as it be without
scandal, and so, indeed, very inconsiderate, as I con
ceive, to move in this latter, till that former be fully
settled, and, by that means, the Protestant party become
by much the stronger, which, in truth, as yet, I do
not conceive it to be.
" Lastly, the great work of reformation ought not,
in my opinion, to be fallen upon, till all incidents be
fully provided for, the army rightly furnished, the forts
repaired, money in the coffers, and such a preparation
in view as might deter any malevolent, licentious
spirit to stir up ill-humour, in opposition to his
Majesty's pious intendments therein. Nor ought the
execution of this to proceed by steps or degrees, but

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
all riglitly disposed to be undertaken and gone through 163&
withal at once.
" And, certainly, in the meantime, since the less you
call the conceit of it into their memory the better will
it be for us, and themselves the quieter. So, as it
there were no wiser than I, the bishops should be
privately required to forbear their ecclesiastical cen
sures till they understood further of his Majesty's
pleasure therein."
These words of Lord Wentworth are well worth
consideration, for other reasons as well as the events
to which they especially relate. They are a fair
measure of the influence of religion as taught by the
Church of England at this time, and throw a great
light on the cause of the rapid increase of Puritanism,
independently of political motives.
Lord Wentworth was a stanch Churchman. In the
Church of England he had been educated, and, amid
his political changes, from her he had never swerved.
He was the nearest friend of the highest dignitary,
and was acknowledged by the English clergy at home
as a faithful son. He regularly fulfilled the enjoined
ordinances, and brought up his family to follow in his
steps. Yet, what an idea of the office of religion do his
words present . The answer is easy. In his eyes, it is
nothing but a form, and a form, too, of very inferior
importance to many worldly matters. He is perfectly
honest in his simplicity ; and the result is altogether
consistent. Recognising, as he does, the real conse
quence and weight of other things, it is quite im
possible that a mind so clear as his should place the
small before the great. He measures the magnitude;

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1636- of each by its consequences ; he sees that if a rebellion
breaks out, or the subsidies suddenly stop, incalculable
evil must follow. But if the people do not go through
this ceremony, each Sunday, that he honestly believes
to be religion, no harm will happen at present. That
it can injure their souls, evidently never once enters his
head. He sees it in its triviality. It is not only a
mere tool, but a very insignificant tool in his eyes. He
himself goes through all its forms, not as a hypocrite,
but as a believer in them, as he believes in the forms
of State. One form is called Court etiquette, the other
Religion. Large sums of money have been appointed
for the expenses of both, and he finds that one sum
has been grossly abused, and applied to private instead
of the public use for which it was granted. Such
abuses cannot exist under his government, and hence
the reformation of the Protestant clergy, whom he
rates with as little reverence when, as he tells one, " he
deserves to have his rochet pulled over his neck," as
he would a pilfering usher.
What a contrast to Laud ! Both men are equally
sincere in the belief of the reality of the thing. They
differ only as regards their comprehension of its mag
nitude. To Laud it is proportionably great and im
portant. It is the same kind of thing, made of the
same material, and of the same shape to him as to
Wentworth. Only, it is the largest thing in his life, and,
consequently, all else is minute beside it. In his eyes,
a war between Scotland and England is nothing in com
parison to the Creed of the service being read in a sur
plice ; and, for the life of him, he cannot conceive why
his fellow-worshipper should hesitate at such a trifle as a
rebellion, when there is a chance to enforce conformity.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
The negative results are the same in both. Neither 163C.

Wentworth nor Laud is influenced in the remotest
degree by his religion in his personal conduct. It
does not restrain Wentworth in his barbarity and in
justice to Lord Mountnorris, or Laud from severing
the ears of Prynne. The first, though the Lord-
Deputy of a kingdom, can amuse himself with the
veriest gossip that ever poured from the lips of an old
washerwoman ; the last, though the holy Primate of
all England, can rail at his dead wife long years after
she has lain in her grave.
The joy and peace that crowns the true believer,
whose hope in a lofty ideal compels him to purify
himself, even as the bright object of his hope is pure,
are to these, all unknown, undreamed of.
And so they pursue their course ; each throwing his
life into the greatest object of his existence.
That the limited capacity of Laud never could have
comprehended an enlightened system of theology
seems very probable. His ideas of the Deity have
already been alluded to, and when we remember that
he had the greatest opportunity, not only by having
the Scriptures, especially the New Testament, for his
daily study, with all the commentaries of the greatest
minds, but that he had intercourse with Jeremy
Taylor, whom, to his credit, he greatly aided and made
his chaplain, and yet could attain no conception of
spirituality, his case seems hopeless. He patronised
Jeremy Taylor on account of the strong leanings
of the latter towards episcopacy. But Taylor was
then a young man, and, though he always remained
true to his first opinions, they could not bar or
swamp the soul that shines through his works —

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1636. -works which would have been mysteries to the
archbishop. But for Wentworth ! Was not a spiritual religion the
great want of his life ? To all intents and purposes he
was a pagan. Not only did he accept the husk for
the grain, but he was ignorant of any other grain — so
ignorant, that it never occurred to him to search for
better things. And there was no chance of another
offering them. The very fact of his great intimacy with
Laud would be quite sufficient to keep aloof all men
of an opposite persuasion. Laud claimed to be his
ghostly father. Wentworth was entirely satisfied with
him ; none else would presume to touch on sacred
subjects with so high a personage. Then, too, by his
residence in Ireland he was deprived of the chance of
meeting those whose accidental conversation in the
houses ofhis friends might have awakened new chords
in his soul.
Beautiful instances did happen in those unsettled
times, when some rich man, wearied with the strife and
tumult around, by chance, caught the quickening words
of some great preacher whom he recognised as a
heaven-sent friend. Such was Dr. Hammond, who,
preaching by accident before the Earl of Leicester,
was by him taken to Penshurst, where, among his
hearers, was the young Algernon Sidney, then a
boy. And such, some years later, was Jeremy
Taylor to John Evelyn, Avho, hearing him discourse
in St. Paul's Cathedral, besought his instruction, and
found in him a spiritual adviser in joy, a consoler in
sorrow, and a helpful guiding mind in all things, while
the riches of Evelyn helped to soften the biting cares of
poverty in the days of Taylor's distress. There are few

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
more beautiful friendships of this nature— friendships of 1636.
the soul, — than that of Jeremy Taylor and John Evelyn.
And this it was that Wentworth needed. Some
may consider him to have been incapable of it. With
the two most learned Protestants of Ireland in his
rule, Usher and Bedell, he had no communication ex
cept such as related to official duties. But Laud had
a prejudice against Bedell, and though Wentworth
always spoke with respect of Usher, yet there was no
sympathy between them.
Another obstacle was the want of time. Went-
worth's whole life was absorbed in the work of this
world. He thought, indeed, that by going at the
appointed times to church he fulfilled all that was or
dained. Had he recognised or been taught the solemn
duty of constantly seeking for food for the spirit he
would have fulfilled it ; and who shall say with what
result? Many a lonely being, hungering vainly for high
communion with the living has, by the ceaseless study
of the works of the great dead, alighted on words that
have kindled thoughts and hopes such as have opened
new worlds to their delighted view, and changed the
whole current of their lives.
What feelings, for example, might not the works of
Philip Melancthon, or Luther, or Hubert Languet
have awakened in him ? A half hour with the divine
old monk, Thomas-a-Kempis, might have sent him to
the beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount. If once
he could have dreamed there was a religion beyond
his visible Church — once have brought himself to
ponder and set his mighty intellect to seek — what
might he not have found ? — perhaps the missing spring,
the lost chord of his life ! Alas ! that the story should

10 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1636. still be so common, that men with capabilities far beyond
the average, with powers to feel, should yet pass on,
their noblest capabilities deadened, because they look
upon the most vital of questions as " settled " for
them, as if unconscious that every day a new thought is
born into speech, that those who will not seek, cannot
find! One thing is certain. Had the feelings of Lord
Wentworth ever been fairly roused and deeply inter
ested, his soul would have rested in no narrow limits.
Even in the pitiable form of his own ideas of religion
he, at a bound, passes before all his contemporaries in
one thing — he clearly recognises the utter impotency of
persecution to produce conversion.
" This course, alone, will never bring them to
Church, being rather an engine to drain money out of
then: pockets than to raise a right belief and faith in
their hearts."
Could he have dreamed that " a conformity in
religion " was not a petty cause, instituted by the com
mands of a man, with the equally petty object of
"making the Crown safe on this side," but a result
anticipated by the first founders of Christianity, of the
truth they taught,* which should voluntarily crovm the
perfected civilisation of the whole world, and therefore
a dream to be realised only after countless ages on
ages have rolled away in futurity, but a dream to which,
nevertheless, the humblest worker who made that end
his object may contribute, how different would have
been his system !
Still, in that age of bigotry, it was an unconscious
* " There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one
hope of your calling." — St. Paul.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 11
aid, even towards this, to recognise the folly and evil i636-
of compulsion. If he did not thereby teach positive
good, he left the road free to others to drop the seed,
nor, in the common stupidity of the time, trod it
underfoot. Time alone is the test of the virtue of the
plant. In the beginning, the wheat and tares are too
much alike. Wisdom has declared they must be allowed
to grow together until the harvest.
A fit of illness attacked the Lord Deputy almost
immediately on his return from England, and it was
perhaps no injury to him to receive various letters
consulting him on the private affairs of his friends.
His reputation for wisdom and influence seems quite
to have overpowered the remembrance of his inces
sant occupations, and very little consideration was
shown in the continual interruptions on his time —
leisure we cannot say ; that was to him an unknown
word. Still, it may have been well to divert his
mind. Among other petitioners, was one for his counsel
and influence from the Countess of Leicester, sister of
his friend the Earl of Northumberland. The Earl of
Leicester had been for some time ambassador extraor
dinary in Paris, and, like all the servants of Charles,
had to complain not only that his salary was long in
arrear, but that his expenses far outran his allowance.
The Leicesters were poor, with twelve children, and ,
the Countess was tired of the honour of serving on such
terms. Another constant correspondent was the poor ex-
Queen of Bohemia. Her two sons were now in Lon
don, and she seems not to have felt such perfect
confidence in her royal brother as to render it unwise

12 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1636- to ask Lord Wentworth to befriend them, while the
two youths themselves had their requests. All received
patience and courtesy at the hands of their friend.
It is almost a relief to read the lightness of his answers
to them, as a sign of some subjects not overweighted
with care.
Though he himself had been disappointed in pro
motion — and it most truly made no difference in his
manner of fulfilling his duties — yet, it did not alter his
opinion with regard to the necessity of rewards and
punishments in the case of others. He thought it
would be very advisable to stimulate the zeal of the
Commissioners of Defective Titles by makingtheir profits
agree with their work. He, therefore, had written to
the King recommending a grant of four shillings in the
pound to the Lord Chief Justice and the Lord Chief
Baron of Ireland on the first yearly rent raised upon
the commission of defective titles.
The King had agreed, and the result was found to
be so encouraging that he now advised the same plan
to be pursued with the Chief Baron and Barons of the
Exchequer in the case of the composition of the recu
sants, which at present failed to satisfy expectation.
Except in his own case, Lord Wentworth was utterly
sceptical as to the influence of love or honour in the
fulfilment of service. "Reward," he said, "well
applied, advantages the services of kings extremely
much; it being most certain that not one man of
very many serve their masters for love, but for their
own ends and preferments."
He had, also, an especial repugnance to employino-
poor men in great services, and such as required any
outward display. "If," said he, "his Majesty once

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 13
found the advantage to his affairs and treasure that 1636.

""S>^

might be got by employing, caeteris paribus, men of
blood and estates, the difference would quickly let him
see how great it is betwixt a person that brings £12,000
a year to spend in his service, and one that will look
for as much from him to bestow upon his own wasteful
and vain expense, and be a means to make others
press less upon his bounties ; and when they have
them, husband them better, after they shall observe
that the King finds he may be 'Served with as much
honour and more profit by others for nothing, than by
themselves to his excessive and, it may be, scandalous
charge." The King acceded to his request with regard to
the percentages, which had the double effect of quick
ening the scent of the officers of the Crown and
binding them to Wentworth, who had been the means
of this unlooked-for profit.
Still, this affair of the defective titles, lucrative as it
Avas, was wearisome work. The jurors who had de
cided in Lord St. Alban's favour against the King
were still in prison for their verdict ; but, not caring to
waste away their lives in captivity, acknowledged
themselves Avrong, and wrote to St. Alban's, begging
him to yield his lands and themselves to the King's
mercy. He accordingly went to Secretary Coke and
presented their request, begging him to apply to the
King for pardon, seeing that they all yielded the
disputed point.
But Coke took another view. He told St. Alban's
that, to speak to the King without first speaking to
the Lord Wentworth, would be an affront to the latter,
whom he must first consult, and to whom he counselled

14 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1636. nma to write. But Coke took care himself, before the
~~ letter of St. Alban's could reach the Lord Deputy, to
write a rather unnecessary letter, suggesting that it
was scarcely consistent with the King's honour to
pardon, seeing that the imprisoned jury yielded not to
the King's justice, but his power. Besides, by a
pardon the King would lose the all-precious fines due
for contumacy. Of course Wentworth was of the
same opinion. The unfortunate St. Alban's wrote a
sad and submissive letter, pleading most pathetically
for the jury ; but in vain. They had committed the
crime, in this world, so often irreparable, of conscien
tiously opposing those who were stronger than them
selves, and who, therefore, could not yield without
implying the possibility of their having been in the
wrong. The imprisonment and fining of the jury of Gralway
may stand by the side of the name of Mountnorris in
the dark register of wrong. They are among the
worst spots in Lord Wentworth's life.
Like the story of Mountnorris, too, it did not pass
uncommented. Lord Holland was heard to remark
that he feared the severity of the Lord Wentworth
would disaffect the people of Galway, and possibly pro
voke them to call the Irish regiments in Flanders to
aid in revolt. His words were reported to Wentworth,
who was none the more disposed to mercy by them.
The King, too, heard of them, but he soon received
the good news that the forfeited lands of the Londoners
at Derry would bring in £8000 a year instead of £5000,
as had at first been calculated, and such good news was
enough to cover any little unpleasantness in the other
matter.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 15
For money, always the King's greatest need, was 1636.
particularly wanted just now. It was difficult for
matters to look more threatening everywhere but in
Ireland. The tyranny of Laud was goading the people
on to a religious war, both in England and Scotland,
and, but for his wiser friend, would have done so in
Ireland. Lampoons and libels were everywhere published
about him. Some fell into his own hands, which he
sent to Lord Wentworth, first to read and then burn.
The aspect of foreign affairs was no brighter than that
of those at home. The death of the old Emperor of
Germany had given Charles some hopes that the dis
position of his successor might be different. Accord
ingly, an ambassador was despatched, to endeavour to
persuade the new emperor to enter into treaty to
restore the young Elector Palatine to the throne of his
father. Any one might have predicted the result.
The miserable condition of England was well known.
All her military fame had been lost under the Duke
of Buckingham and the shabby little expeditions to
deliver the Palatinate. It was hardly likely that a
foreigner should yield for love what he had no motive
to give up for fear ; especially improbable that a strong
Roman Catholic should give up a kingdom to a weak
Protestant. The embassy was a total failure. The ambassador
was coldly, almost uncourteously, received, and
dismissed with a mean present, and a quiet, firm
refusal. Many a heart in England throbbed, many a cheek
burned with shame and humiliation at such treatment,
as the thoughts of Englishmen turned back to former

16 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1636. days, and remembered what their country had been
before the Stuarts came to degrade it.
Even Charles was moved — moved at the personal
affront, and longed to avenge it. Like a child, he
spoke of going to war, as if war were a trifle,
a simple matter of inclination to be indulged at will.
Thus closed the year 1636.

CHAPTER II.

The new year opened with heavy rumours of foreign 1637.
war. Hitherto, the King had refrained from consulting
Lord Wentworth on other subjects than those relating '
to Ireland, or such as affected his own duties. He
now for the first time enlarged his confidence.
He informed Wentworth that since the return of his
ambassador from Germany, he had perceived the im
possibility of restoring his sister and nephews to their
dominion by fair means, at least, without threatening.
He had, therefore, formed a strictly defensive league
with France,* and joining in confederation with Den
mark, Sweden, and the States, he proposed that all
should unite in their demands. If these demands
were not complied with, or so long delayed as to
amount to a denial, then the allies were to proclaim
the House of Austria, with all her allies, enemies.
But he had informed his friends that his share of the
war must be performed on sea, not on land. He was
resolved not to meddle with land armies.
When we think of the condition of his own kingdom,
how he proposed to plunge into this war without even
* The treaty was not signed, but the King had no doubts of the
willingness of the French.

18 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. consulting or calling together the great council of the
nation, we can scarcely be surprised at the blind reck
lessness with which he waived all dangerous con
sequences. He concluded his communication with the
following remark : —
" What likelihood there is that, upon this, I should
fall foul with Spain, you now may see as well as I.
And what great inconvenience this war can bring to
me, now that my sea contribution is settled, and that I
am resolved not to meddle with land armies, I cannot
imagine, except it be in Ireland. And there, too, I
fear not much, since I find the country so well settled
as it is by your diligent care. Yet I thought it neces
sary to give you this watchword, both to have the
more vigilant eye over the discontented party, as also
to assure you that I am as far from a Parliament as
when you left me."
Yes. Quite as far from a Parliament. The sea
contribution that he spoke of as so surely settled was
the ship-money. How soon it would have been fol
lowed by a land " contribution," but for the resistance
already made, is pretty evident from the cool style of
this letter. But for Hampden and his friends, we
may be quite sure the King's resolution not to meddle
with land armies would have been rather less decisive.
Lord Wentworth was dismayed at the news. War
with Spain he had deprecated ever since his residence
in Ireland. He had no confidence in the French.
Their late behaviour about the pirates was quite
enough to show how hollow must any profession of
friendship be on their side. They were much more
likely to draw the English into a trap or make a tool
of them. Lord Wentworth was not alone in his dis-

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 19
trust. Sir Henry Vane gave it as his opinion, that, 1637.
" if the French join with us for the Palatinate and that
Prince's restitution, we shall be engaged certainly into
a war. But my opinion is that they will suddenly
undertake the same with us by conjunction, but make
peace by themselves, if they can attain it, and that
this offer of ours will facilitate the same with the
House of Austria, if it be not already done."
Added to this disbelief in the good faith of the
French, was the general conviction of the inability of
England to undertake her own part.
Lord Cottington wrote to Wentworth : " The
common people in London and Madrid do believe the
peace will break between the two crowns. What the
league with France and some other things concerning
the Prince Elector may unwittingly produce, no man
knows, nor doth any man understand better than your
lordship, how unfit we are yet for a war." The Earl
of Northumberland, who held his office of admiral of
the fleet much against his own will, on account of the
bad pay and bad management alone, was still more
displeased at the prospect.
" Anjicer," said he, " is lately come from my Lord
of Leicester with propositions, as is conceived of much
advantage for us, if we will yet enter into a league
with France, to which the King is much more inclined
since the coming home of my Lord Marshal,* who hath
fully represented unto him the disrespect offered unto
his Majesty by the House of Austria and the impro
bability of getting anything from them by treaty.
" The assistance of our ships, and some levies of
men, are the demands of the French, for the which we
* The Earl of Arundel, who had been the ambassador. c 2

20 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. require the share of all their conquests, and that no
peace may be assented unto by them, until the Prince
Elector be restored to all his possessions and dignities.
"About this matter the Foreign Committee doth often
attend the King, and, on our part, all things are almost
absolutely resolved of.
" The general opinion is that we shall break with
Spain. " To speak freely to your lordship, although I look
upon all these things but at a distance, yet I can per
ceive full of confusion, and those who are the principal
managers of them do not well know how to form or
digest designs of that nature.
" The Prince Elector seemed lately desirous to put
himself into action, and was by some led on with a
belief that if he would go to sea and undertake any
thing against the Spaniard, he might have many
adventures with him and large contributions from the
people of England. My Lord Craven, for a pattern,
was to furnish the Elector with ten thousand pounds.
But the backwardness of everybody else in following
this example hath quite dashed those designs."
The following piece of intelligence is ever memorable
as recording one of the greatest disgraces ever in
curred by the English Bench : —
" For the better enabling his Majesty to perform
these great undertakings, the judges have all of them
(not one dissenting) sent this day unto the King their
opinions of the legality of taking the shipping money.
So, as now, those that are refractory will, by a legal
proceeding, be brought to conformity."
It needed not these opinions to impress Lord Went
worth with the imminence of the danger of war under

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 21
present circumstances. Besides the risks in other 1637
ways, there was one that touched him very nearly.
It was not possible that he should have bestowed
such profound thought and labour on Ireland, and not
feel a proportionate interest in his work. He was
becoming attached to the country, and, notwithstand
ing his severity, had really her prosperity at heart.
Anxiously he had sought to remove the obstacles likely
to check her growth in the shape of the taxes on coal,
cattle, and horses. He had fought several battles to
prevent her from being pillaged of her revenue, and
to apply it to her own good.
If, in the matter of the prohibition of the manu
facture of wool, he had inflicted a heavy injury, it arose
more from the ideas of the age he lived in than from
any tyrannical intention. Free trade, and the right
of every land to develop to the utmost every grain
of its natural resources, was then a theory unknown.
That it could be best for all in the end was undreamed
of. Woollen cloth was the great English staple, and
had Wentworth promoted its trade in Ireland, he would
have been overwhelmed with outcries from home.
And the compensation he made in etablishing the cul
tivation and manufacture of flax he believed to be an
ample compensation. If needed, he would have pro
hibited flax in England as much as wool in Ireland, as
an article of profit. Now, he thought each had her
share. As yet, the great scheme for victualling the Spanish
navy was waiting fulfilment. Next to that of the flax,
it was the best promise of wealth to Ireland; for, once
established, it would never stop at the navy, but Spain

% THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. would be the highway through which the productions
_of Ireland would pass to the adjacent countries.
All this would be upset by a war. And the worst
of it was, this war was sure to be fruitless. Small was
the chance of the Elector ever regaining the throne of
his father. Everything was against him. His kingdom
was but a few years old, and his family had had no
time to root themselves into the hearts of the people
deep enough to draw forth that passionate loyalty that
at last becomes superstition, and will support the most
unbearable tyrants from no other cause than attach
ment to traditional usages. He himself had neither
money, talent, or bravery.
And in a renewal of the attempt that had so often
failed ,to accomplish this task, what precious progress
was to be sacrificed ! Happily, the warnings of Went
worth were enough, seconded as they were by two
other circumstances.
One was that the reports of approaching war, at
once, put a stop to the profitable sale of the land in
Galway and other royal possessions in Ireland, touch
ing the King in the most tender point. The other
was that the French themselves began to give proof
of the justice of Lord Wentworth's estimation of their
good faith. They delayed the signing of the treaty
on every pretext, till, at last, Charles himself lost con
fidence, and resolved to follow the advice of his Aviser
minister, and Wentworth had the satisfaction to receive
not only an assurance from Mr. Secretary Coke that
• there was to be no war with Spain, but the following
lines from the King himself : —
" I thank you for your considerations concerning

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 2S
war and peace, but, by your favour, ye mistake the 1637.
question. " For it is not whether I should declare a war to
the House of Austria or not, but whether I shall join
with France to demand of the House of Austria my
nephew's restitution and state, being, as I judge, in a
very good and ready way towards our own defence."
On again preventing the duty on coal Lord
Wentworth thus expressed his pleasure : —
" It contents me much to hear that the coal business
is settled without prejudice to this people. For I fore
see the kingdom is growing apace, and a thousand
pities it were by bringing new burthens upon them to
discourage those that daily come over, and must (or
nothing will) make it flourish. Especially when but
by a short forbearance till they have taken a good and
sound root, his Majesty may, at after, gather five times
as much from them without doing any hurt, where a
little pulled from them at first, breaks off their fruit in
the very bud."
This last sentence is most painful as showing how
the highest and best of the speaker's ambitions, that of
making Ireland a prosperous and happy country, was
poisoned by the same venom that entered all his other
ideas — the thought of how the King should gather the
fruit, not how he should cultivate it for the good of
the country.
But he most carefully warned those who were
waiting, that nothing must be expected till conformity
of religion was established, or, at least, till the major
part of the Irish were Protestants. And it is quite
likely that seeing this to be impossible, at least, in his
own day, that while it would not have been safe to

24 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. declare the justice and necessity of applying the
results of Irish industry to her own good, that he
used this as an argument to gain the necessary time
to develop her prosperity.
" The plantations," said he, " must take their full
effects, and the nature of the people be wrought to
delight themselves under the sweet and moderate
government of the Crown, and so, by degrees, to study
the good husbanding of their grounds, the beautifying
their seats, and the procuring to themselves those
accommodations and comforts of life, which might be
as so many living pledges of their future obedience
and fidelity. Whereas yet they have nothing to lose
that with reason they can set their hearts upon."
The desperate illness of Captain Plumleigh, which
had completely incapacitated him for his duties, added
to the unfortunate mistake of Wandesforde, and the
attack on Plymouth during the absence of the Lord-
Deputy from Ireland, had thrown back matters greatly
in St. George's Channel, and proved the need of un
remitting vigilance. The pirates were ever ready to
take advantage of the least neglect, and the scandalous
state of the English Channel, which allowed them to
arrive freely enough so near to the better ruled waters,
called for new care on the part of Wentworth.
Trade had greatly fallen back during his absence.
The protection afforded to the Moorish pirates in the
French ports, where they were said not only to be
"nearly lodged," but to be "made much of," so
frightened the merchants that trade threatened to sink
back into its former state. Slavery was a still greater
terror than robbery. The evil that had been put
down in the shape of foreign privateers and pirates

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 25
personating them, seemed half replaced by the safe 1637.
lurking places afforded by the French.*
Wentworth begged the Lords of the Admiralty to
hasten the guard-ships and also to add to their usual
strength. " It is," said he, "a most reproachful condition and
horrid perspective from shore to see our people robbed
and their bodies carried away for slaves, and their
souls endangered under our beards, as it were, and we
not able to deliver or help them ; it being most
certain that the ' Swallow ' and ' Whelp ' alone will
not possibly be able to drive forth this canaille before
us. "My heart is so filled with disdain and detestation
to apprehend this barbarous usage of his Majesty's sub
jects, as it hath awakened me to offer all the best means
I can, in present, bethink myself of how these pilferies
and ravishments may be prevented for this next year." f
Hitherto, after performing their summer work, the
two vessels had been sent to England to winter,
and thus were a constant source of anxiety to Went
worth as to the time and condition of their return ;
the Admiralty at home being so wretchedly managed
that most things emerged in a worse condition from
the hands of the Lords.
But now it was arranged that, for the future, the
vessels should winter in the Irish ports. Directly this
change was settled, Wentworth gave orders to have
an inventory taken and a price set upon all the
cordage, sails, anchors, and other stores in the naval
magazines in England belonging to the coast-guard, in
* Letter of the Lord Deputy. State Papers, Ireland, MS. (original).
t Letter of the Lord Deputy. State Papers, Ireland, MS. (original).

26 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. order to see what he could furnish cheaper in Ireland,
' ~ instead of sending home for all that was wanted.*
This was not to save expense alone, but to see
whether these vessels might not be made to help in
another design in addition to that of keeping the seas
safe. This object was one ever present to the mind
of Wentworth, and was never lost sight of in connec
tion with his other plans, namely, to render Ireland as
productive as possible, and make it profitable to others
to encourage her productiveness. Only had this
great and beneficent idea to yield when some counter-
purpose crossed it, such as the fear of taking the
wool trade from England, or of rendering Ireland so
prosperous and powerful as no longer to need the
sister country, whose affectionate caresses resembled
rather the hugs of a bear than the embraces of gene
rous kindness.
The following estimate, drawn up by Lord Went
worth, is very valuable, as showing the prices in that
day. Hitherto, also, the men had cost 8c?. a day for
provisions : —
Estimate of the St. Patrick, burden 300 tons, for eight months. £ s. d.
The ship, with her equipage, trimmed and fitted to sail at
1001. per month's charge  800 0 0
For the wages of 60 mariners, with the officers, at 20s. each
man, one with another, 601. per month . . . . 480 0 0
For the victualling of 60 mariners and 40 musketeers, at
Gd. apiece, 75J. per month  600 0 0
For the gunners' store of powder and shot . . . . 100 0 0
£1980 0 0

* Letter of the Lord-Deputy. State Papers, Ireland, MS.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 27
Estimate of the smaller ship of sixty tons. ¦. 63-
£ s. d.
The ship, with her equipage, fitted to sail at 251. the
month, for eight months  200 0 0
For 30 mariners, with the officers,'at 20s. apiece the month
wages  240 0 0
For victualling of 301 mariners and 10 soldiers, at Gd.
apiece per diem, being ZOl. per month .... 240 0 0
For powder and shot  , , 40 0 0
J720 0 0

" So that the charge of the two ships for eight
month's service amounteth unto the sum of £2700,
allowing only 6 c?. per diem for each man's diet ; and
no pay for the musketeers in regard they are allowed
his Majesty's pay in their several companies.
" Upon better advice, I find the lesser ship to be
undermanned at twenty mariners. And therefore,
it is thought fit to make them up thirty. And accord
ingly you will find the estimate to be rated.*
" Wentworth."
Not content with the improvements made, the Lords
of the Admiralty expected more. t
Formerly, when the coast-guard was a mere name,
the same vessels that "protected" the shores of
Ireland served also for the coasts washed by the Severn.
And this was now required.
But Wentworth, at once, pronounced it impossible.
First, he pointed out that when this was done, the cost
of the vessels was defrayed by England. But now
that Ireland paid it, it was not right she should include
English expenses.
* State Papers, .Charles I. Ireland, MS. (original).

28 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. Secondly, the trade then was so small, Dublin being
 the only frequented port, that there was little to do,
even for a pirate. But, now, there was a harvest in
every haven to be watched over. Such an extent of
water could not be covered by the vigilance of a single
ship. It would be much better for the English vessels
which had 'so little 'to do to cruise from the Severn to
the Land's End.*
Another piece of old economy had again been at
work. The new sailors sent this year to Sir Beverly
Newcomen were of the old cheap, bad kind. He was
positively afraid to go to sea with them. Yet neither
ne nor Wentworth had power to dismiss them, they
having been sent by the English Lords.
" It were not only a pity, but great shame," said
Wentworth, " to have the ship endangered for want of
able and good mariners." And he begged for a com
mission for Sir Beverly to press new men at Bristol,
where the best seamen were to be found in plenty.
Suddenly, a terrible and unexpected loss befel the
Lord Deputy and Ireland. Already, Captain Plum-
leigh had been taken from his work by hopeless
disease, and, too soon, the brave and good Sir Beverly
Newcomen was to follow.
On the 28th of April, by Lord Wentworth's request,
he had set sail for Waterford, in order to sound the
depths of the river, that he might be able to give his
opinion as to whether it would afford safe anchorage
for the two vessels during the winter. While engaged
in this work, the pinnace was suddenly seized by a gale
and overturned. Of sixteen on board, five only were
saved by a fishing-boat ; the rest, including Sir Beverly,
* Letter of the Lord Deputy. State Papers, Ireland, MS. (original).

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 29
his only son, his lieutenant, and master carpenter, all 1637.
went down. The whole sixteen were washed off by
the same wave, after which, by that mournful fate that
leaves the living to perish and saves the inanimate,
the pinnace righted herself and was safely towed
ashore.* Lord Wentworth at once sent her to Bristol to refit
and obtain a new captain.
But Sir Beverly was hard to replace.
"Indeed," said Wentworth, "this gentleman is
generally lamented in this place, and his Majesty's
service will, I fear, suffer awhile by his death. For he
was, I am persuaded, the ablest seaman the king had
on this coast, very hardy, but vigilant and well affected
in the employment.
Besides, some years' experience will be required, I
assure you, to make up such a man for the guard of
this kingdom."
But Wentworth begged the Lords to send him, at
least, an able man, and that at once. And also one
who would reside in Ireland. It was miserable
management when, according to previous usage, the
public servants resided in one country while their work
lay in another.
But good news arrived just now from the expedition
to Sallee. Since its departure, both the English and
Irish coasts had been safe from the Moorish pirates.
By blockading their ports, Captain Rainsborough not
only kept them from sallying forth, but there was
every prospect of obtaining the liberty of the poor
English and Irish captives who had been sold as slaves,
and of restoring them to their homes.
* Letter of the Lord Deputy. State Papers, Ireland, MS. (original).

30 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. One great disappointment ensued. Hopes had been
~ entertained of finding large quantities of saltpetre in
Ireland. A patent had been granted and a company of
men sent over to dig and manufacture it ; it was then
to be forwarded to England to be made into gun
powder, for Lord Wentworth, not deeming it safe to
manufacture that dangerous article in Ireland, had
expressly warned the King to prohibit it. His warning
proved needless, for, after a rigid search all over the
kingdom, no saltpetre could be found, and the attempt
was one of the few useless expenses incurred by the
Lord Deputy.
But most other things prospered. The rumour of
war had prevented the usual tenants from leasing the
fishing of Deny, which had brought to the King a rent
of £1000 a year. So Lord Wentworth at once set
fishermen to work for the King, and with the result
of 240 tons of salmon, which he sold at 15?. a ton,
and calculated that when the cost of fishing, salting,
packing, and casks was deducted, he should clear
£1400 instead of the £1000 hitherto gained by letting.
Enormous sums were also gained by the imposts on
tobacco, wines, pipe- staves, and the licences of ale
houses, yarn, &c.
Exultingly he pointed to the results of his measures :
" Howbeit, my Lords, the then justices, and with them
this whole council, informed his Majesty, before my
coming into this kingdom, it was impossible to im
prove his revenue here, save only by imposing twelve-
pence a Sunday on the recusants ; yet all these par
ticulars, leaving that penal duty untouched, make up
the increase of threescore and ten thousand pounds
by the year, whereof the better half is already

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 31
actually settled. And most confident I am the rest 1637.
will also be so shortly."
As he intended to take a short excursion into the
country, before going, he held a review of half of the
whole army, with the object of seeing the troops
exercise in large bodies as well as in the private com
panies. Another reason was that the sight of so large
a number of soldiers confirmed the feeling of security
among the loyal, and overawed those inclined to rebel.
Though satisfied on the whole with their progress,
when he considered their condition on his first arrival,
they were still below his standard. The revenue and
the army were the two great objects of his care and
pride. " I will never rest," said he, " till, by God's help,
the army contain as ready and well-armed men as
shall be possible, and nothing be wanting unto them
but only the experience of fights themselves, which
yet I trust there will be no occasion to bring them
unto." With the officers formerly so wretchedly inefficient,
and standing towards their regiments somewhat as the
clergy did to their churches, he was now quite satis
fied, pronouncing them a company of gallant gentle
men not inferior to any in other armies.
Indeed, his resolution to bring the whole army
together, once every year, in Dublin, there, with his
own eye, to take account of the manner in which both
officers and men performed their duties,, had a wonder
ful effect. Both were moved to do their best by that
fear of punishment and hope of reward on which the
Lord Deputy depended. Beneath his immediate eye
none could think to pass unnoticed.

82 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. Nor were, the men themselves the only objects of
his care. He was most particular with regard to the
horses, and hated nothing more than the sight of a
scraggy, undersized, or timid animal in the regiment.
He was at present very dissatisfied both with the horses
and their training.
" The horses," he said, "must be of much greater
value, and made bolder than now they are ; an assurance
which they can only be won unto by much labour and
custom ; yet, if they want it, shall sooner disorder
themselves than an army. A horse impatient of drum,
colours, or fire being altogether in a manner unservice
able, and therefore, once made, there should be an
order that no horseman should change or put away
his horse without the licence of the general."
Next to his fear of the revenue being appropriated
to English uses, was his dread of the army being les
sened or removed. Indeed, the fruits of his labours
were so tempting, that there was a constant danger of
their being gathered by others. Hence, he was con
stantly obliged to sound the warning notes of poverty
and peril in the ears of the King, and to keep him
off the present by the hopes of future and greater
gatherings. False economy he dreaded quite as much
as extravagance. With the army, as with the revenue,
he referred to the blessed time of conformity of
rehgion as the only safe hour for reduction ; " for, if
ever it be resolved on sooner," he declared, "it would
occasion mighty disorders and insolences in Ireland,
and, consequently, great unquietness and charge to
England." .The greatest care was to be taken that
the troops should, if possible, be British, but in any
case Protestants. He absolutely distrusted the Roman

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. Sti
Catholics, and deemed it altogether unsafe to invest 1637. 
them Avith any responsible office ; and this not at all
from bigotry, but because his own observation con
vinced him of its. necessity. The Roman Catholics
owed allegiance to a foreign power hostile to England.
They were completely in the hands of the priests, who,
at the least sign of disobedience to their commands,
threatened them with excommunication, while the
boldest breach of the laws of their country met with
absolution and encouragement.
While Wentworth was guilty of the most despotic
acts to the wealthy, and, above all, to landowners,
there is ample evidence of his care for the prosperity
of the labouring classes.
His maxim was to pay well, exacting good work for
good pay. Both soldiers and sailors found the benefit,
not merely in the increase, but the punctuality of their
wages. The same system was carried out to all he
employed. " Thorough " was his maxim in work as
well as in politics. And not merely did he guard the
interests of the people by his care that the public
revenue raised by taxes, customs, &c, should not go to
England, but he applied the same arguments to the
rents arising from the Crown lands.
Thus the King, having yielded on the former point,
thought there could be no objection to receiving the
rents of the lands of Londonderry, forfeited by the
poor Londoners.
But, at once, Wentworth sent over reasons against
this. He said he held it most prejudicial that these
rents should be paid into the English exchequer.
First, there was the great want of coin in Ireland ;
secondly, to carry the rents over in money rather than

34 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. goods would be to lose at least a hundred pounds out of
every thousand in the customs; thirdly, it might he
lost at sea or robbed by land, — in which case, it was
gone for ever. If sent by letters of exchange, there
would be a loss of twelvepence in the pound.
It would create the greatest discontent among the
people to see the money raised in their country car
ried to ~ England to be spent. They would say, as
they had done formerly, that unless the expense was
kept up to the income, they and their posterity should
become beggars by the carrying away the coin into
England. Instead of this, Wentworth's plan was for the
whole amount of the rents and profits derived from
these lands to be spent in Ireland in paying the
King's creditors there, and in purchasing such com
modities as should benefit the people as well as the
Crown. If these were then carried to England, they
would, by means of the customs, still farther benefit
the King.
This was always his policy. He never advocated
the advantage to be all on one side. Thus, in his
great scheme of carrying Irish goods to Spain, he
proposed not to bring back the money in coin, but in
the shape of such goods as should be profitable to the
Spaniards to sell and the Irish to buy. And, always,
by this plan there was the advantage of the customs
for the King.
Charles appears to have been wonderfully tractable
at this time. Though he said this question of the
rents of Londonderry required consideration, yet he
agreed to everything else named by Wentworth. The
war was given np. He promised to leave the revenue

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 35
in Ireland, and also that he would listen to none of 1637.
the petitions for land there, Avith which he was con-
stantly pestered. He declared the army should in no
way be lessened. Lord Wentworth was to have his
way about religion ; and, in fine, nothing could exceed
his satisfaction and pleasure with the works of the
Lord Deputy. It is wonderful how great an impres
sion a few words of this kind from the King seemed to
make on Lord Wentworth. Charles knew it, and made
them serve in place of more solid recompense. At
present, therefore, all things seemed prospering. The
revenue, the army, the plantations, all went on well.
New lands were gained for the Crown, under the Com
mission of disputed titles. The nation at large, which
gained rather than lost by these forfeitures, seemed
contented, and Lord Wentworth found himself at
liberty to taste the autumn in a little country ex
cursion.

D 2

CHAPTEE III.

1637. An exquisite susceptibility to the effects of the air
was, as is, indeed, the case Avith all highly nervous
constitutions, a marked characteristic of Lord Went
worth. It was unfortunate that his duties compelled
him to a city life. In London, he had always felt the bad
influence of the- close-packed houses and population,
which, if immeasurably smaller than at present, were
yet still more deleterious, owing to the entire absence
of all the sanitary arrangements which render a mode
rately well-ordered workhouse in our day, a much
safer spot than a palace two hundred years ago.
Dublin was, probably, not so bad as London ; at least,
it , seems to have been far less subject to the plague
and similar diseases, but, still, to a delicate person it
was not like the country.
Among the many most unjust reproaches that were
cast on the Lord Deputy was that of his " building up
to the sky."
He had found it necessary to provide himself with
a retreat, where he could, from time to time, escape
from Dublin by a short journey, and there recruit his
exhausted frame by a purer atmosphere and a change
of scene.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 37
Travelling on business connected with the Crown 1637.
lands, into the region of the Byrnes, he was astonished
and delighted with the, to him, hitherto unknown
beauty of the country. He pronounced the moun
tain scenery to be the finest he had ever seen,
while game of all kinds sported in the richest
abundance. At once, he gave orders to erect a hunting seat, sur
rounded with a park, where he might, at any time, run
flown for a few days.
In addition to this, he built, at the cost of £6000, a
country palace at the Naas. It was of immense extent,
and altogether on a magnificent scale. Though erected
at his own expense, it would have been, as he himself
avowed, a most ridiculous structure for the use merely
of a private nobleman or gentleman. But he had
another object in view. With the exception of the
shattered old castle which, as we have seen, he was
forced to repair to render it barely safe as a dwelling,
there was no royal residence in Dublin, and none at
all in the country. It was needful that there should
be One worthy the dignity of his office for the Lord
Deputy (whoever he might be) and his family to use.
He had undertaken to build this on such a scale as,
should the King be satisfied with it, he could at any
time purchase it at cost price ; if not, as Lord Went
worth said, he must be content to keep it himself and
smart for his folly. It was fitted up with state-rooms,,
and furnished royally, according to the magnificent
taste of the owner, in accordance with the purpose for
which it was intended.
Here, and at his oavu little dwelling in Wicklow,
which cost no more than £1200, he by turns sought

3S THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. a little repose. He well knew how it was grudged
him. " But," said he, " gnash the teeth of these gallants
never so hard, I will, by God's leave, go on with
it, that so I may have a place to take my recreation
for a month or two in a year, were it for no other
reason than to displease them, by keepmg myself, if so
please God, a little longer in health."
These short intervals, interrupted, as even they
were, by State affairs, were yet the only pleasures of
his life. Here, as he expressed it, he used to play the
Robin Hood. Here, in the country of mountains and
woods, he hunted and chased all the outlying deer he
could light upon, and heartily did he enjoy the sport,
notwithstanding the opposition of myriads of tiny ene
mies in the shape of midges, who bit him till he was
disfigured for a Aveek at a time. Often, he laughingly
declared, did these little wretches, younger brothers
to the mosquitoes of the Indies, tempt him to
play the shrew soundly, and scratch his face in
six or seven places, to gain relief from their venomous
bites. Fishing, also, was a favourite amusement, and he
seems to have been as well acquainted with the best
methods of preserving and cooking the spoils of the
chase and the waters as any professional artist.
From the country he dashed off the following
sprightly letters to Lady Wentworth, repeating his
delight in the beauty of the scenery that greeted him
on his tour.
It is a great pity we have none of the letters to the
children so frequently alluded to.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH 39
Lord Wentworth to his Wife* 1637
" Sweet Heart,
" We are thus far gotten in health, God be praised,
thereon the best country, indeed, I have ever seer:
since my coming into Ireland. Yet, am I not so much
taken with it as that I could not be content already
to be with you at Dublin. For Will, his coming to
Cork, I leave it to yourself; but, in my opinion, it
would be over troublesome and toilsome a journey for
him, so I rather wish he might meet us at the Naas.
Commend me to Nan and Arabella, and tell them I
wish them some of the good plums we meet with here,
and some of the partridge we kill in abundance with
our hawks every day.
" And so I will bid you good night after that I have
told you that I am very perfectly.
" Your truly loving husband, " Wentworth.
"Clonmel, this 13 of August, 1637."
Lord Wentworth to his Wife.\
" Sweet Heart,
"We have despatched all our business very happily,
and after a noble entertainment we had from my Lord
of Ormond at Carrick, are this morning going towards
Limerick. I had the grace to remember your service
to my Lady of Ormond, but, in truth, had not the
memory or my wits about me so far as to remember
* Lord Houghton's Collection, p. 19.
t Lord Houghton's Collection, p. 20.

40 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. it to the rest, for which I humbly beg your pardon.
For, albeit, the first is more than I had in charge from
you, yet out of good congruity and implicit compla
cency to what I might judge to be your will, I ought
to have done the one as well as the other. Yet to
obtain your remission I must tell you some news fit
and reasonable for ladies. My Lady of Ormond is not
so inclined to be fat as we thought she was at Dublin.
My Lady MacCarthy, to my eye, improves not in her
beauty. My Lady, sister to Castlehaven, if she be not
the handsomest ofthe company, her ladyship is much
mistaken ; yet be it spoken to you in private without
profanation, nevertheless, to her beauty, my Lord of
Ormond's younger sister seems to me much the hand
somer ; only if I were of her counsel, I should desire
her to beware lest she grew fat too soon.
" My Lady Thurles hath the mien of a lady of wit
and spirit. So you have all I have to trouble you
with, so as you have no more to do but to give my
title the reading —
" Your very loving husband, " Wentworth.

" I beseech you pardon me, for in truth I was so
blockish and amazed in good company as I am able
to give you no relation of what they were or how they
were dressed.

Clonmel, this Friday, 1637."

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 41
Lord Wentworth to his Wife*  —
" Sweet Heart,
" Thus far we are got forwards from you, or rather
backwards towards you, for now, the further we go, the
nearer we are our return.
" I have not seen anything so noble since my coming
into this kingdom as is this place. And a very fine,
sweet country all along. Here, the town hath enter
tained us with the force of oratory and the fury of
poetry, and rather taught me what I should be, than
told me what I am. And yet, for all this, I find not
myself the prouder, nor out of love' so with my OAvn,
but that I desire to be back to see my house at the
Naas, and after, as fast as I can, to Dublin, when I
shall begin again, and so to the end constantly go
on in the resolution of my being
" Your loving husband,
" Wentworth.
" Kilkenny, this 16th of August, 1637 ."
Lord Wentworth to his Wife.\
" Sweet Heart,
" Through foul weather and ways we draw nearer
you, and this day are for Cork, where I purpose,
if the weather serve, to stay till Saturday, come
seven-night ; then to the Naas, where, having stayed
a few days to order my business, then I am, God
willing, for Dublin. * Lord Houghton's Collection, p. 21.
t- Lord Houghton's Collection, p. 22.

42 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. " We are all in good health ; only left James drunk
at Kilkenny, and have here Captain Southworth with
only half-a-crown in his purse, which makes him some
thing grave ; and that the more that, unless it fall to
my share, not one man of the company will lend him
a crown. " If this week have been as foul with you as with
us, I am persuaded you will be soundly weary of your
Connaught journey, and then you will see I am good
in the perspectives as well as in the prognostics ; for,
according to my confidence, against all other men's
opinions, Sir Thomas Wayman, we hear recovers.
" Little have I more to say, but that which, in deed,
is a very great deal, so with that, in full truth and
purpose, I am to continue always
" Your loving husband,
" Wentworth.
" Castlehaugh, this Friday morning."
Lord Wentworth to his Wife*
" Sweet Heart,
" I shall desire you not to come hither at this
time. For being wrangling and busy with my work
men, I am extreme ill women's company. But when
the house is ready to receive you I shall in no place see
you more gladly. Besides, those hoyting journeys back
ward and forward, of all things I love not; they are good
for nothing but to disorder companies and spoil houses,
and therefore I pray you let us have as few of them as
* Lord Houghton's Collection, p. 23.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 43
may be. My business here dispatched, I will come 1637.
Avith all speed to you ; nor shall you need to meet
me on the way, being to come into town with much
company, and the sword before me. In which case
you will find the Deputy's wife never came ; nor, in
deed, decently can in her coach without being either
sooner or later than were fit.
" I am glad Nan is so well, and conditionally that
I may have the happiness to find you both so, I will
dispense with your meeting of me no sooner than in
the presence chamber, where, as in all other rooms,
you shall undoubtedly find me,
" Your loving husband,
" Wentworth.
" Naas, this Vith of September, 1637.
"Pray you remember my service to my sister
Dillon, and, by your next, let me hear how she
doth." To his sister, the Honourable Mrs. Dillon, who was
in delicate health, he frequently wrote, and we have
her acknowledgment of his " lines so full of nobleness
and affection." *
Poor little " Mrs. Ann " seems to have inherited the
weak constitution of her parents, for we often find
allusions to her ill health in the various letters.
Thus Mrs. Dillon regrets she cannot " go to wait on
her," and " trusts in God she mends."
There was also another person, at least, as much if
* Letter to the Lord Deputy, 2, 103.

44 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
i637- not more interested in these expeditions than the chief
himself. And that was the Archbishop of Canterbury
who seems to have borne a strong resemblance to the
abbots of old in other matters besides Ritualism. What
these matters were the following extracts from the
epistles of the Right Reverend Father to Lord Went
worth will show : —
" I find by your letters, as I said, you are gone on
hunting. I hope you will find a time to go on fishing
too. For I mean to be a very bold beggar, and de
sire you to send me some more of the dried fish (I do
not know what you call it) which you sent me the last
year. It was the best that ever I spent.
" And now you cannot say but I give you warning
enough. If it prove not too much, 'tis well. For I
doubt you will go near to hunt it out of your
memory, and then think to stop my mouth with
some of your hung beef out of Yorkshire, which, to
your skill and commendation be it spoken, was the
worst that ever I tasted, and as hard as the very horn
the old runt wore when she lived. Nor would I have
you think that I go against any old proverb in this.
For 'tis one thing for a man not to look a gift horse
in the mouth and another how gift beef relishes in
one's own mouth.*
" But since you are for both occupations, fish and
flesh, I wonder you do not think of powdering or dry
ing some of your Irish venison, and send that over, to
brag, too."
Laud seems to have felt a profound affection for all
species of fish. Thus again he writes : —
Laud was fond of a pointless jest.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 45
" Your Ulster eels are the fattest and fairest I ever 1637.
saw, and 'tis a thousand pities there should be any
error in their salting, or anything else about them.
For how the carriage should hurt them I do not see,
considering that other salted eels are brought as far
and retain their goodness. But the dried fish was
exceedingly good."
Again. " Tis well that your hunting hath not made
you forget your fishing, but I sometimes fear if it be
yet to come from Galway, it will hardly get hither by
Lent. And it is the best Lent provision that ever I
met with, next to old Sir John Ling.
" As for venison, if you have any purpose to salt
that the next year, your philosophy is very good. It
will not take salt if it be heated, and therefore if you
do make danger in the English-Dutch sense of peri
culum facere, you must do it upon such venison as is
shot dead in the place, otherwise, all, both labour and
charge, are lost."
No one would think any the worse of the Avriter
for heartily enjoying a good dinner ; on the contrary,
there is a good-humoured tone about these anxieties
Avith regard to the creature comforts that would, alone,
be rather harmlessly contagious than otherwise.
But when we find, in the same letter, side by side
with the gloating description of the fat Ulster eels,
the following complaint, that too much mercy was
shown to the wretched victims of the hangman's shears,
then the whole becomes inexpressibly brutal and re
volting, and Laud stands forth in all the coarseness of
his cruelty.
" But what say you to it, that Prynne and his fel
lows should be suffered to talk what they pleased

46 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. while they stood in the pillory, and win acclamations
~ from the people, and have notes taken of what they
spake, and those notes spread in written copies about
tne city, and that when they went out of doors to
their several imprisonments, there were thousands suf
fered to be upon the way to take their leave, and God
knows what else . "
Little did Laud dream that his own notes- on this
event would be also " spread in written copies," and
altogether to the honour of the English poor, who
never showed themselves in so bright a light as on this
occasion. Just at this period, he was much annoyed by the
reports circulated that he and Lord Wentworth had
quarrelled, and that the latter had greatly diminished in
his esteem for him. It was certainly a pure invention.
No quarrel had ever taken place, and Wentworth
hastened to assure him of his " love and service," which
he declared he should carry with him to the grave.
Laud was so much consoled and so grateful for this
assurance, that for the moment it subdued even his
bigotry with regard to Ireland, and he expressed his
conviction that it was a pity that a constant forbear
ance should not be shown there, so that the English
might be induced to settle ; and he voluntarily pro
mised Wentworth to promote his wishes with the Irish
committee in every way in his power.
No sooner had Lord Wentworth returned to Dublin,
than the slight improvement in his health disappeared,
and the gout seized him with its former malice. As he
painfully expressed it, while it made him able to do less,
it gave him time to think more. To 'his ghostly father
he complained that his enemies were trying to make the

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 47
King believe that he was making too much money 1637.
for himself, and had two or three and twenty thou-
sand pounds a year coming in. As he justly said,
there was no crime in the bare fact, even were it
double as much. He had six thousand a year of his
patrimonial property in land, a share for a short time
in the farm of the customs, which he acknowledged had
proved to him a greater profit than ever he had
dreamed of. But then, as the enormous rise in the
customs was owing to his own good management alone,
this profit was merely a necessary consequence. It
would have accrued to any other farmer, but as he
was the means of the increase of over twenty thousand
pounds a year, he surely had a greater right to the
farm than a mere stranger. This was all he had in
addition to the same salary and privileges accorded to
his predecessors in office, while, onthe other hand, his
expenses were far greater than theirs. His horse
troop alone consisted of a hundred, where previous
deputies were content with forty ; and while they were
enabled to save five hundred a year out of the pay
allowed, he was forced to spend out of his own pocket
several thousands more than he received.
Another charge was the immense amount of land
he was buying constantly in Ireland. Here, he ac
knowledged that appearances were against him. On
his own account, he had not invested more than
thirteen or fourteen thousand pounds in land, but he
had been seeking good purchase both for the King
and Lady Carlisle, and his enemies at once concluding
it to be all for himself, had raised an outcry accord
ingly. So far from giving the King any real cause
of jealousy, he had closed his eyes to bargains that

48 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. would have been most profitable, and which he would
fully have been justified in securing for himself, in
order to save them for the King : one, especially, which
costing fifteen thousand pounds only, he calculated to
bring in two thousand five hundred pounds a year5
and double as much when the present leases were
expired. "Let them," he cried, " set beside me, first,
one of themselves that hath turned from himself to
the advantage of the Crown a bargain of so mighty a
profit, which honourably and justly he might have
brought to the help of his own private fortune, as I
might have done this, and then, at after, let them
burthen me with my greediness of purchasing.
" In the mean space, let them for shame hold their
tongues, however the malignity of their eye pursue me
still. I am content ; if I grow not the richer, I trust
to grow the better, living thus under their discipline."
Then came the general charge of about as much
value as general and vague charges usually are.
The King Avas told that the Deputy grew " monstrous
rich." But said Wentworth most justly in answer : —
" Have I in the least falsified or neglected the trusts
of my most gracious master ?
" Have I corruptly or oppressively taken from his
people ?
" Have I been a burden to his coffers more than for
those his princely entertainments * which others have
before had, and others must again have after me in
these places ?
* " Entertainment," like many a word still in common use, had then
a different meaning. It signified salary, or payment for work. Thus
the " entertainment " of a soldier, &c, was his pay.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 4&
" Have I lived meanly, below that which I owe to 1637.
the honour of his Majesty and dignity of the place I 
exercise ?
" If so, let them show wherein. I defy them, every
mother's son."
None of these things had been done. Those who
accused him — according to the invariable method of
cowardly slanderers, whose object is not to set right a
public or private abuse, but to injure or ruin another —
took care to avoid all hint of an impartial and minute
investigation. Knowing that money was the weakest
side of the King, they hoped, by persuading him that
Wentworth was in reality making the royal interests
subservient to his own, to deprive him of the credit of
so largely increasing the revenue. As the thought
came over the Deputy of how much he had sacrificed,
how he had suffered and was suffering in his health,
how dimness of sight threatening blindness had arisen
from his care in writing long despatches by night in
order to preserve the King's secrets from other eyes —
how he had made this very matter' of money, in
which he was now accused of selfishness, the first
object for the good of the King, his indignation rose to
its height — indignation mingled with grief.
" Alas ! " he cried, " if his Majesty have any sus
picion I am not to his service as I ought ; let there be
commissaries of honour and wisdom set upon me, let
them publicly examine all I have done, let me be
heard, and after covered with shame if I have de
served it ! "
Most touching is what follows, and most just, had
his estimation of Charles been the true one — could he
only safely have rested his conscience in the honour

50 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. and judgment of the King. But who can do that with
~ another? , What mortal is high enough for us to cast
all our cares, all our responsibilities upon him .
" I am none of those insolent servants," said Lord
Wentworth, " that shall strictly call upon myself my
master's justice without any grain of his favour. To
him with all reverence and humility, I seek for his
remission, his compassion of all my defects, all my in
firmities, in the pursuit, in the fulfilling of his good
pleasures, the rather in regard of the uprightness, hoAv-
ever, of my heart to his person, to his affairs.
" But," he added, with a burst of passion, " I
will break to fitters, die before I take from any so
affected towards me, a better being, nay, indeed any
being at all ! "
" Well, then," he continues, in bitter soliloquy,
" thus I am become rich, able, I hope, in some reason
able time, I praise God and his Majesty, to pay every
man his own.
" Was I not, in some measure, so before I had the
honour to serve his Majesty ? Or shall that be a crime
in me which they so heartily desire themselves— nay,
perchance, in their grudging souls, lay it already as a
great and grievous fault upon his Majesty, that he
hath not made them so likewise !
" Or can it be any other than pleasing to any
gracious, noble, or generous master that his honest and
faithful servant grows rich under him ?
" I confess, I am so great lover myself to have my
servants thrive, as I believe all others like minded."
This was quite true. Lord Wentworth was a good
and generous master — not one of those who indulge
idleness and negligence by allowing work to be ill

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 51
done/ He exacted the full measure of service; he 1637.
returned the full amount of reward, and always showed
an appreciation of faithfulness, and took a personal
interest in the welfare of his dependents, that greatly
endeared him to them. So far from showing any mean
jealousy, he was always ready to aid them in any good
plan for their prosperity.
He declared that up to the present time he had only
increased his original estate by thirteen thousand
pounds. Certainly, not an unreasonable addition, when
his capital, his wonderful talent for improvement, and
the just and fair opportunities of his position are con
sidered. Indeed, setting aside the last, there is little
doubt that as a private gentleman at full liberty
he would, as he declared, have been able to have
" put more crowns into his purse at the year's end
than at present."
No doubt the severe pain of the gout helped to
sharpen his mental sufferings. Certain it is that the
intelligence of the intrigues that were going on in
England to shake the confidence of the King, had a,
miserable effect upon him. It was in vain he wrestled
with his spirit and tried to be calm. He found it
impossible. " How to digest this, how to turn it to good nourish
ment, to my health ; this," mourned he, " is the diffi
culty. The humour which offends me is not so much
anger as scorn and desire to wrest out from amongst
them my charge. For, as they say, if I might come
to fight for my life, it would never trouble me, indeed
I should then weigh them all very light, and be safe
under the goodness, wisdom, and justice of my
master." E 2

52 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. " Again," he sadly murmurs, " howbeit I am
~ resolved of the truth of all this, yet to accuse myself
is very uncomely. I love not to put on my armour
before there be cause, in regard I never do so but I
find myself the wearier, and sorer for it the next
morning." Profoundly tragical is the condition of feeling here
revealed. Many an innocent sufferer will here behold
reflected the struggles through which he has passed.
How many have been the victims of slander either
utterly false, or, a thousand times more villainous, based
on some distorted fact — who are made to feel that the
strong, unscrupulous enemy is retailing his falsehoods
in all directions, in the ears of those who perhaps for
years have professed friendship, and of others whose
esteem they value and merit, who, probably, if they
knew the real truth, would spring with horror from
the liar to the side of the injured. But no public
accusation is made, no chance is given to disprove.
The victim, uncalled for, feels it impossible to volunteer
the proof of his innocence, and has silently and with
out the power of defence to rest under the knowledge
that everywhere the poison is being scattered. For
the reticence by which he is bound is not needed by
the destroyer. The same auditors who would stare
amazed at an unasked defence, complacently receive
an accusation. And not one in ten thousand, even of
professed friends, while unhesitatingly retailing the
evil word, have the bare justice to go straight to the
absent and ask the truth.
And this was what Lord Wentworth felt, He
knew that the false charge was being uttered, not only
to his friends, but to the King. But not one, not

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 53
even the King, had either driven away the accusers 1637.
with scorn and disbelief — or demanded a full explana- _
tion, that Wentworth might clear his name. No.
They had all listened and talked, and had he remon
strated, would perhaps have answered : " We did not
believe it " — but of that he was not sure.
The silence of Charles was the worst ; and more
than ever did his faithful minister feel the withhold
ing of that public recognition of his worth, which
would have crushed all slander to the ground.
Laud, with all his faults, was a true friend, and to
him it was that Wentworth, sick in soul and body,
turned for the sympathy his heart craved.
:" Therefore," he said, " altogether to seek in myself
what to do, I have here opened my grief, and do
most humbly beseech of your advice and counsel what
were best to be done."
If, there be one thing pre-eminently pathetic
among the myriad sorrows of human life, is it
not the weakness of the strong, the humility of the
proud ?
Can it, indeed, be the haughty Deputy who says :
" Indeed, my lord, you know that I have not had any
thing of late from his Majesty which might give a
public testimony that I am graciously accepted in this
employment (albeit, private ones I humbly thank his
Majesty I have), which, in good faith, I think is one
occasion which emboldens them thus to fall upon
me. " And I wish, through the opinion that I stand not
full to his Majesty's liking in my service in this
place, his Majesty's affairs may not suffer as well as
myself. But fall that as it may, I am resolved never-

54 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. t0 stir that stone more. Dead to me it is to be for ever.
Indeed I neither think of it, nor look for it.
" I have had a sharp fit of this. So soon as I am
able, I will answer your last letters, but indeed I am
at present weak and extreme weary with what I have
done already." *
Weak, weary, overladen with work, saddened with
slanders, in addition to merited rebukes, he , failed to
ask why should the King balk his own clever plan
for putting the odium of royal breaches of faith and
other wrongs on his minister, by giving public proof
of his approbation of him ? On the contrary, it would
be reversing his own policy.
But Laud did his best for his friend, though not
quite in the wisest manner, as he incautiously named
matters better in every way to have left out. He
read the whole of Wentworth's complaints of his
enemies' charges, to which the King, as usual, replied in
the cheap way of a few words of praise. Thus, know
ing it would be repeated, he told Laud that Wentworth
was a brave servant in his place. He approved the
offer to sell him the new palace, but took care to give
no decisive answer. He said he was satisfied with
Wentworth's service, advised him to treat all false
reports with contempt, to remember his own metaphor,
and not to weary himself with putting on his armour
till worse charges were made against him than had
ever been yet, which he was confident would not
happen. He denied that he had listened to the revilers,
who, however, told a very different tale. As to Went
worth's private income, it mattered nothing to him how
* The Lord Deputy to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 2, 109.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 55
rich so good a servant became, so long as it was not 1637.
taken wrongfully either from himself or his people.
Only when Laud let out that the Deputy had made
much more than he ever expected from the farm of
the customs, the King's tone changed to one of grudg
ing impatience, and he said : " But he doth not tell
you how much," which at once led Laud to fear the
effects enough to remind Charles that he had formally
granted the farm to Wentworth and Radcliffe, and how
well they deserved it. And though the King hastily
assented with a " Yea, God forbid else," still his tone
so belied his words, that Laud thought it needful to
put his friend on his guard, and to warn him that there
had lately been some mutterings about these same
customs at Court, and that it was to be feared some
new applicant was nibbling at them.
The resolution to apply no more for a title or any
public recognition of his services by the King was
highly approved of by Laud. He said he was sure
that it would come in the end, but it was better to
leave the King to his own time. He could not under
stand that it was not at all as a gew-gaw, but as a
protection under so many heavy responsibilities, that
Wentworth desired it.
He also strongly advised him to adhere to his deter
mination that whatever his enemies might say in
secret, by no means to defend himself or take any
notice till they spoke openly. He also counselled him
to thank the King for his present gracious messages,
and to ask his Majesty to let him know if any more
charges were brought against him, and call him to
account, so that he might thereby have a chance to
speak for himself.

56 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. Laud always gave him honest replies to his applica
tions for advice in difficulty, never flattering him by
words likely to please and yet injure. In the present
case, he concluded his rather painful confirmations of
Wentworth's unwilling submissions |by saying, very
truly : —
" You have made me bold to give you counsel, and
so I challenge from you that you pardon all defects in
it. And where you find it weak, as I doubt 'tis
all along, that you forget not it proceeds from a
faithful heart, though an understanding of no great
reach." *
The Lord Deputy's spirits were now probably a
little revived by the first earnest of success in his flax
speculation, which, however, none besides himself
appear to have worthily appreciated.
He despatched his first cargo to Spain. It was
indeed an object that well merited his self congratula
tion. He had sown the seed, erected the looms, and
now laden a ship with the perfect linen. With it ho
sent a letter to the Duke of Sidonia, informing him
that this was his own private design at present, but
that he hoped hereafter to extend it into a national
interest. He had taken especial care that this first
export should be of first-rate quality, and he hoped
to leave behind him, in a prosperous linen trade, a
monument of the honour and good affection he always
professed to the Spanish nation.
As far as the return of these feelings went, he ob
tained but little gratitude at the hands of the Spanish.
The miserable intrigues of the Roman Catholics in
* The Archbishop of Canterbury to the Lord Deputy, 2, 127.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 57
Ireland were an incessant source of anxiety to him. i637-
Nothing could be worse than the continued behaviour
of the Irish priests and their ingratitude to the Lord
Deputy. Most truly could he say that since he had held office
in Ireland, not the hair of any man's head had been
touched for the free exercise of his conscience, nor
was there any difference made between Protestants
and Catholics in the administration of civil justice.
All that was required of them was equal obedience to
the laws. It has also been amply shown how much
care the Lord Deputy had taken to protect their
liberty, and how many a battle had been fought by
himself alone in their favour.
The return made by the priests was to attempt, by
every means in their power, to incite an insurrection in
Ireland, and to cause war between England and Spain,
by obtaining the help of the latter. Bitterly dis
appointed at the staving off of the, by them, hoped-for
war made by the King of England, and of which they
trusted to take a bloody advantage, these men, pro
fessed servants of the Prince of Peace, tried to bring
it about by other means.
" There is," said Lord Wentworth, alluding to these
priests, " a nation of the Irish the whilst that wander
abroad, most of them criminous, that forth of an unjust
yet habitual hatred to the English Government, delight
to have it believed and themselves pitied, as persecuted
forth of their country and ravished of their means, for
their religion only ; stirring and inciting all they can to
blood and rebellion, and keeping themselves in coun- '
tenance by taking upon themselves to be Grand
Seigniors, and boasting and entitling themselves to

58 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. great dignities, and territories whose very names were
scarcely heard of by their indigent parents." *
At the head of these men was the Archbishop of
Cashel,, who, with an income of £2000 a year, was
said to be a pensioner of Spain. He with his agents
abroad were constantly at work to incite the Pope and
the : King of Spain to restore the Roman Catholic
religion as the state religion of Ireland. They were
said to have declared, that if Spain would furnish
them with arms for twelve thousand men, all the rest
they would be able to do themselves. Their landing
place was to be near Coleraine or Derry.
Though Lord Wentworth had no doubt of frustrating
their plans by prompt and stern measures, " Yet,"
said he, " by my faith, this danger not timely and well
prevented, may, I assure you, put the Crown of
England to much trouble and mighty charge." The
danger was fortunately conquered for the present by
the vigilant watchfulness of the Lord Deputy, and his
careful management of the foreign ambassadors.
But a new trouble arose in England.
In two points especially, the King and Lord Went
worth differed. Whenever the first found the people
generous and yielding, it was his invariable rule to
press and wring them to the utmost, treating them as
if both their pockets and their patience were inex
haustible. Lord Wentworth, on the contrary, esteemed
nothing more dangerous than this abuse of a concilia
tory spirit. Where opposition was shown to his first
demands, none could be more quick to exact both
obedience and punishment for rebellion or refusal, as
* Letter of the Lord Deputy to M. Con, 2, 112.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 59
in the case of the jury of Galway. But when his 1637
wishes were readily met, he always advocated forbear-
ance, and dwelt on the need of keeping good faith to
those who relied on his promises. While the illegal
demand for ship money had been refused in various
places, the northern counties under his presidency had
complied to the utmost. Their reward, therefore, was
to be called on to pay in addition certain levies which
were due in other places. The North Riding of York
shire especially was ordered to pay a contribution for
the carriage of ship timber within the bishopric of
Durham. At this even Wentworth stopped, startled at the end
less prospect of taxes, which, as a rich native of
Yorkshire, would fall heavily on himself.
At once he addressed a remonstrance to the Privy
Council of England. He said, indeed that the sum
demanded was not much, it was therefore not on
account of the amount, but of the precedent such a
payment would afford to the future, that he protested.
He pointed out that Yorkshire having never received
any help or advantage from the bishopric of Durham,
it was most unreasonable that she should be called on
to pay an imaginary obligation which Durham could
well afford herself. When a palace was built for the
King at York, the county unaided had to give no less
than £12000 all at once for the expenses of the
carriage of materials of wood, stone, and lime for the
building. She never dreamed of calling on other
counties to help pay for what took place entirely within
her own domain. Why, then, should these other
counties not do the same ? There was not only no
precedent for this demand, but no need for it: the

60 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. sum Avas quite inconsiderable and the bishopric able
~ easily to pay it.
Moreover, it was peculiarly hard, seeing how prompt
Yorkshire had been in complying with all previous
orders. That every year, in obedience to the English
Council, she had levied between five and six hundred
pounds, in order to refurnish the magazines with
powder and shot, and although this largely contributed
to the defence of the neighbouring counties, they were
not called upon to give a shilling. Then, with what
cheerfulness and readiness had the call for ship money
been answered. As much as were equal to six sub
sidies had been given in a single sum and had been
one of the first payments. (Wentworth here spoke of
Yorkshire alone — -some demurring having been made
in the other parts of his presidency.)
He, therefore, did most earnestly desire that the
Council would countermand the order they had given,
which, he again repeated, was dreaded, not on account
of the amount, but as affording so perilous a precedent
for the future.*
Nothing could be more just and clear than this.
But what is still more worthy of notice is the exact
parallel it presents with the objections formed by
Hampden with regard to the ship money. Both were
taxes illegally levied. Both were protested against on
that very ground. It is difficult indeed to understand
how the author of such words, so strongly expressed,
could see any harm in the same thing in another.
Only in the miserable inconsistency of human nature
is the cause to be sought.
* The Lord Deputy to the English Council, 2. 110.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 61
Laud had written to his friend that Hampden's case 1637-
was now before the court — adding that it was the
most important news of the day. It was to this that
Wentworth made his celebrated reply — one that has
perhaps done him more damage in the eyes of posterity
than any other of all the reckless utterances to be
found in a correspondence, which, had the writer ever
dreamed that it would be published to the world,
would have been more cautiously worded.
"Mr. Hampden," said Wentworth, "is a great
Brother (Puritan), and the very genius of that nation
of people leads them always to oppose, as well civilly
as ecclesiastically, all that ever authority ordains for
them. But in good faith, were they right served,
they should be whipt home into their right wits, and
much beholden they should be to any that would
thoroughly take pains with them in that kind."
And again —
" In truth I still wish (and take it also to be a very
charitable one) Mr. Hampden, and others to his like
ness, were well whipt into their right senses. If that
rod be so used that it smarts not, I am the more
sorry." After a low and ribald jest, he continues : —
" As well as I think of Mr. Hampden's abilities, I
take his will and peevishness to be full as great ; and
without diminution to him, judge the other, howbeit
not the Father of the Country (a title some will not
stick to give unto them both,* to put them, if it be
possible, the faster and farther out of their wits)."
We have here a striking illustration of the singular
* Wentworth here alluded to one of Hampden's fellow-sufferers in
the fines for ship money.

62 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. deficiency in Lord Wentworth's great intellect that
has already been alluded to, viz., his inability to com
prehend the nature and disposition of others.
We have the description of Hampden, not only in
the acts of his life, his own letters, and the words of
his friends. But even his foes have added their testi
mony that, if ever there existed a man to whom the
charges of self-will and peevishness were inapplicable,
absolutely ridiculous in their application, it was John
Hampden. Long since have his claims to the possession of a
" flowing courtesy to all men," a remarkable calmness
and sweetness of temper, been conceded to him on all -
sides. Indeed, with a most happy natural tempera
ment, with good health, with perfect domestic happi
ness, and the highest and safest condition of worldly
prosperity — that of a rich country gentleman living on
a large and beautiful estate of his own — it would be
a miracle, indeed, if he had been peevish.
And it is the most profound testimony to his exalted
worth, that he was willing to sacrifice this most happy
life, rather than quietly to rest in that selfish enjoyment
miscalled peace, that — safe itself — turns a deaf ear to
the wrongs of others. A more beautiful example of the
truth that they who are the most ready to sacrifice
their own happiness for the welfare of others are in
every way the most worthy of it, has never yet been
witnessed than that given by Hampden.
Such a nature as his was peculiarly incomprehen
sible to the unhappy Wentworth, who was capable of
quite as great sacrifice in a cause that he prized, and had
virtues of his own which cannot be too highly rated.
He had also obstacles in his path from which Hamp-

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 63
den was joyfully free. The incessant anguish inflicted 1637.
on him by his bodily diseases, increased by a naturally ~~
fervent and excitable temperament, kept him in a con
stant fever that rendered calmness, such as was the
natural heritage of Hampden, impossible, even with
the best and most persevering efforts on his own part.
Then the amount of unnatural overwork ofthe hardest
kind to perform would have weighed down even a
healthy man. The ceaseless anxiety attendant on such
tremendous responsibility would have saddened and
rendered irritable at times the most cheerful. And
the want of appreciation and affection in the man to
whom he had devoted all things; — pledged all things,
must of necessity have produced a restlessness and
gloom in proportion to the depth of his feelings ; while
the complete ingratitude with which his best attempts
and those most honestly made were received by the
people who reaped the benefit, could not have failed to
generate a bitterness in the sweetest nature.
Often has the contrast been drawn between Hamp
den and Wentworth, invariably to the glory of the first
and the shame of the second.
But Hampden himself would have been the very
first to see the utter impropriety and injustice of con
trasting them and judging one by the other, from
no better ground than that both went into Parliament
at the same time and with the same opinions.
Supposing both to have been exactly equal in all
the highest moral and religious principles that gave
¦ the law to Hampden's life, and all the other differences
to have remained, still must they have been as far
apart, as different in results at the end of life, as beings
of two opposite species. Hampden in Wentworth's

64 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. position, with Wentworth's trials, would have left as
~~ different an image from his present one to posterity, as
Wentworth, in the position of the great patriot, has
clone in his own allotted sphere.
Nothing is more common in criticism than to reverse
the appointed paths of men, and glibly to point out
how such a one would have acted in such a place.
But true, to a certain degree, of common minds, how
ineffably more so of those great originals who have
left their stamp on the sands of time is it, that each
has its distinguishing character, which, however modi
fied by circumstances, never can be exchanged with
another. And the first great step to justice, from the
lightest verbal comment to the sternest sentence of
national law pronounced at -the highest tribunal, is to
weigh those surroundings which press on individual
humanity on all sides, and from which it cannot
escape. Only thus can real responsibility be truly
measured — only by so doing can the critic and the
judge escape the guilt of cruelty and wrong.
It is not for his passionate temper, for his gloom,
his decision, his wealth, his magnificence, even his
change of party in politics, that Lord Wentworth is to
be condemned.
Neither is it for his sweet temper, courteous
manners, preference of the cause of the people and
clearness of vision, that Hampden is to be lauded.
The great, the marvellous difference between these
two great men rests on the same simple cause that in
all ages has separated the few exceptional good from
the mass of the world.
It is the difference in the height and innate power
of their moral standard.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 65
Lord Wentworth's conscience was scarcely worthy 1637.
the name.
To Hampden, Conscience was the law of life. Were
it not for the fact that in his youth and freshness he
withstood the first trial, and really did undergo fine
and imprisonment in the cause of right, it could
scarcely be considered that Lord Wentworth had
a conscience at all. At the most, all that can be
said was that it was born, it lived a short and
sickly youth, it flickered at last into an unnatural
and deceptive, probably self-deceptive, brightness, and
then sank down to rise no more. Henceforth there
was no barrier to arrest the most unlaAvful trespass — •
no prop to support the most perilous weight of re
sponsibility ; and not, alas ! what in happier destinies has
occurred, a friendly grasp to seize and draw back
into the right and narrow way. The intellect, bereft
of its guard of honour, had to trust to its own strength
for guidance, and though, by dint of its clearness of
vision alone, it was able to distinguish much that was
beautiful, good, and useful, its very length of range
led it to fix its eyes on the distant treasures that a
weaker sight could not reach, while it overlooked the
mire of the road visible to humbler travellers.
But with Hampden, the very strongest and highest
point in his character was this very virtue of Con
science. Like a Spirit of Good through life it preceded
him, heralding the path lawful to be trodden. It
grew with his growth, and however lofty his progress
in mental graces, in this it was higher and more rapid
still. Like a fair bow of promise, it spanned every
action, shedding a celestial beauty on all below it.
It is remarkable that in Wentworth the highest time

66 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. of his moral life, when he was really best, was the
time of his youth.
With Hampden the same number of early years was
the only period to which even the shadow of censure
is applied. Up to the age of twenty-five there are
hints of dissipation, thought venial enough in those
days, but which he recognised as opposed to his higher
nature, and from the age of twenty-five he refused to
submit. It makes his character none the. less noble
and interesting to find that he had passed through the
fire, that his virtue was not the imitative and negative
kind that comes from the lack of temptation, but was
the reward of successful struggles.
Hampden never could have been in the position of
Wentworth, from this great feature of his character
alone. He might as honestly have changed his
opinions, and become even a superstitious loyalist.
But nothing could have persuaded him that it was
right to support a man in falsehood, cruelty, dis
honesty, and perjury. He knew it his duty to support
the right, to oppose the wrong. He knCwthat, with
out constant examination of the circumstances under
which he was called to act, he could not judge between
right and wrong. But his high standard of right and
his clear intellect was a sure guide given to him for
use, not rust. After the King, by his coronation
oath, had sworn in the sight of God to govern only by
the laws of the land, and received his crown on that
condition alone, if one of these laws was that the
people were only to be taxed by their own consent,
and the King did tax them without their consent, it
was useless to tell Hampden that was not perjury which
it Avas a sin against God as well as man to support.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS AVENTAVORTH. 67
Patience and forgiveness were Christian virtues. 1637.
They were needed towards the King as well as towards
other men.
And most truly were they shown. Repeatedly had
the people forgiven his breach of promise. Again
and again had he obtained large sums of money by
solemnly declaring, "on the word of a King," that he
would raise money only by lawful means ; that he
would not quarter the soldiers on the people ; that he
would consult his Parliaments. In every single in
stance he had, after obtaining the money, broken this
word, till, by the deliberate breach of the Petition of
Right, he had opened the eyes of the most blind, who
held it their duty to see. Not till every effort had
been exhausted, did Hampden give up efforts to reform
by peace. The wonder, indeed, is that it was left to
the King to begin the civil war. Nothing but the
universal ignorance of the people, and the absence of
newspapers — those greatest agents in the correction of
abuses — could have made them endure the long years
between the Parliaments of 1638 and 1660.
And again, it was conscience that made it impossible
for Hampden to look on unmoved at the poor, who
did the hard painful toil of their country, and, in return,
needed the protection of those who alone had time to
consider what was their rights. Helpless as children,
it was not for noble minds safe in their own wealth
and rank, to see them plundered of their little earnings
by the bare word of a King, and these very earnings
applied to maintain a brutal soldiery who should per
petuate this horrid tyranny, and even press their own
children into the service of wickedness.
As to the tests of the Bible by which it has been
1 2

68 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. sought to uphold despotism, Hampden was a firm
~ believer in the Bible, and there he read the duty of
the King's councillors was not to support him in wrong,
but boldly to tell him of his crimes. There was plenty
of precedent there for the deposition of false kings —
none whatever for the infallibility of a single one.
There were the examples of men in power torturing
the spiritual teachers who held it a crime to be silent
in the presence of crime ; but the rebukes he found to
be administered to the torturers, not the sufferers.
And so, setting aside his natural feelings of humanity,
and looking simply at the Bible, which both King and
people professed to take as their law, Hampden dared
not rest while good men were hacked and seared in
Cheapside simply for denouncing deeds which could
logically, as well as morally, be proved to be vile in
themselves and in deliberate disobedience to the autho
rity they confessed.
Let the whole career of Hampden, from the age
of manhood, be examined in this light, and its real
greatness and glory will be found to consist in these: —
That he took nothing for granted ; he used his powers
and the best materials he could find to discover what
was right in all things, and, having obtained this
standard, he did his utmost to act up to it, regardless
of consequences, regardful only of what he professed
to consider the law of God. Many a time he turned
back from a road pleasant and prosperous to himself
and others, because it would have involved a breach of
this law to follow it. Often did he pursue a painful
path, of which the end was hidden in clouds, simply
because the voice Avithin said, " Go."
Long and sadly must he have pondered and weighed

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 69
the results that might be possible before he took 1637.
those steps that were to sever the past and future by
the gulf into Avhich, however, like the hero of old, he
did not hesitate to spring when once it yawned before
him. A gentleman of noble lineage, educated in all the
traditional reverence for royal authority that was so
deeply stamped on the aristocracy of England, his loyal
feelings were so well known that twice he had been
considered as a fit representative of their expression.
Once, when young, with Laud, to write the Latin ode
congratulating the Elector Palatine on his marriage
with the Princess Elizabeth ; and a second time when
he was considered the fittest person to undertake the
education of the Prince of Wales.
We cannot but imagine such an office held by
Hampden under such a king as Alfred. How his
whole heart would have gone out to that noble King,
and how he would have striven with joyful enthusiasm
to train up the heir in the steps of the father. The
impulse to prayer, so characteristic of a "brother,"
sneered at by Wentworth, might then with heartfelt
fervour have poured itself forth in the words of the
most beautiful and sublime petition that ever por
trayed a real king of the people, such a king as, after
more than ten centuries, the English fondly revere in
Alfred :—
"Give the king thy judgments, 0 God, and thy
righteousness unto the king's son.
" He shall judge thy people with righteousness and
thy poor with judgment.
" The mountains shall bring peace to the people and
the little hills by righteousness.

70 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. " He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall
~ save the children of the needy, and shall break in
pieces the oppressor.
" They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon
endure, throughout all generations.
" He shall come clown like rain upon the mown grass,
as showers that water the earth.
" In his days shall the righteous flourish and abund
ance of peace as long as the moon endureth.
" For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the
poor also and him that hath no helper.
" He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence,
and precious shall their blood be in his sight."
Alas ! Such words would have been nothing less
than falsehood and blasphemy in the mouth of the
pious and reverent Hampden. But none the less
earnest and most solemnly appropriate were his dying
supplications. " 0 Lord, save my bleeding country. Have these
realms in thy special keeping.
" Confound and level in the dust those who would
rob the people of their liberty and lawful prerogative.
Let the King see his error and turn the hearts of his
wicked counsellors from the malice and wickedness of
their designs. 0 Lord, save my country ! 0 Lord, be
merciful ! "
Ever sacred must be the last words of so brave and
beautiful a soul.
The true test of a lofty nature is less what it does
than what it refuses to do. In so many cases do our
interests and duty go hand in hand, that it is not
possible always to trace a deed to its real motive.
Happily also for the human race, the impulse to pro-

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 71
duce good is so natural, that not the vilest criminal, 1637.
or the most ignorant barbarian but has the power, and "
uses it to promote some unselfish end. To say that a
man is without this, is to deny his claim to humanity
— almost to existence — it is the seed from whence has
sprung the civilisation of the human race.
But to refuse not merely a pleasant evil, but a
seemingly great and beneficent gift, because we must
in return make some apparently slight concession of
principle — this — this is the rarity and the difficulty.
Not to play the sophist and look on a good end as
sanctifying base means, not to make excuses for what
is in itself intrinsically wrong — who that thinks knows
not that from the cradle to the grave there lies the
trouble. What horse panting for the victory will
place the bit in his own mouth and turn away from the
race-course, because his turn is not yet come.
Of all the great objects of popular applause, the
monarchs, presidents, statesmen, soldiers, wealthy
merchants, and the rest, how many have reached their
eminence by an unsullied ascent, and how often does
success mean more than unscrupulousness ? Therefore
in the often drawn contrast here deprecated let it also
be asked, whether the difference did not consist in the
immeasurable superiority of Hampden to the mass of
mankind, in acting up to his moral standard far more
than the descent of Wentworth below it? A little
consideration, a little examination of the lives of well-
known public men, and possibly a few honest individual
internal glances will render the answer to the question
not very difficult, and Lord Wentworth, while no
better than he was in reality, still much less of a
a monster than it has been the fashion to consider him.

72 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWOHTH.
1637. These considerations, which may by some be looked
upon as a needless divergence, are yet offered both
with a view to justice in judging of the character before
us as well as of other subjects of biography.
There can be but one law of right and wrong, in
reality, however mistaken man may be in its inter
pretation. The nearer he is to the true interpretation
and obedience of this law the higher and more glorious
does a human being become. Judging of his true
rank as a created being, therefore, we must to the
best of our ability measure him by the nearest
approach we can conceive of this standard of height.
Who was the real king among men, Newton or
Nero ?
But there is also another measure in regard to
which the fair question is not what a man is, but what
we have a right to expect him to be according to his
opportunities, contemporaries, and the level reached by
civilisation in his day. To be greater than the average
we have no right to demand of any, or to call him bad
if he reaches that, low as that average may be. But
in an honest biography, the object of which is neither
to brighten or blacken ( the subject, but to show his
career in order that others may follow his good and
take warning by his evil deeds and errors, both of
these must as far as possible be told. While, there
fore, we do not hesitate to expose his greatest failings
and all such as are constantly hidden in the lives of
the obscure, in gratitude for the lessons thus painfully
afforded, if not from higher motives — let us strive to
be just, and constantly to guide our criticisms by such
weights as, if not exact, may at least help us to hold
the balance more truly.

CHAPTER IV.

Among the intelligence conveyed to Lord Went- 1C37
worth, this autumn, by the Reverend Mr. Garrard,
were the following items.
" Ben Jonson dead in England.
" At the siege of Breda, Peter Apsley is shot through
the mouth, the bullet grazing upon his tongue and
carrying a small part away. The King laughed
heartily at it.
" Complaint hath been made .to the Lords of the.
Council of a sheriff of West Chester, who, when
Prynne passed that way through Chester to Carnarvon
Castle, he with others, met him, brought him into town,
feasted and defrayed him. Besides, this sheriff gave
him a suit of coarse hangings to furnish his chamber
at Carnarvon Castle. Other presents were offered
him, money and other things, but he refused them.
The sheriff is sent for up by a pursuivant.
" Strange flocking of the people after Burton when
he removed from the Fleet toward Lancaster Castle.
Mr. Ingram, sub-warder of the Fleet, told the King
that there was not less than one hundred thousand
people gathered together to see him pass by, betwixt
Smithfield and Brown's Well, which is two miles
beyond Highgate. His wife Avent along in a coach,

74 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTAVORTH.
1637. having much money thrown to her as she passed
along." *
Wonderful was the blindness that failed to read such
signs of the times in their true and simple meaning..
Wonderful was the obstinacy that threw such palpable
warnings away. In the present day, we see often
enough mobs of frantic enthusiastics follow a well-paid
dancer, singer, or player whose only claim to their
homage is the amusement she has afforded them at
their own expense and her most exorbitant remunera
tion. For to amuse the world is to win its highest
applause and reward. But here thronged a vast mul
titude, stretching far as the eye could reach for no
purpose of frivolity, pleasure or profit, simply to show
their boundless sympathy and reverent love to a
humble dissenting minister, who, disfigured and dis
graced by the State and Court, was on his way to
imprisonment, of what kind it could be little doubted.
Mobs may easily be gathered by the most unworthy
who choose to flatter them in evil doing, bribe them
with impossible baits of hopeless equality, or in any
way excite their selfish or animal feelings. Burton
had made no show, he did nothing to stimulate even
curiosity. He preached against vice, vanity, and
worldliness. He demanded purity of life, honour and
truth in all things, and himself set the example. And
when the people of a nation can be stirred to the very
depths by such themes as these — then let oppressors
beware. Such a nation as England was then, might
have resisted the poAver of Rome in her greatest days,
led by such leaders as were the natural results of the
spirit that fired them.
* Revg Mr. Garrard to the Lord Deputy, ii. 114.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 75
Among the statues erected to the heroes of the 1637
Commonwealth, we do not find those of Burton,
Bastwick, Prynne, and Leighton. Yet they were
among the first to rouse the people to that religion
which, shaking off the husk of form, makes the form
itself solid by the diffusion of the spirit through every
fibre of its growth. To the dissenting ministers of
this nature who shall calculate the obligations due ?
Innate power was their characteristic — a power which
they imparted to their disciples by words and example
alone. Not to be confounded with men who came
after them, assuming their name, these had neither the
will nor means to" enforce their doctrine by other than
legitimate method — the power of persuasion. They
were the manliest of men. Fops and fools 'might
sneer ; but an innocent man who, standing bleeding in
the pillory for conscience' sake, could repress the
physical agony he must feel — could yet smilingly rejoice
that he could thus prove to his people his sincerity in
a holy cause — could say, like Bastwick while his ears
fell to the ground : " This is my collar day — my
day of honour," carried within him an irresistible
and contagious might that could have no other
effects than those recorded. From whence has
the mightiest republic in the world sprung but from
them? Whether Lord Wentworth held the philosophical
theory of disbelief in everything that, as yet, has not
been experienced by mankind, or not, we do not know.
But it is certain that he had not the slightest idea of
the forces that were slowly gathering to shatter, like a
dream, the fond traditions, and loyal prejudices, and
ancient precedents, and all the words that are blown

76 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWOETH.
1637. into vapour the moment they are opposed to a real
concentrated power, charged with vital and solid
truth. He listened to the feeble complaints of Laud and
idle-toned gossip of Garrard, who, perhaps, ignorant
themselves, unwittingly deceived him, and concealed
from him the momentous nature of the tidings they
sent, by means of the flimsy expressions in which they
wrapped them.
" These occurrences," said Garrard, " are so ancient
and stale, that I will enlarge no farther," and then
passed on to the mighty important subjects of a joke
of the King, and a quarrel of the royal couple.
But though Lord Wentworth felt rather disturbed,
he thought the mistake lay, not in the provocation
given by the torturers, but in thus allowing the
people to express their hatred unpunished. He
thought the King erred on the side of mercy. He
would not have persecuted the victims for their
religious opinions as far as they related to what he
called religion, viz., a mere profession of belief. But
it was precisely because these Puritans looked on
religion as a matter of every-day life, by which every
man, high or low, rich or poor, was bound to regulate
his conduct, that he was so confounded at their inso
lence. Wrong or right, he thought it mattered little
whether a man believed in transubstantiation or no,
whether he wore a surplice, or made himself vulgar by
preaching in plain clothes — all these kind of things
did not interfere with the government. For though he
did not express it in so many words, he certainly held
the opinion of some of the most celebrated and
greatest philosophers of modern times, that religion

THE LIFE OF THOMAS AVENTWORTH. 77
had nothing to do with politics. And he looked on 1637.
Laud almost in two separate lights — as two meu who
had nothing to do with each other. The politician and
the priest lay as far apart in Juxon, for instance, as
the private country gentleman, Lord Wentworth and
the Lord Deputy of Ireland, representative of the
King's Majesty, lay in himself.
The extraordinary idea of the Puritans, that so far
from religion unfitting a man for a public office, it was
the only thing that could fit him for anything at all,
public or private, by inspiring him with the solemn
desire to do all things, high or low, to the glory of
God, and thus do his best in every conceivable act
without regard to consequences, — this was a mystery
he had not penetrated.
Consequently, when the Puritans called attention to
public abuses in their sermons, and without mincing
matters, boldly pointed out how opposed they were to
those Scriptures" which the whole nation, from the
rulers downwards acknowledged to be the law of God
— here was high treason indeed. St. Paul and St.
Peter, especially deprecated all beyond simple and
modest dress in women, and here were the great
ladies of England thinking of little else. While
thousands were in misery and poverty, and more in
sin needing conversion by grave examples — here were
masks at Court and immodest plays in which the
Queen herself acted — spiritual Avickedness indeed in
high places. Besides, such little matters as perjury,
lying, &c, &c, were solemnly denounced in the New
Testament. And as for the history of the Kings of
Israel, what awful warnings did not their lives give !
All these things, these ministers persisted in bringing

78 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. before the people. They could not, and would not
rest content with merely telling the poor to order
themselves lowly and reverently to all their betters ;
but while they certainly did this, they sternly ad
monished those betters as to how they were bound to
order themselves to the poor. They did not rest at
convenient general charges, which each person could
comfortably apply to his neighbour alone, they specified
the precise deeds that were evil. For example :
among other anecdotes related by Mr. Garrard to
Lord Wentworth was the following, the events
occurring at the very time the " necessities " of the
King were " obliging " him to exact the detested ship-
money. " Here are two masks intended this winter. The
King is now practising his, which shall be presented at
twelfth-tide. Most of the young lords about town,
who are good dancers, attend his Majesty in this
business. " The other the Queen makes at Shrovetide, a
new house being erected in the first court at White
hall, which cost the King twenty-five hundred pounds,
only of deal boards, because the King will not have
his pictures in the banqueting house hurt with lights."
Now, however harmless these amusements may
appear, there is another side to the question. The
Puritans held them to be wicked, and had they been
acted by poor people, not as an amusement to them
selves, but to gain a livelihood, they would have de
nounced them as selling their souls for their bodies. And
in so doing they would have been left alone. But by
these things being done in the highest places, the
ministers looked with tenfold horror at their effects.

THE LTFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 79
For there, they not only endangered the souls of the 1637.
royal actors, but by their encouragement and example,
multiplied the evil, and especially among " those young
lords about the toAvn who are good dancers." Con
sequently, the sermons were launched forth with all the
eloquence that a sincere belief in the terrific danger
could impart.
And then came the fines and imprisonments and
nose-slittings, and ear-loppings, and cheek-brandings, all
of which were cheerfully endured, rather than remissness
in the tremendous duty of warning the falling souls.
Prynne, who as a lawyer as well as Puritan, was
able to point out and explain how the rights of the
people were trampled on, how, out of regard to the
Queen, the Roman Catholics were permitted, in defiance
of the law, to practise their rites, while the dissenting
ministers were mangled for keeping it, was an especial
object of hatred to the court party. Laud could
scarcely write a letter to Wentworth without some
malignant sentence against Prynne, and some solicita
tion of sympathy from Wentworth for the grief he had
to bear on account of the indulgence shown to this
man, and the people who thronged around his pillory.
His object was to arouse the fears of the Lord Deputy
at the contempt shown to the King by the popular
disapproval of the royal conduct and orders.
And here he touched the weak point of the Deputy.
For Wentworth simply placed the King in the place of
God. Could he but have realised that what he insisted on
as due to the King from all men, the Puritans deemed
due to the Most High alone, possibly a new light might
have dawned upon him. But even that little window
Avas closed, and there was no hand to draw the curtain

80 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. and let in the light. The Deity to him was a far dis-
' tant abstraction, a name. But the King was real — a
being he had seen and touched, and, consistently
enough, had not much valued till he had seen him and
had material communication with him.
It is not too much to say that he had no firmer
realisation of Charles than these Puritans had of Him,
they reverently loved to call the King of Kings. His
command, as written in what they believed His book,
were to them as imperative mandates as a royal de
spatch to Wentworth.
It is not to be wonder at that neither the Deputy nor
any that did not share their belief could comprehend
them. So rare in all times, in all creeds have been their
reality. In our own day, among the tens of thousands
of self-deceivers, how many are there who, realising to
themselves what they profess to others, that the eye of
God is ever on them, act with as much care in secresy
and solitude in their hidden plans as when in the pre
sence and with the knowledge of one weak mortal ?
But this it was that was the strength of the
Puritans, this absolute sincerity to themselves. This
made them terrible in war, industrious in peace, moral
and pure-minded in word and deed. Such a spectacle
as they presented the world had never seen, so solid
and compact a body bound together neither by autho
rity, nor interest, nor custom, but religious principle.
The incessant squabbles that took place between Laud
and his laity were unknown between them and their
ministers. Contrast, for instance, the feelings of
Burton's congregation with a curious story told by
Garrard. Though Laud had shown such a spirit to
Burton for speaking against royal masques, yet it

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 81
chanced that some players set up their bills and opened 1637.
the theatre in Blackfriars during the first week in-
Lent. Laud hearing of it, at the next Privy Council,
bitterly complained of the impiety of such scenes in.
Lent, and declared that unless the King ordered the
contrary, he would " lay the players by the heels " if
they played again.
The Lord Chamberlain, who was present, immedi
ately and angrily rose and said that the Archbishop of
Canterbury and himself served the same God and the
same King, and he hoped that his Grace would not
meddle with his place any more than he did in the
archbishop's. The players were under his command.
Laud, however, refused to yield unless the King
commanded. The King then decided in his favour,
the Lord Chamberlain was defeated, and the theatres
ordered to be closed during Lent. It is difficult
to imagine anything more calculated to make a bad
impression on the people'than this. It told in various
ways. It gave proof that the head of the Church of Eng
land placed the authority of the King above that of
God Himself. For he was willing to sanction what
he declared to be impious, if only the King commanded
him. Then he placed the Roman Catholic festival of
Lent above the Sabbath, for he had tried to enforce the
Book of Sports on the latter. What he thought wrong
in Lent alone, others were persecuted for thinking
wrong at any time. And this was the system of reli
gion which the people against their consciences were
to be compelled to support !
It was very unfortunate that Lord Wentworth should
have been so distant from the scene as not to be able
VOL. II. °

S2 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. to judge of its effects in England. Had his duties
" remained in his native land, it is very probable that
the same spirit that enabled him to see the need of
religious toleration in Ireland might have had due
power at home. And Laud had learned to put the
conduct of the Puritans before him in the light not of
religious bigotry or stubbornness, even, but of political
rebellion. And there was this difference between Laud
and Wentworth. Wentworth earnestly and sincerely
told his troubles, and asked the advice of Laud, with
the anxious desire of guiding himself in the most
secure way. Consequently, he stated a thing as it
really appeared to him in all its bearings. But Laud
only required to be confirmed in what he did, and
therefore so represented matters in the light most likely
to obtain the expression he desired. He had only
himself to thank that Wentworth, seeing by this false
light, wrote the expected words. For example, " Mr.
Prynne's case is not the first wherein I have resented
the humour of the time to cry up and magnify such as
the honour and justice of the King and State have
marked out and adjudged mutinous to the government,
and offensive to that belief and reverence the people
ought to have in the wisdom and integrity of the magis
trate. Nor am I now to say it anew (even there, where
the right understanding and right use made of this mis
chief Avould be the only way to take off the ill it
threatens to all), that a prince that loseth the force and
example of his punishments, loseth withal the greatest
part of his dominion. Yet still, methinks we are not
got through the disease — nay, I fear, do not sufficiently
apprehend the malignity of it.
" In the meantime, a liberty thus assumed, thus

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 83
abused, is very insufferable, but how to help it I know 1637.
not, till I see the good as resolute in their good as we
daily observe the bad to be in evil ways."
The close intimacy of Laud and Wentworth was
regarded with the strongest disapprobation both in
England and Ireland. Those who despised the abilities
of Laud knew that he could, if he chose, make use of
those of Wentworth, and gave the latter much more
credit than he deserved for the doings of the arch
bishop. They would have been astonished to have
seen how much it was the reverse. Always in pro
portion to the greatness of the intellect is the modesty
of its owner. A man of cultivated genius measures
the amount of his knowledge by his ignorance, and
ever, like the great Newton, finds the first a mere pebble
by the side of the undiscovered ocean. He knows,
too, how great has been the labour to gain even this
little, and is glad of any aid that can help him on the
upward way. The more reverent and considerate the
critic, the greater the proof of his fitness for his office.
But the inferior mind, poor in itself, knows not the
existence of treasures that demand many a lesser gain
before they reveal themselves. It has none of the cares
and anxieties involved in the search, it has found its own
little hoard easy enough to acquire, and, satisfied with
that, assumes an air of superiority and ownership that
will often mislead the humbler and greater mind, whose
very consciousness of the wonders beyond its reach
makes it credulous and ever-seeking, where ignorance
is insolent and sceptical. Hence, the often- witnessed
spectacle of the higher, led by the meaner, soul.
There is something infinitely touching in the
sight of Lord Wentworth seeking and following the

a 2

84 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. counsel of Laud, and equally ludicrous the patronizing
"~ yet honest pleasure with which Laud announces his
opinions. Still, to the credit of Laud, he never abused.
the confidence of Wentworth. That a friendship so
wildly unequal should have endured to the end is to
the high honour of the lesser man. Faithfulness and
steadfastness form the natural atmosphere of a high
mind, and when a mean one breathes it and maintains
its life through difficulties and temptations, then is the
honour tenfold, and it asserts its claim to a higher
dwelling place ; it shows the germ of wings. At this
time incessant efforts were again made to promote a
breach between the two friends. The principal means
used were cunningly to convey to the ear of Laud, by
different channels, the intelligence that Wentworth
despised his friendship, and spoke against him. An
other method was to speak of their intimacy as a thing
of the past. But Laud took the only true way in such
cases. He at once informed his friend of all that was
said. He allowed no poison to rankle silently, and
received the just reward.
" There is a nation of people," said Wentworth on
this subject, " which are ever to be found in the courts
of great princes, which intend nothing so much as by
false reports to wound the credit of honest men, and
to breed, if by any means they may, jealousies betwixt
persons better than themselves, and greater in power.
The fairest revenge, and to those evil-disposed per
sons, the most grievous, is for those that are good, to
knit themselves the stronger together. Whilst this
art and ourselves are too well understood and known
the one to the other ever to do either of us harm, yet in
the mean space I cannot but laugh extremely at such a

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 85
senseless impudence as could cast out a rumour of any 1537.
unkindness betwixt your Lordship and me with hope to '
be believed by any reasonable men. But let them
take their course : in the end no doubt they will have
their reward.
" It is a great value and authority your Lordship's
approbation sets upon anything I shall write or do. I
confess if it like you, it moves me to think much better
of it myself than otherwise I should. It comforts me
likewise very much his Majesty still vouchsafeth so
graciously to accept of my weak endeavours in his ser
vice. In good faith, my lord, I do as well as I can ;
most glad I should be still to do better, and become
most thankful to any man living that will show
me a path which may lead me in a nearer and more
upright line to the fulfilling of his good pleasure and
service." He thanked Laud for the good efforts he had made
to preserve the Irish revenue for Ireland. He said if
only they could maintain it thus until a good colony
of English were settled in Galway, then all would go
well. To Laud, as to all others, he spoke enthusiastically
of the hopes he had of Ireland.
" I shall not neglect," said he, " to preserve myself
in good opinion with this people, in regard I become
thereby better able to do my master's service. Longer
than it works to that purpose, I am very indifferent
what they shall think or say concerning me."
In words as well as all else did Wentworth allow his
strange infatuation to show itself. He did himself
wrong by this profession of no interest in Ireland
beyond that of the King. True, the King's interest.

86 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637, was first with him, but it was impossible for any man
to be indifferent to a country for whose prosperity he
had worked so hard, much less such an ardent nature
as his.
He felt it, and could not help adding, " Howbeit, I
cannot dissemble, so far as not to profess, I wish
extreme much prosperity to them also, and should lay
it up in my opinion as a mighty honour and happiness,
to become, in some degree, an instrument of it, and
thereupon preserve that intention second in my
thoughts and care after the powers and profits of the
Crown. Much I protest before anything of my own
private fortune."
A curious example now occurs of how completely
he had reduced all things to method — how nothing
was allowed to form an exception to his absolute
inability to leave anything unprepared for. As we
have seen in the case of the late Lord Treasurer, it was
easy for him to feign a grief he did not feel. But that
he was capable of feeling the deepest grief is also
beyond all doubt. He was greatly attached to the
family of his second wife, and always treated her
parents with the respect and affection of a son;
always taught his children to think of them in the
Same way.
He now heard of the dangerous illness of the Earl
of Clare, father to his second wife. He was announced
to be near death, and reports were even abroad that
he was already dead. Lord Wentworth had not
received the final announcement. But he did not wait
for that. He wrote a letter of condolence to the
Countess on the supposition that she was a widow,
and sent it to one of his cousins near her, with orders

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 87
to present it if the earl were dead. If not, then the 1637.
letter was to be returned to himself.
The earl died before its arrival, and the letter was
delivered. The widowed Countess of Clare was very anxious
to have the children of Wentworth to reside with her ;
and though their father, believing it to be for the
good of the two girls, tried to persuade himself to send
them to her for their education, yet, again and again
did he defer it, finding it impossible to part from
them. Their portraits, in full length groups, painted
by Vandyke, may still be seen, and it needs but little
imagination to add the dark face of their father gazing
upon them with that passionate fondness, which com
pelled him to turn to their innocent solace for con
solation, amid the hatred that from all sides fell upon
him. But ever in English history, amidst the stormiest
times, do we find this domestic affection. It mattered
not whether the home were Royalist or Republican,
Episcopalian or Puritan, the strong feelmgs of nature
smiled in all alike, and a most beautiful literature
might be collected from the existing letters of warriors
and statesmen, who, to the world, seemed as iron as
their own harness. Nothing can be more ridiculous
than to single out this as a special virtue in any man.
The sums paid for ship-money this year amounted
to £196,400 ; every shilling unlawfully gathered. It
mattered very little to the English people whether they
were plundered at home or abroad, and even the
slavery of Sallee was parallelled by the press gangs of
the King and the compulsory foreign service.
It was Avell, however, that Lord Wentworth had a

ts8 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. gleam of light to cheer him, for, with slow but sure
grasp, disease was binding yet deeper her fetters
around him.
" I was," he says, sadly, " crept indeed a little out
of the gout ; but I am presently fallen worse again
than I have been at any time before. I see infirmities,
with years, grow upon me."
Blindness was his constant dread ; but as no specific
disease of the eyes existed, he set down his dimness of
sight to the premature old age that had already com
menced its ravages.
"Touching your Lordship's eyes," said Coke,
" under favour, you cannot yet pretend to the infir
mities of age. But we that are aged know that sight
suffereth most by expense of spirits in watching and
writing, which you may please again to think upon."
Other friends were of the same opinion, and warned
him of overwork. But so much of his work depended
for success on being performed by his own hand, that
he felt he must either go on as he had done or resign.
And to resign was to undo in a day all the past heavy
toil. No, he must go on; no rest for him but the
grave, which, at the longest, promised to receive him
in a few short years. Yet, if time be counted less by
years than work accomplished, already he was a
patriarch, as he himself said in reference to his fate :
" He lives more that virtuously spends one month,
than some other that may chance to dream out some
years, and bury himself alive all the while." Yet,
with death ever staring him in the face, he appeared in
no way awakened to the wrongs he had done, and was as
obtuse as ever to the fact that they were wrongs.
Thus, at the end of this year Lord Mountnorris was

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. S9
allowed to leave Ireland, to take his trial before the 1637.
Star Chamber in England. Yet, his depressed con-
dition elicited nothing but a cruel sneer from Went
worth, who told him he never wished ill to his estate
or person, further than to remove him thence, where
he was as well a trouble as an offence unto him. That
being done (howbeit, added the Deputy, through his
own fault, with more prejudice to him than was in
tended) he could wish there were no more debate
between them, and, if he wished, it would spare the
prosecution in the Star Chamber in England.
But Mountnorris proudly thanked him, and said
that he desired to meet the bill, that so by his oath, he
might satisfy the Lord Deputy how innocent he was of
having his hand in any such foul slander against him
as he was accused of. Lord Wentworth certainly
mistook his bearing when he said, " At his departure
hence he seemed wondrously humbled, as much as
Chaucer's Friar, that would not for him anything
should be dead."
The innocent who refuse a pardon, the proffer of which
implies their guilt, are never humbled.
It is to be feared that a naturally cruel or hard nature
is not softened by suffering. The pitiful become yet
more gentle, ever reflecting their own thoughts and
wishes on others. The very sternness of the Spartan
made him demand the like from all. It is the con
sciously weak who know what it is just to expect. And
though it is eternally true that, in the words of the poet,
" Who best can suffer, best can do,"
it by no means follows they best can feel for others.
The red savage at the stake will, unmoved, meet death

90 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. under pangs that make another shudder to read of. But
~ He who suffered for mankind shrank as the agony
approached, and quivered at the thought. Nor does it
take from the reverence due that He uttered a loud cry,
where many a coarser nature has endured in silence.
And it is very questionable whether that self-sufficient
spirit that prides itself on hiding every outward sign
of pain from the world, does not generally repay
itself by scorning the pain of others, and treating the
desire for sympathy as a contemptible weakness.
Lord Wentworth did not despise sympathy — his
heart was too passionate for that — and he leaned more
and more on Laud, because Laud offered it. But he
did not seek it, nor did he grow merciful. The curtain
that had hung between him and his fellows through
life seemed to thicken and darken as his trials in
creased. Few were those with him on the other side.
Still, to wish for their affection, and to appreciate it,
was far better than being entirely alone.
Laud now began to be really anxious about his
friend. He found his letters remain unanswered from
the inability of the invalid to guide the pen. Intermit
tent fever again reduced him, and, after a long delay,
Wentworth confessed to " much decay in sight, and, in
truth, in the whole constitution of body and mind."
When a man so proud reveals so much, it behoves
others to make allowance. In a paroxysm of pain we
are often hardly conscious of what we do, and claim
the excuse. Those whose life is a succession of
paroxysms, which they are striving not only to bear,
but to hide and to work beneath them, are in a state
so unnatural, that it may well affect their every action.
Cruel to themselves, they hardly recognise their cruelty

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 91
to others, and leniency in their own case might pro- 1637.
duce such results as to teach them leniency to others. ~
Nature ever avenges an outrage, and retorts her
wrongs. Under this " decay of body and mind and sight,"
the unhappy Deputy owned his desolation to Laud.
" Good and faithful assistance, in truth, I have here
at the Committee of Revenue, but this goes no further
than the private. For, as for the public enmity and
malice contracted in the execution from persons pre
tended and interested, that I must take to myself —
tread that crooked and thorny path alone.
" God help and sustain me, for assuredly it begins to
press and pinch me shrewdly.
" I most humbly thank your lordship for your noble
care and counsel tending to the preservation of my
health. A free bounty it is of your love towards me,
where otherwise of myself I am so wondrous little
considerable to anybody else."
No ! Bitterly he felt that. The tears that fell on
the lonely grave of Eliot would have been worth
having. The deep, the holy love of the people for
the mutilated martyrs of the pillory and the prison —
was it so despicable after all ? One thing was sure,
that as far as success or happiness was concerned, the
Deputy had by some means missed that.
With mocking pain he avowed that " The Lady
Astrea, the poet tells us, is long since gone to heaven,
but under favour, I can yet find reward and punish
ment on earth. Indeed, sometimes they are like
Dr. Donne's anagram of a good face, — the ornaments
mis-set. A yellow tooth, a red eye,1 a white lip or so.
And seeing that all beauties take not all affections, one

92 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. man judging that a deformity, which another considers
as a perfection or a grace ; this, methinks, convinceth
the certain incertainty of rewards and punishments.
" Howsoever, he is the wisest, commonly the greatest
and happiest man, and shall surely draw the fairest
table of his life that understands, with Vandyke, how
to dispose of these shadows best to make up his own
comeliness and advantage." *
Without doubt, here is the true problem of life ; not
for Lord Wentworth alone, but for all.
Laud did not approve of his quotations of Donne and
Chaucer. He did not care for poetry himself, and did
not under stand its attractions for others. With singular
inappropriateness, after telling Wentworth how hard
this symmetry was to find, he sent him not to hopeful
utterances, but to the saddest, amidst all its beauty, of
the books of the Old Testament.
" Once for all," said this cheering adviser, " if you will
but read over the short book of Ecclesiastes, while these
thoughts are in you, you will see a better disposition
of these things and the vanity of all their shadows
than is to be found in any anagrams of Dr. Donne's,
or any designs of Vandyke. So to the lines there
drawn I leave you."
Laud, whose petty-minded malignity towards the
objects of his personal spite always tried to feed and
M excite the more heavily-weighted hatred of Wentworth,
now, instead of rebuking his expressions towards
Hampden, and, at least, as would have become a pro
fessed teacher of Christianity, exhorting him to charity,
could not forbear adding :
" Your mention of Mr. Hampden (and i" must tell
* The Lord Deputy to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 2, 158. •

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 93
you I like your censure of him and the rest very well) 1G37-
puts me in mind ofthe ship business."
While the Episcopalians were occupied in improving
the fashion of their robes and increasing the number of
their ceremonies, filling up their spare time with per
secuting the Puritans, the Roman Catholic agents were
keenly on the alert to take advantage of the present
state of things. Without advancing any opinion as to
the relative value ofthe creeds, it may be safely asserted
that when any man begins to attach a religious im
portance to vestments, decorations, and ceremonies, he
is some distance on the road to Roman Catholicism.
At this period there was precisely the same excitement
as in our own day on these questions. The Ritualists
were a scandal in the eyes of the Puritans, who were
then the only opposing body worthy of the name.
The variety of modern sects, comprising men of all
shades, from the Calvinist down to the hard Atheist,
boldly professing his disbelief in a God and a future
state, did not then exist. The only sneerers in religious
matters were the fashionable, worldly, professed mem
bers of the Church of England, who showed their wit
in jests on the plain dress and stern lives of the
Puritans. But then, as now, were numbers whose
feeble minds, unable to endure the fatigue of searching
into religious questions for themselves, and yet dreading
the final consequences of doubt, longed for that ignoble
safety they thought could be obtained by [throwing
their responsibilities on others. This safety was pro
mised by the Church of Rome. She undertook to
relieve them from that duty of examination into facts,
and their bearings on truth, which in every subject
whatever is so repulsive to the common mind. Con-

94 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. sequently, conversions to the Church of Rome became
so frequent as to excite the hopes of her friends and
the fears of her enemies, that the work of the Refor
mation was going to be undone, and England once
more become a vassal of the Pope. A few extracts
from letters of the day will present a most curious
parallel to what is going on in our own times.
It has been said that mankind never apostatizes, never
returns to a creed that it has once shaken off. And
when we consider how near was the seventeenth
century to the reign of Philip and Mary ; how over
whelming the number of English Catholics then com
pared with the present time ; how England was hemmed
in with Catholic nations ; how the mighty republic of
the West, the great bulwark of Protestantism, was then
unborn; and, above all, how barren was the condition
of philosophy and science; and, yet, with all these things
in its favour, the old creed failed utterly to stem the
advancing tide, there will appear but small grounds to
believe that such a miracle can be accomplished in
the latter end of the nineteenth century. The following
passages are given for the purpose of illustrating the
fears which so greatly resembled what we daily hear
expressed :
1. "Dr. Haywood, late household chaplain to my
Lord's Grace of Canterbury, now the King's, parson of
St. Giles's in the Fields, where he lives, brought
a petition, directed to my Lord's Grace and the
other Lords of his Majesty's Council, complaining
that in a very short time a great part of his
parishioners are become Papists and refuse to come to
church. " The wolf that has been amongst them is a Jesuit,

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 95
one Morse, who, since this complaint is, they say, by 1637.
order, apprehended and committed to prison.
" Popery certainly increaseth much among us, and
will do still as long as there is such access of all sorts
of English to the chapel in Somerset House, utterly
forbidden and punishable by the laws of the land.
" I wish, and pray to God with all my heart, that
the bishops of England would take this growth of
Popery into their considerations, and seek by all means
to retard that, as well as punish by suspension and
other ways, those called Puritan ministers. I love
neither their opinions, and so I leave them." *
Such was the opinion of the Rev. Mr. Garrard, him
self a clergyman of the Church of England. (March
23rd, 1637.)
In his next he says :
" Another of my familiar acquaintance is gone over
to that Popish religion, Sir Robert Howard, which I
am very sorry for." (April 28th, 1637.)
Again :
" Here hath been a horrible noise about the Lady
Newport's being become a Roman Catholic. She
went one evening, as she came from a play in Drury
Lane, to Somerset House, where one of the Capuchin's
reconciled her to the Popish Church, of which she is
now a weak member. Her lord, upon knowledge of
it, being much grieved and in an high passion, went
over to Lambeth to make his complaint to my Lord's
Grace of Canterbury, of those whom he thought had
been instruments in the conversion of his wife." (Nov.
9th, 1637.)
In this instance, it appeared that ladies of high rank
* Mr. Garrard to the Lord Deputy, 2, 57.

96 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. had been the agents employed. Various remedies
~ were suggested to put a stop to these conversions,
about as reasonable as such suggestions usually are.
But in no single instance was the calm investigation
of the grounds of belief proposed. No appeal to the
reason and common sense of the "convert" ever
dreamed of. Perhaps the most unjust and absurd
proposition was one made at the Council table in a
kind of imitative and retaliative spirit. It was the plan
of the priests, whenever they were able, to persuade
the parents to send their eldest sons (and often the
others as well) to a foreign school to be educated.
There they received, not only instruction in the Roman
Catholic religion, but in treason to their country.
It was now advised that the government should
seize all the eldest sons of the Catholics, and, by force,
educate them in the Protestant faith. It was proposed
to begin with the sons of Lord Powis. Of course, the
father indignantly protested ; and, after some delibe
ration, this monstrous scheme was given up. Had it
been carried into effect, we may safely say that no
stronger power could have been placed in the hands
of the priests than the argument of such unnatural
interference with the rights of parents.
The next anecdote is of a curious nature :
" The Lieutenant of the Tower, Sir William Balfour,
beat a priest lately for seeking to convert his wife.
He had a suspicion that she resorted a little too much
to Denmark House, and staid long abroad, which
made him one day send after her. Word being
brought him where she was, he goes thither, finds her
at her devotions in the chapel. He beckons her out ;
she comes accompanied with a priest, who, somewhat

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 97
too saucily, reprehended the lieutenant for disturbing 1637.
his lady at her devotions, for which he struck him two ~"
or three sound blows with his baton."
These specimens will serve to show the attempts
that were made to restore the old order of things. It
is difficult to comprehend the folly of those who,
objecting to the priests, could yet persecute the
Puritans, the great bulwark against them. Still, so
bold did the Ritualism in high places render the
Catholics, that they became too confident, and a priest
was caught boasting openly that the King himself was
a Papist at heart, and the Protestants nothing better
than devils.
This brought matters to a point. Charles was cer
tainly not a Catholic, and in his present position could
ill afford to be taken for one. To let the priest go
unpunished would be to confirm his words. The
unhappy wretch was therefore heavily fined, set in the
pillory, and both his ears cut off.
By this act, the King merely alienated the Roman
Catholics. He did not draw to him the most bigoted
Protestant an inch the nearer. The people detested
these infamous mutilations of human beings. Was
not the body of man declared to be the temple of God,
and, as such, to be kept holy ?
A feeble attempt was now made by Laud to prove
that he was opposed to the Catholics ; but it mattered
little that he sent a few to prison and made a few
speeches at the Council. His words went for nothing.
All England held his very name in abhorrence. If he
were not a Catholic, his practices had led to the present
state of things, and so slight was the difference between
Ritualism and Catholicism, that it was scarcely per-

93 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
163'' ceptible to men who looked on forms of every kind as
a species of idolatry.
Such, then, was the state of matters in England,
when the crisis that must have arrived even there
before long, was precipitated in Scotland by an act,
to the intense idiocy and ignorance of which it is
difficult to find a parallel.
Laud himself it was that by his blind folly loosened
the avalanche that was to overwhelm himself, his
friend, his King, and his Church.

CHAPTER V.
It was not without cause that Lord Wentworth felt 1637.

himself oppressed with the most mournful forebodings.
As his powers of body and mind grew feebler, the
stronger and more menacing became the dangers that
on all sides threatened him. And yet, it was in none
of the directions scanned by his vigilant eye that the
fatal enemy lay couched. The cloud, no bigger than
a man's hand at present, but which was to overwhelm
him in final darkness, was rising in the distant horizon
of another land, where he had all his life been a
stranger. Not by those well recognised foes in Ireland
and England was the peril to be first awaked. It was
to be by Laud, by the trusted and really sincere
friend that the train was to be laid, whose explosion
should be the signal of doom. What malice and
treachery and power failed to accomplish, the imbecile
folly of a feeble brain was to bring about.
The wise tolerance of Lord WentAvorth had placed
a bridle in Ireland, on the elsewhere uncontrolled im
pulses of the Archbishop of Canterbury, to compel
a conformity to the ritualistic ceremonies of the
English Church.
He had repeatedly sent orders for its adoption in

u 2

100 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. Scotland but had constantly been informed by his sub-
ordinates in that country of the impossibility of en
forcing his orders all at once. It must, they said, be
a matter of time. The great difference between the
Scotch and English Protestants consisted far more in
outward than inward matters. The English preserving
their admiration for many of the beautiful prayers of
the Roman Catholics, preferred to retain them in the
form of a Liturgy. The Scotch, on the other hand,
Avith much less liberality, rejected all that had been
hitherto used, and, from the beginning, their Protestant
services were conducted entirely by the judgment of
the minister, unaided, except by the Bible and hymn-
book. James the First was much taken with the Liturgy
on his arrival in England, and was the first to order
its adoption in Scotland.
His orders, however, were disregarded, and it was
reserved for Charles to persevere in his usual disregard
of the feelings of a whole nation. Some difference
there was between the Liturgy prepared for Scotland
and that of England, on the ostensible ground of con
sulting the wishes of the people. But their wishes
were opposed to a form of any kind. A Liturgy to
them was like a mass-book, and Laud waited in vain
for their prejudices to cool.
At length, plainly recognizing that his orders never
would be voluntarily obeyed, the King, who always
supported Laud in ecclesiastical tyranny, decided that
the time was come to settle the matter. It is evident
they were afraid of resistance, for instead of an open
proclamation, beforehand, announcing the day that was
to witness the inauguration of the Liturgy, private

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 101
orders were sent to the Scotch bishops to arrange, so 1637.
that the first announcement should be made to the _
people by the actual reading of the Liturgy itself.
It was on the 23rd of July, 1637, that the congre
gation assembled in the church of St. Giles, in Edin
burgh, were startled by seeing the Dean of Edinburgh
arrayed in clerical vestments, enter the reading-desk
and commence reading the Liturgy. A most aristo
cratic assembly was present, including the highest
dignitaries of Church and State, as well as other
persons whose prestige it was thought would be suffi
cient to maintain obedience to the new regulations.
It proved a strange error. At first, the people were
stupified with astonishment, and the Dean gaining
courage at the scarce hoped-for silence, continued his
reading. But the people soon recovered themselves,
and an old woman, now immortalised in history,
suddenly started from a three legged stool on which
she was sitting, and with the furious exclamation
of:— "What, ye villain, do ye say mass i' my lug,"
hurled the stool at the head of the luckless reader who
very narrowly escaped the missile. This was the
signal for a general uproar. It was in vain that the
Bishop of Edinburgh, who was appointed to preach,
ascended the pulpit, hoping by his august presence to
appease the tumult. He was received with the
ominous cries of: "A pape ! a pape! antichrist!"
and obliged to descend and with the rest of his col
leagues to flee from the church to save his life.
Similar scenes were witnessed in other churches, and
again in the evening when the foolish attempt was
repeated.

102 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. The next day the Council of Edinburgh prohibited
all public meetings on pain of death, and commanded
the continuance of the Liturgy, promising protection
to the affrighted clergy, who were naturally not very
eager to encounter another such Sunday. But the
danger was too great, and consequently divine service
was suspended till the report of what had happened
had been forwarded to England, and the pleasure of
the King made known.
Of course, both Charles and Laud showed their usual
obtuseness to the presence of real danger. It is a
notable thing, that before resolving to enforce the
Liturgy Laud did not consult Lord Wentworth. It
was a thing he was resolved on and probably dreaded
unwelcome advice. Neither in the present emergency
did either he or the King consult the wisest and most
experienced of their friends. Laud wrote to him even
without alluding to what had occurred, as if it were a
trifle not worth naming.
Garrard, indeed, in the midst of one of his long
letters containing idle gossip before and after the
news of an event that was to plunge two kingdoms in
war, has the following sentence. " I mentioned before,
an attempt to bring in our English Church service
into Scotland, which made a great hubbub there, and
was repelled with much violence by the common
people, though women appeared most in the action,-
flinging their stools at the bishop and rending his
episcopal garments off him, as he went forth of the
church ; others flinging stones at him in the streets,
so that if the Earl of Roxborough had not sought to
quiet them and receive him into his coach, they had
stoned him to death.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 103
" A second attempt has been made of which fresh 1637.
news has come thence to the Court wherein they have
sped worse. Besides, some of the noblesse and many
of the gentry and better sort appear in it, who with
stand it with greater violence than before, so that
there is no hope that it will be effected."
Laud was of a different opinion. When he received
the first intelligence, he wrote to the Earl of Traquair
to say that the Church must persevere, and show to
the world that she was the injured party. Restitution
must be made her at the hands of the law. The King
took it very ill, said Laud, that the business of the
service book had been so weakly carried, and his
Majesty expected that the Council of Edinburgh
would establish the Liturgy peaceably. The clergy
had not power enough of their own to do it, and
the advice of the Council ought to have been first
asked. It was very weak to suspend the service till the
King's pleasure were known ; it looked as if the
bishops disclaimed the work themselves and only did
it in obedience to the King. And this, Laud thought
to be most unworthy. He considered that the bishops
ought to have identified themselves with it as the
cause of the Church, taking all responsibility on them
selves, and only appealing to the authority of the King
as a legal sanction of deeds, delightful in every way
from their own intrinsic beauty and good.
Laud had a vague idea that the clergy ought to be
as zealous in his cause, as the Puritans showed them
selves in the cause of their ministers. Ah ! if only the
good were as zealous for the good, as the bad were for
the bad, was his constant theme ! But his clergy were

104 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. 0f different mettle. There was no power to enforce
his mandates, and he and Charles received advice, that
it would be well to defer compulsion till after the
harvest. However unwelcome this counsel, he was compelled
to follow it, for as usual, he had issued his absurd
commands without the means to enforce them.
By the 19th of October the harvest was completed,
and Charles then issued two mandates to his Scotch
subjects. The first was to forbid all meetings among
them, and to order every man from the time the order
was proclaimed from the Market Cross, to return to
his home within twenty-four hours, unless he could
prove to the magistrates that he had indispensable
business not connected with the Church. All who
disobeyed this, were to be put to the Horn, to be
declared rebels, and, as the King's invariable rule was
to extract money from the sins or misfortunes of
others, their entire possessions were to be forfeited to
him. The second order, published on the same day, was
to the effect that his Majesty having been informed
that a book had been published, entitled, "A Dispute
against the English Popish Ceremonies, obtruded upon
the Kirk of Scotland," every one possessing this book
was to bring it by. a fixed day to be publicly burnt.
And if, after the time appointed, any were found in
possession of a copy, they should be punished in pro
portion to their crime.*
What Charles considered a punishment proportionate
to publish an opinion not forbidden by law, but con
trary to, or obnoxious to his own, was well-known to
* Nalson, i. p. 11.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 105
consist of standing in the pillory, having the cheeks 1637.
branded, the nose slit, and the ears cut off. But
nothing could shake the indomitable Scots.
The twenty-four hours that was to find them
trembling in their homes, saw them gathered in new
multitudes, following the obsequious clergy with just
and loud utterances of indignation. It was in vain
that the shrinking priests sent for help to the magis
trates. The latter returned for answer that they were
in a similar state of siege, and that the people had
got them so completely in their power, that they had
turned their own weapons upon them and threatened
them with death — unless they signed a paper imme
diately, containing three particulars —
The First — To join them in opposing and petitioning
the King agamst the Service Book.
The Second — To restore Ramsay and Rollock, two
ministers they had silenced.
The TJdrd — To restore a Reader named Henderson,
who had also been silenced.
And these, added the poor magistrates, they had
signed from sheer terror.
We may not admire these acts on the part of the
people, yet we must remember they were simply putting
in practice, in a very mild degree, the lesson that had
been instilled into them by their teachers. For they
only bargained for freedom to practice their own
belief : they did not insist on forcing that belief on the
poor cravens who basely deserted them in their hour
of need — of eternal danger. And it is well, at times,
for mortals to taste the bitter cup they impose on
others.

106 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. The subscription having pacified them, the Lord
Treasurer and the Earl of Wigton, who had stayed
with the bishops, now thought they might venture out.
But at once they were met with shouts of " God de
fend all those who will defend God's cause, and God
confound the Service Book and all the maintainers
of it ! "
In the struggle to escape, the Lord Treasurer was
thrown down ; his hat, cloak, and white staff rolled in
the dust, and himself nearly trodden to death. At
length, in despair, the confounded officials sent for
some of the nobility and gentry, who, more faithful
than themselves, had upheld their country in the re
sistance of hypocrisy, and, guarded by these, they
reached a place of safety.
The next act of these civil restorers of temporary
peace was to draw up addresses to the King and
Council, couched in terms of deepest reverence, and,
in the name of the noblemen, barons, ministers,
burgesses, and Commons, representing that the books
ordained by this new rule for profession in reli
gion were in their eyes sown with the seeds of
superstition, idolatry, and false doctrine, contrary
to the true religion established in Scotland by Act of
Parliament. That the doctrines therein contained, by investing
a bishop or archbishop with power to excommunicate
and to pardon, opened a door for farther inventions, as
well as the revival of abolished superstitions and
errors. That by allowing the construction and power of
punishment solely to depend on the word of a bishop,
they were placed between the two dangers of utter

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 107
worldly ruin or the breach of the law of God — 1637.
the last being to them far more grievous than death. — "
Out of their bounden duty to their God, King, and
native country, they complained of the prelates who
had so far abused their credit, and they begged that
the whole matter might be tried by the law of the
land, and the bishops no longer allowed to sit as judges
till their right be tried and decided according to
justice. To this the King, after first ordering the removal of
the Council and law courts from Edinburgh and sending
them twenty-four miles off to Stirling, and forbidding
the Scots to go there or anywhere in reach of the new
temporary capital, told them how much he hated
Popery, or anything not perfect in religion. But what
was perfect they must allow him to decide. That
their inferior intellects could by no means take in so
many words, and that was why he had, " in his
princely wisdom," ordered the whole matter to be
reduced to a kind of pap for them.
And, to drive away all their fears, he said, that he
had not allowed one word to be printed in their books
but what he had seen and approved, the effect of
which royal revision would be that " even the very book
would be a means to maintain the true religion." And
though those nobles, gentlemen, burgesses, ministers,
and all who had ventured to discuss the matter and
petition him on it, deserved very " high censure, both
in their persons and fortunes," yet, as it must surely
have been done " out of a preposterous zeal and not out
of disloyalty to him," he would "graciously dispense
with their appealing to any judge, and pass the matter
over." Only they must remember that, if they repeated

108 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. these errors again, or disobeyed him in the least, or
dreamed of appealing to law, or ever went within
twenty-four miles ofthe sessions house, they should be
considered, without more ado, guilty of high treason.
And to inflict its penalties, the King had entrusted full
powers to his deputies.
It was in vain that these miserable dialogues went
on. Their invariable effect was to raise to a greater
height the resolution of the Scots. These now bound
themselves by a solemn covenant never to yield in
their convictions of religion. Every man, woman, and
youth who was deemed worthy of anything like trust
bound themselves by this oath, which was framed in
the most terrible and solemn language, to allow no
temptation of pain, pleasure, or fear, or anything that
can tempt mankind to prove false, to influence them.
This was an oath that bound them to God himself.
Henceforth they were called the Covenanters, nearly
resembling, and often blent with, the Puritans of
England. It is not needful to go into full details ; but it has
been necessary to explain so far, in order to show how
WentAvorth became involved in the strife.
Charles, finding every order treated with no greater
obedience than could be shown by the most complete
anger and contempt of his mandates, at last resolved
to endeavour to deceive by feigned concession, and
thus throw the Scots off their guard, till in secret he
had formed an army to enforce his will.
He now wrote to the Marquis of Hamilton, his
commissioner in Scotland, who, himself a Scotchman,
had advised the King either to grant the Covenanters
all their demands, or send a fleet filled with soldiers to

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 109
garrison Berwick and Carlisle, following swiftly with a 1637. '
powerful land force.*
" I expect," said Charles, " not anything can reduce
that people to obedience but force only. In the mean
time your care must be how to dissolve the multitude,
and, if it be possible, to possess yourselves of my
castles of Edinburgh and Stirling, which I do not
expect. To this end I give you leave to flatter them with
what hopes you please so you engage not me against
my grounds ; and in particular, that you consent neither
to the calling of Parliament nor General Assembly until
the Covenant be disavowed and given up, your chief
end being now to win time until I am ready to sup
press them. I will rather die than yield to those im
pertinent and damnable demands, as you rightly call
them."t Again he says : "I do not expect that you should
declare the adherers to the Covenant traitors until you
have heard my fleet is set sail."
And yet another paternal sentence, on hearing from
Hamilton that the Covenanters had explained they
meant no rebellion against the laws or legal au
thority, but only to be true to the religion they
professed :
" As concerning the explanation of their damnable
Covenant, I commend the giving ear to the explanation
or anything else, to win time."
Time, indeed, was needed. Nothing could exceed
the muddle-headed condition of Laud, whose singular
capacity for bringing matters into hopeless confusion
was in no way counterbalanced by a talent for re
placing order.
* Rushworth, 8vo, 2, 518. t Ibid, 519.

110 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1637. For the first time we find him alluding to the
~ matter to Wentworth, but he does not venture to
state the truth in all its menacing proportions.
He says : " The Scottish business is extreme ill in
deed, and what will become of it God knows, but
certainly no good ; and his Majesty hath been
notoriously betrayed by some ofthem."
None would have imagined from this that the
writer had been the chief mover and prompter of all
the mischief. He then casually added that he had
been told that the Scots had secretly taken a list of
their countrymen in Ulster, and had found its amount
to be above forty thousand fighting men. He pro
bably hoped for a contradiction from Lord Went
worth. But he was likely to be disappointed, for intelligence
reached the Lord Deputy from other quarters.
A committee to decide on Scottish affairs had been
summoned. Of these, the Earl of Arundel, Secretary
Windebanke, and Lord Cottington were for war.
But the more experienced, Vane and Coke and the
Earl of Northumberland, were quite against it.
The latter wrote to Wentworth, to put him on his
guard. At this moment there was not more than
£200 in the English exchequer, nor by all the
means that could be devised could they calculate on
raising more than £110,000 for the expenses of a
war. The royal arsenals were empty of arms and
ammunition. There were no great commanders to
inspire the people with confidence, and the people
themselves had been so long unused to bear arms
that they were now untrained and unfit for enterprise.
Another and not the least consideration was that

.THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. Ill
the English all through the country were so discontented I637.
on account of the number of unlawful impositions
they were called on to endure, that they were much
more likely to join the Scots than to take part against
them. The Earl of Northumberland, therefore, weighing all
these things, advised the King rather to give them
their own conditions than begin a war without the
means of carrying it on.
But this distasteful advice was not followed. The
King was resolved to enforce his commands, and
preparations were at once ordered.
Lord Clifford, the brother of Lord Wentworth's first
wife, received orders to prepare himself in the best
manner he could, and to begin the training of both
horse and foot regiments in the northern counties.
He wrote to Lord Wentworth, begging his advice,
stating that as yet- he was destitute of men, money,
and arms ; and hoping that, if any Irish troops were
sent over, he might have a command among them.
At this time, also, Lord Wentworth received a
letter from the Marquis of Lome. It is a curiosity
in its way, as showing the style, composition, and
spelling of the eldest son of the Duke of Argyll in
those days : —
The Lord Lome to the Lord Deputy.
" My weekie noble Lord.
" My Dewetie to his sacred Majestie tyes me to late
your Lo. know that thair is zitt some few resting in
thiz Pairtes of the rebellious Race of Clandonald who
hes evir takine thair Adwantage of trowblesome Tymis

112 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. to execute thair Rebellionis. Bot now it seemis thair
~ Intentionne and Intelligence goeth farther ; for (as
some of themselffes hes confest upone Examinationne)
they have Intelligence with many Lrishree in that
Kingdome & lykwayes from abroade, that upone the
leaste Sture in his Majesties Dominionnes (which I hope
in God they shall never find) both Odoneill and Oneill
with some of thair awne Race abroade, justlie so
puneished, ar to joyne togidder with werrie great
Confidence to find Freindes before thame at home that
may mak thame one werrie considerable Partie. How
far thair is any Probabilitie of this, or quhat may be
the Consequence of it in his Majesties Service thair
is best knowen to your Lo. Which I remit to
zour Lo. wyise Considerationne and shall evir remaine
" Your Lordship's
" maist humble Servant " Lorne.*
" Kintyr 2Uh Julii 1638."
So faithful a subject and so correct a scholar was
the Marquis of Lorne under Charles the First !
The King now sent to Lord Wentworth to know
what aid he could furnish from Ireland in the event of
a war with Scotland.
Lord Wentworth replied that the forces in Ireland
at present amounted to two thousand foot and six
hundred horse, which was, if anything, too little for
the defence of Ireland alone, and would afford none to
spare for Scotland. The settling of the plantations of
* Strafford Papers, 2, 187.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 113
Connaught and Munster and other parts of the king- 1638.
dom was now going on, and consequently the people
more excitable than usual. There were great numbers
of Scots in Ulster of the same religion as their country
men at home, and, consequently, likely to lend them all
the aid in their power. To lessen the little army in
Ireland would make matters worse by causing the
flame to break out there also : and as this would de
crease the number of English, there would be fewer
to counterbalance them. But though it would not be
safe to diminish the present number of troops, he
thought it possible to raise three or four thousand
men in Ireland, mostly English. For though the
Irish were likely enough to fight well against the
Scots, having no tie of sympathy with them, yet it
would not be wise to have too many accomplished
Irish soldiers who, when the Scots were done with,
might turn their arms against their teachers, and im
part their own knowledge to their countrymen.
The gentlemen most fitted to raise recruits, Lord
Wentworth said, were Sir Francis Willoughby and
Sir Robert Farrer. They were quite to be trusted.
And he would spare ten or a dozen active captains
or lieutenants of his present army to assist them in
training their men.
But all the arms for the recruits must be sent from
England ; he had none to spare.
He also begged the King would give him early.
instructions what to do, so that he might as soon as
needed draw the greater part of his little army into
Ulster, as near Scotland as might be, and, perhaps,
cause some change there on account of its proximity.
He thus simply answered the King's questions and
VOL. II. I

114 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. offered no opinion, which, indeed, had not been asked.
~ He told Northumberland that he had quite resolved to
decline meddling or giving any counsel at all, further
than he should be commanded and required there
unto by his Majesty on the matter of Scotland.
But to Northumberland, as to a private- friend, he
had no objection to speak in confidence, to this
effect. This matter had certainly happened at a very in
convenient time, as there were neither men, money,
nor ammunition to carry it through with the speed and
force to be desired. It was also the more dangerous
from being so unexpected, and this was occasioned by
that most unhappy principle of State practised both
by his present Majesty, as well as by his father, of
keeping secret and distinct all the affairs of Scotland
from the knowledge of the council of England, in so
much that no man was entrusted or knew anything
of Scotland but a Scot. This was, in effect, to con
tinue them in the condition of separate kingdoms, and
to lose the advantage of English vigilance in the affairs1
of Scotland.
But, on the other hand, it was most fortunate that
all our neighbours abroad were " so soundly together
by the ears one with another," so as to have no leisure
to meddle with us. " And," added Wentworth, with too
premature triumph, " without assistance from abroad,
the gallant Gospellers shall not by God's blessing be
able to bear up their rebellious humours against their
King, or bring other than their own ruin upon them
selves." Another advantage was, that from henceforth it
would make the Crown trust the Scots less and the

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 115
English more ; if only in this matter the English would 1638.
carry themselves with their ancient virtue and faith-
fulness towards their kings. He was quite of opinion
that the insolence of the Scots, in the protestation they
had published in answer to the King's proclamation,
was not to be borne by any rule of monarchy. It must
be corrected, or else it would lead to yet more daring
boldness. But as for the ways and means to put down this
peril, which he quite agreed with Northumberland
was much greater than if a foreign enemy were at the
door, he must deprecate a sudden and rash declaring
of war. Neither could he wish the King to sacrifice
his will and honour to their mutiny, nor entangle him
self with acts of Parliament, oaths, or what not, which
would be sure to be demanded with the same rudeness
with whicli they now called for a Parliament. And to
grant them a Parliament, at present, were the greatest
meanness. But he advised the King to state to them that,
though if they had in the first place moderately sought
and sued for what they wanted, it might have been
granted ; but it was not the custom of the best and
mildest of kings to be threatened with Parliaments.
He could not comply on seeming compulsion. Let
them wait and trust to his affection to them, and
meanwhile recollect themselves better, and consider
the modesty, the reverence, whereAvith they were to
approach God's anointed and their King, and so frame
their petitions and supplications as that they might be
granted Avithout diminution to his height and royal
estate. Lord Wentworth thought they might be thus
persuaded. But, if not, if they did their worst, they
i 2

116 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. yet' could never compel him to concede their
demands. Meanwhile, he proposed with all speed and secrecy
to put strong garrisons into Berwick and Carlisle, well
furnished with all kinds of ammunition. Let the whole
winter be spent in training recruits, not only in the
garrison towns alone, but in all the northern parts of
England. By this means there might be a very large
army, horse and foot, ready by the spring without any
charge to the King.
Supposing the Scots, melted by the proposed royal
address, should show themselves penitent, then Lord
Wentworth advised to treat them " with all lenity and
sweetness." But if they continued stubborn and refractory, then
let their havens be prohibited from all manner of com
merce, inward or outward. This, Northumberland, as
Admiral of the Fleet, would well know how to manage
— one of the chief points being to seize as much of
their shipping as possible.
Also, every endeavour should be made to raise a
party for the King in Scotland. The loyal were to
be commanded to separate from the rebels on pain of
being considered equally guilty. The rebellious Pres
byters should be seized and kept in prison, but no
farther injured.
The best part of the Irish army should be quartered
in Ulster, to keep a check on their countrymen on
both sides of the Channel. The clergy, both in Eng
land and Ireland, should be instructed to preach to the
people against these disorders and rebellions, as fer
vently as the rebels do against the prayer-book and
the ceremonies of the church.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 117
Lastly, Lord Wentworth counselled an expedition 1638.
against Leith in the spring, which, with the help of the ~
fleet, he thought might be easily taken. At present,
it was weak, but might be very strongly fortified.
When taken, therefore, let it be held by a strong
garrison of eight or ten thousand men, relievable by
sea. If this were done, the King might give his law
to Edinburgh, and soon after to the whole kingdom.
That accomplished, let the garrison and fort of Leith
be maintained at the expense of the Scots till they
had received the Common Prayer Book used in the
churches of England without any alteration, allowed
the bishops to settle peaceably in their jurisdictions,
nay, possibly, till Scotland conformed in all things,
temporal as well as ecclesiastical, wholly to the go
vernment and laws of England and Scotland, governed
by the King and Council of England in a great part —
at least as much as the people of Ireland.
But where was the money to come from to carry out
all this ?
" In good faith," said Lord Wentworth, " every
man will give it, I hope, from his children upon such
an extremity as this, when no less, verily, than all
Ave have comes thus to the stake. In a word, we
are, God be praised, rich and able, and in this case-
it may be justly said : ' Salus Populi, Suprema Lex,'
and the King must not want our substance for the-
preservation of the whole."*
Nothing could appear more simple than this plan on
paper. But so strangely did it ignore the other side-
of the question and the possibility of the power of
* The Lord Deputy to the Earl of Northumberland, ii., 189.

118

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.

1638. resistance to this clever scheme, that it seems hardly
to belong to the usually far-seeing and' carefully-
balancing mind of Wentworth. Possibly, his judgment
was affected by the state of his health ; but the great
defect was his utter ignorance of the Scotch character.
Before going to Ireland he had formed his plans,
and was now carrying them out successfully in detail.
Why should not the same power that had subdued the
far more unruly Irish manage the Scotch ?
He had to learn ,the reason by experience. It is
also remarkable how little he knew of the state of
feeling in England. Again, Northumberland was the
better judge, when he said the English were more
likely to aid the Scots than to fight against them.
How Lord Wentworth could possibly imagine that they
would identify their own cause with that of the King,
and come forward with voluntary offerings, is, to say
the least, strangely opposed to his general cautious
judgment of the multitude. But, possibly, he included
only the aristocracy in his calculation of loyal offering.
He had not to wait long to be undeceived with regard
to his hopes.
The first disappointment was in his own Presidency
of the North of England.
The King had sent orders to Sir Edward Osborne to
muster all the forces of Yorkshire, and see they were
in readiness. In obedience to this command, Sir
Edward, who was the Vice-President under Lord
Wentworth, summoned all the Deputy-Lieutenants of
the county to meet at York, on the 27th of July.
Of these many were absent on trivial excuses, and of
those that came none showed the least enthusiasm or
appeared impressed with any special need in conse-

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 119
quence of the King's special order. They saw no 1638.
occasion for any hurry beyond the usual days for-
reviewing the militia and supplying the vacant ranks.
One said it was harvest time, and the men could wait
till that was over. When Sir Edward stated his
opinion to the contrary, on account of the message of
the King, he was at once asked if he knew of any
more cause for hurrying the muster than they did, for
if not, they saw no reason for such haste. To this he
gave no reply, as the policy of Charles was to make
preparations for war, without stating his object, and
merely under colour of getting the army in a good
condition, for the general needs of the country.
Sir William Savile, not a member of the House so
inimical to that of Wentworth, but his own nepheAV,
openly opposed the Vice-President. Osborne had
given orders that all the cavalry of the West Riding
should come to York, to be trained, as he was detained
there on account of various matters, and it would be
more convenient for him to review them while the
drilling was going on. But Savile boldly told the Vice-
President that his horses should not come to York, but
be trained in some more convenient place in the West
Riding. Osborne dared him, at his peril, to keep back
his horses — all the rest were coming to York, and he
would find it somewhat dangerous to be the only
defaulter. The Vice-President then, at once, wrote to the Lord
Deputy, begging him, in his capacity of President of
the North, without alluding to Savile, to send him
orders to call all the cavalry to York, so that after
each division had been drilled separately, they might
then be exercised in one complete body. He also

120 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. begged Wentworth to command him to bring before
the Council table the names of any who should refuse
to comply. Sixty pounds was the sum allowed for the expenses
of training all the infantry forces of Yorkshire for this
gathering ; but it proved too little for the cavalry ;
and though Osborne was so loyal as to offer to pay out
of his own pocket a share of the deficiency, if the
other two captains of cavalry would do the same, he
was met with a decided refusal. The Deputy-Lieu
tenant said the whole £60 was needed for the foot,
and Lord Wentworth was therefore petitioned for a
grant of £20 more, to be applied to the training of
the horse troops alone. This he kindly proposed
should be deducted from the salary of £100 a year of
Sir Robert Farrer, the muster-master, on the ground
that in all other counties the muster-master himself
trained the men, till the officers were competent to
relieve him of the duty. Osborne also begged that a
trainer might be sent over from Ireland, probably having
greater confidence in one who had performed his duty
under Lord Wentworth than any other. *
Writhing as he was under the relapse of health
lately mentioned, Lord Wentworth had made arrange
ments to spend a few weeks in the country, with a view
to recovery. He rarely returned to the city unbenefited
by a holiday with nature. The prospect of such an
access of labour and anxiety as appeared in the Scot
tish troubles rendered it especially necessary that he
should watch his health, though even he under-reckoned
the strain that was to be put upon it. But before he
* Sir Edward Osborne to the Lord Deputy, ii.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 121
could leave Dublin many arrangements had to be made, 1638.
which compelled him to defer his departure.
The first thing to be done was to give a minute
inspection of the condition of the army.
It turned out to be no idle report, but a bare fact,
that Ulster alone did contain 40,000 Scots able to
bear arms. " I do assure your Lordship," said Went
worth, in reply to Laud, "it is not to be kept secret.
We hear the crack of it, if not the threat, every day in
the streets."
This, alone, rendered it needful to increase the present
small force which, happily, was in such good order, as
to render it easy for the discipline to be extended to new
levies. Now it was that Lord Wentworth had cause
to rejoice that he had not waited till the hour of danger
to remodel his army. The change in a few years was
striking indeed. When he came to Ireland, the cavalry
had no other weapons than staves and swords. He de
clared there was scarcely a good pistol among them,
and scarcely an officer who knew how to order his
men. But now, without costing the English treasury a
shilling, he was able to muster 609 horsemen, of whom
110 were cuirassiers, and the rest carabineers. The
carabineers, formerly almost defenceless, were now
completely armed with swords and pistols, helmets, gor
gets, breast and back plates, short tasses, and though
less completely mailed than the iron warrior of two
centuries past, who was literally, not poetically, sheathed
in steel, still, all the exposed portions of the body
were protected by plates of metal, while those parts
that needed it less, were spared the incumbrance and
the Aveight. The wearers were totally unconscious of

122 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. the delightful romance to be associated in times to
~ come by youthful minds with the very name of a
knight armed cap-d-pie. The cuirasses were called,
in short terms, " backs and breasts," while the
helmets went by the most terribly prosaic name of
"pots." These troops Avere daily exercised, and Lord Went
worth declared, with honest pride, that they were so
well advanced in knowledge that he trusted no men
would be shown more ready or capable to serve than
they. The only defect lay in the horses, with which
he was still dissatisfied, but which he was unable to
remedy for want of means.
He had also ingeniously contrived to add to the
mounted troops by the revival of an old custom that
had fallen into disuse.
The four Provost Marshals of Leinster, Munster,
Ulster, and Connaught had anciently twelve horse
men each, allowed them in the martial list. These
were of great use in suppressing revolts, robberies,
and other dangers which the carelessness of the jus
tices of the peace had allowed to grow to a dangerous
height ; the marshals, with their company, being
always ready to pursue and seize the outlaws, who
would otherwise have escaped the tardy measures of
the justices. " They prevented," said Lord Went
worth, " very many violences and some murders done
upon the people." Bands of robbers would swoop
down on the English, who now, revived in courage,
could appeal to the marshals as to the military for aid,
without the troublesome formalities needed in the
latter case. Thus, not only was there a kind of re
serve of cavalry, but a most efficient little civil force,

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 123
especially useful when a spirit of revolt was sus- 1638.
pected. The infantry soldiers were divided into half pikemen
and half musketeers. They quite equalled the cavalry,
in every respect, and Lord Wentworth pronounced
that, for anything he could hear or believe, none in
the Low Countries were readier in their movements,
exacter in their postures, more even, close, and orderly
in their marches. He was therefore very confident
that, for so far as belonged to exercise, command, and
order, he could at any time spare sufficient officers and
experienced soldiers, under good chiefs elsewhere to
be found, to train and lead twice as many men as their
whole body comprised. There was, however, some
deficiency still in their arms ; but Lord Wentworth
undertook to remedy this by Easter, and without any
charge to the King.
" And thus," said he, exultingly, " I dare undertake
to show and approve them as ready and as well armed
men as serve a King, be the eye never so curious which
shall overlook them.
"I had them all here under my eye this whole
month. They marched hither forth of their garrisons
without offering the least violence to the meanest soul
of his Majesty's subjects.
" They continued here with so much quietness and
civility as, in good faith, you could not have almost
taken notice any such men were in town. And they
are now marched back with the same peace and order
they came : men, if I be not mightily mistaken, well
pleased, well affected, ready with cheerfulness and
courage to venture their lives for his Majesty's person
and service wherever they shall be appointed."

124 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. Earnest in all things, perhaps the enthusiasm of
~ Lord Wentworth culminated in the army. He re
garded it' as a child of his OAvn. It was no abstract
existence, and needed no arguments to demonstrate its
being. There it was, imposing in appearance, certain
in capability and power. Could the King only acquire
and maintain an army of such material and education
as this little force in Ireland, and increase it to a suffi
cient number of men, he would be irresistible. On
this idea Lord Wentworth constantly brooded, but not
so secretly as to conceal from all others what was the
subject of his meditations.
And it was at the hour that he resolved on the
increase of the army, not as hitherto, for the just
purpose of maintaining order in Ireland, but to
render her a store-house where a military power
was to be reared for the service of the King, that he
fixed his doom. This intention on the part of Lord
Wentworth has often been denied by his friends, who
justify his raising men in Ireland to send to Scotland,
by the sudden emergency of the case, and declare the
charge of Pym, that it was only a part of a system
meant to coerce England, to be unfounded. It will,
therefore, be better to give the words of Lord Went
worth himself. They occur in the letter in which he
describes the present condition of his army, and are
addressed to the confidential secretary, Coke, who was
pledged to secrecy, even from his fellow officer, Wan-
desforde. " Considering it is necessary that his Majesty breed
up and have a Seminary of Soldiers in some part or
other of his dominions, a truth which, perchance, the
present time shows but over plainly to every eye, with-

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 125
out cloubt, it cannot be settled in any other part where 1638.
the ordinary use of it could have produced greater ~
effects for the honour and perfecting the great and
needful services of the Crown on this side, with so
little charge, with more safety, removed or transported
Avith greater conveniency, to answer the several occa
sions of the three kingdoms. So as in my weak
judgment, it is a matter worthy the care of the great
ministers on that side to see, that the General, here, be
called upon in all times, as well peace as war, diligently
to attend his charge, and to be rendered deeply
answerable in point of state, if he neglect or slubber
over the duty he owes his Majesty in the good govern
ment of the army : To wit, that it be complete for
bodies of men, for arms and other provisions of all
kinds, for often exercise, perfect knowledge and use of
their weapons, and giving them as much as may be,
severally, the understanding of every duty belonging
to worthy officers and soldiers.
" And truly this is no small matter. For I dare be
bold to say, if this work had been attended and fol
lowed since the war broke up, as it ought to have been,
ihe Grown might have taken hence, at this, worthy and
able officers of our own, to have led an army of twenty
thousand men in any part of Christendom, under the
conduct and direction of a gallant and brave chief
chosen there and appointed to that purpose by his
Majesty." But even this design becomes almost safe by the
side of another which was now laid before Charles,
and which nothing but accident prevented him from
adopting. It was entitled : —
" A Design to extricate his Majesty out of these

126 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. present troubles with the Scots, and at once to render
him free from fhe Miseries of his Majesty's royal pre
rogatives in England." *
This was to draw an army of ten thousand men
from Flanders, and land them secretly in England. It
was considered that the fact of their being foreign, and
accustomed to war, would render them much more
terrible than a far greater number levied in England.
These men were to be jointly commanded by their own
general, and a subject of the King. The money was
to be raised by the Roman Catholics, on condition of
abrogating all the severe laws against the recusants, or,
perhaps, granting full toleration to the Roman Catholic
religion. There was little doubt not only of large con
tributions from the Roman Catholics themselves, but it
was thought the Pope would contribute not less than
six months' pay, and by the time that was exhausted,
the Scots would be compelled to lay doAvn their arms.
But then the question arose, that as these laws
against the Catholics had been passed by Parliament,
they could not be repealed except by the same power.
What then was to be done ? The remedy was quite
easy, says the proposer of this precious scheme.
" As Charles V., having an army ready to attend
the Diet, upon pretence to secure the Electors assembled
about the choice of an Emperor, did so awe that Diet,
as thereby himself was chosen Emperor, albeit, the
electors had no inclination that way of themselves.
" Even so, might the King, having a foreign army on
foot, subdue the Scots therewith, and at the same instant
keep the Parliament in awe, that his Majesty might
* Clarendon's State Papers, ii., 19.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 127
easily make them come to what conditions he pleased. 1638.
And by this means, confirm his royal prerogatives, and
repeal such laws against recusants, as were made, not
only with intention absolutely to root out the Catholic
religion, but to keep even his sacred Majesty from this
Crown. Witness the death of the Queen of Scots, his
Majesty's grandmother, of happy memory."
Of course, the negotiations with the Pope must be
kept very secret, but there was a very good example
of how the matter might be managed.
When Henry IV. of France wanted to be reconciled
to Rome, he employed M. d'Ossat, then living as a
private priest. Just so, might King Charles of Eng
land " employ in a private Avay some stout spirited
priest, who durst lay the cause home to his Holiness,
and give him such motives for this design as he should
no ways be able to gainsay." Nay, there wras a priest
of the name of Houlden just fit for the office, being
" dexterous, learned, wise, virtuous, and a most loyal
subject of his Majesty."
Was this, as one would be ready to think, merely a
wild idea that occurred in some weak brain which
could meet with nothing but indignation at the hands
of the King ? For Charles always professed himself
a strict Protestant, nor is there any reason to believe
that he was otherwise. But then, what a pleasant
prospect it was to compel not only the stubborn
Scots, but the hated Parliament to bend to his will.
Charles was not much in the habit of asking himself
whether a thing was right or not — still here was the
example of the gallant Bourbon, who was, and still is,
held up as an object of such admiration to the world.
He had not scrupled to use the aid of the Catholics

128 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. when he found his plans must fail Avithout it. There
— is, unfortunately, no room to doubt of the complicity
of Charles in this conspiracy to betray the liberties of
England to her worst enemies. It matters little who
was the first mover, it is certain it met with the appro
bation of the King. An English Catholic, named Gage,
a colonel in the service of Spain, v was employed to
sound the Spaniards on the subject.* If they would
furnish the King of England with ten thousand armed
men, he, in return, would give them twenty thousand
unarmed. But the Spaniards thought the exchange on too large
a scale. They did not like the English, and did not
care to have twenty thousand in their army. Neither
could they spare ten thousand trained soldiers. But
they had long been accustomed to employ Irish mer
cenaries, whose very hatred to England made them
more trusted by Spain. Three mixed regiments were
a regular part of the Spanish army. Gage, therefore,
proposed that the King of England should enable
them to keep up these three regiments to the amount
of 2000 men in each, making in the whole 6000
Irish, added to 4000 English, the latter being thus kept
subordinate in number to the Irish. In exchange, they
might send 4000 foot and 400 horse troops to
Charles. This proposal came much nearer their wishes. But
the Spaniards seem to have had no more trust in his
Britannic Majesty than Lhis own countrymen, as they
desired his part of the treaty should be first per
formed. * Letter of Col. Gage, Clar. State Papers, ii., 21.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 129
As a rule, State Papers are not of interest to the 1638.
general reader. But so terrible a light does the fol- ~
lowing throw on the real character of Charles, so com
pletely does it justify the jealousy of the Puritans, and
so impossible is it to transmute the document into
clearer, simpler language, that it is better to copy it
from its original text in the handwriting of Winde-
banke, the King's Secretary of State.
" Instructions for our trusty and well-beloved
Colonel, Henry Gage, now in the service of the Infant
Cardinal in Flanders. *
" You shall immediately upon the receipt of our
letters of credit which go herewith, procure access to
the Infant Cardinal in private. And you shall deliver
our said letters, with such professions in our name of
our desire to continue a friendly intelligence with the
King of Spain and him, as you in discretion shall think
fit. " You shall then acquaint him with a proposition
lately made to us, wherein both our affairs and his are
highly concerned, which is for some number of soldiers
ready armed to be sent from thence for our service, in
exchange for a greater number unarmed, to be levied
here for the completing of their English and Irish
regiments there.
" You shall represent to him that the number which
weidesire for the present service is 6000 foot and 400
horse, which, considering the number they are to have
in exchange from hence yearly, being likely to con
tinue, is not great ; it being probable that the number
of their recruits every year, which they are to have
* Clarendon State Papers, 2, 23.

130 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. from hence, will amount to as many. Whereas we are
not likely after this present action to have occasion to
demand any from thence again.
" Of these 6000 foot, we expect 4500 shall be Har-
quebussiers, and the rest Pikes. And if the whole
number shall be less than 6000, then the division of
Harquebussiers and Pikes to be according to that pro
portion. These forces of horse and foot you are to
procure to be embarked at Dunkirk in vessels of the
King of Spain, and to be transported at our charge to
the rendezvous. And they are to be there by the 1st
day of April next ensuing, according to the foreign
computation. And you must acquaint them that if
they shall fail to be there at that time, they will be of
no use, and the service be utterly lost. And you shall
further make known to the Infant Cardinal that they
shall be safe conducted to the rendezvous by our ships.
And you are to procure that victuals be shipped- there
for these forces for one month at the least, at his Ma
jesty's charge, assuring the Infant Cardinal that our
ships which shall be sent to safe conduct, them, shall
bring ready money with them to pay for those victuals
and their freight, and for the defraying , of all other
incident and necessary charges.
" As soon as they shall be embarked, they are to
enter into our pay, according to the pay of Flanders,
and to continue for six months, or as long as there
shall be cause to use them ; only deduction is to be
made for their victuals.
" You are to take special care that the men be able,
and their arms complete and serviceable ; and the like
for the horse.
" You are to acquaint the Infant Cardinal that they

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 131
shall be commanded in chief by some person of the 1638.
nobility, being our subject. But that we expect your
personal service herein, as one in whom we shall much
confide, and therefore do desire him to authorise you
by commission accordingly.
" In consideration of these forces thus armed, we do
hereby engage ourself, that as soon as you shall have
concerted and agreed this business, and given notice of
it hither, he will instantly give warrant for the levying
of such numbers of our English and Irish subjects as
shall be sufficient to recruit and complete all such
English and Irish regiments and companies in the King
of Spain's service in Flanders, as at any time have
heretofore been recruited or completed. And we will
suffer or permit them to be sent from hence into
Flanders for the service of the King of Spain, without
any let or hindrance. And this, you are to assure the
Infant Cardinal, we do promise and bind ourself in the
word of a King, punctually to see performed. You
must use great secresy, dexterity, and expedition in
this business, and take care that it be not divulged ;
seeing if the party in Scotland should come to the
knowledge of it, it would be utterly overthrown. And,
therefore, the better to disguise it, when the forces
shall fall down to Dunkirk to be shipped, you must
advise upon some rumour to be cast out to amuse the
world, that they are designed for Biscay, Italy, or some
other parts, and give it out that they are victualled
accordingly. " You must be very cautious, especially if you shall
find this proposition not like to succeed, that you
deliver no paper thereof, nor engage his Majesty by
any writing, lest there be use made of it hereafter to

K 2

132 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. our prejudice and disservice. But if you shall find
a willingness- in the Infant Cardinal to assist us upon
these conditions, then you are necessarily to treat by
writing, but still under profound secresy and promise
on their part not to disclose it.
" Now you see the great trust we repose in you;
we doubt not but your diligences shall be answerable
and according to the weight of this important service.
" You are to press a speedy resolution herein, and
to give advertisement thereof hither within fifteen
days at the furthest, letting the Infant Cardinal know
that, unless expedition be used, the service will be
lost." Thus was to be solved the difficult question of
troops for the royal service. Had Charles committed
no other crime against his country than to have
entered into this plot, the revolution would have
been quite justifiable. What greater treason could
a King of England commit than to bring in foreign
troops paid by the Pope to crush the religion of
Scotland, to force the Parliament to abrogate the
laws of the country, to let loose the Roman Catholic
priests to prey upon the land, and finally, in return
for the aid lent in crushing his own country, to send
English and Irish men to uphold the tyranny of the
Spanish inquisition, and trample down the Protestant
religion in those very lands where Queen Elizabeth
lent her aid, and Sir Philip Sidney shed his blood to
uphold it.
Charles had, indeed, good cause to "use great
secresy." Quite necessary was the wicked lie about
the expedition. being designed for Biscay. He did not
in the least exaggerate when he said : "if the party

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 133
in Scotland should come to the knowledge of it, it 1638.
would be utterly overthrown." Had this proposal ~
to the Pope been discovered either in England or Scot
land, it is scarcely likely that the people would have
waited for the day of Nottingham.
Fortunately, a sudden reverse of the Spanish arms
rendered it impossible for them to spare their trained
men. The Dutch had obtained too great an advantage
over them, and the number of soldiers lost, put an end
to this miserable negotiation. The King, therefore,
had to renounce all hopes of coercing the Parliament
for the present, and to concentrate alf his efforts on the
rebellious Scots.
Lord Wentworth was prepared for a struggle ; but,
at the same time, justified the King in his usual insolent
style towards the defenders of liberty. He spoke of
the Scots exactly in the same manner as of Hampden.
" Nor is it to be expected," he said, " the King
should bear so great a disobedience, so high indignities
offered by subjects. Nor that they will, at after, be
brought into their right minds till they be well and
thriftily cudgelled back into them."
Having well examined into all needs, he sent an
agent to Holland to buy new arms, as they could be
obtained there better and cheaper than elsewhere.
Then, utterly worn out, he left Dublin, to endeavour
to snatch a little strength for the threatened troubles,
by passing a few weeks in the country. Nor did he
consider his own health alone.
" The plain truth is," he said, " I go to be quiet,
and cast up my accounts, that whilst the father is
light set by, I may at least be thought to have some
regard to the poor children."

CHAPTEE VI.

1638. The present opportunity was taken by Lord Went
worth, to attend to matters individual and personal :
the coming year gave promise of little time for any
thing but public matters.
The death of the. Earl of Clare had given rise to
disputes in his family concerning the division of the
property. One of the sons had written about it to
Lord Wentworth, who, as his brother-in-law, was likely
to take an interest, and whose affection to the memory
of his second wife never allowed him to pass by with
neglect the least trifle relating to her family.
The matter in question is only of present interest
as showing how unfading was the feeling he treasured
towards the Lady Arabella. He besought Laud to
call on the discordant family and endeavour to mediate.
His message is couched in these words : —
" From my brother Holles, I understand of the un
natural suits like to spring up in that family, whence
I had my late dearest wife, and forth of her those
children God of his goodness lends me. To be a
party I must not; to wish right understanding and
unity amongst them is my duty to the memory of that
blessed saint, how great a stranger soever I have
been made to all that concerns them ever since.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 135
Therefore, let me very humbly beseech your Grace to 1638.
employ your pious and wise endeavour to piece them
again if it be possible.
" I fear you will find them unruly, loving themselves
on both sides something further than moderation, with
out that equal respect which we ought all to observe
towards others."
Poor Laud may well be pitied for the task that
Wentworth desired him to perform, though the quality
he was desired to bring to its aid, was one that he
possessed in perfection.
" Be something obstinate," continues Wentworth,
" let not a little beat you off so good a work, and
finally, overrule them to be friends, whether they will
or no. You will say that is a hard matter. And
indeed, I am persuaded less will not do it. They are
propositi tenaces, which way soever you turn you."
To overrule antagonists to be friends in their own
despite, may be safely said to be an impossible matter.
Nevertheless, it cannot be doubted that many a discord
remains unhealed for lack of a wise and good third
party, who, in the interests of justice and as a part of
that most solemn duty enjoined to each, to do all the
good in his power, shall at least make the attempt.
The quarrels that are incurable and finally deepen into
hatred, are those where there is determined wrong on
one side — generally the stronger side. And while it
is the rarest thing in this world, for a spectator to
brave the distasteful task of pointing out to the
powerful wrong-doer his evil position, and endeavour
ing to convince him of the real nobility of forsaking
it, never are wanting a whole swarm of parasites and
those interested in keeping open the breach, to en-

136 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. courage and flatter and confirm injustice ; till, before
long, it persuades itself of the merit of its own deeds,
and views them with complacency only more settled
by time.
But there are, nevertheless, quarrels, and very bitter
and painful ones too, that only wait the voice of
the mediator to vanish into air. They are, when two
souls of high order split on a mistake that has arisen,
it may be accidentally, it may be one of the tares
purposely sown by some wicked enemy who designs
to plunder the wheat. If the parties in question are
not old associates, and have lived apart, they may
separate with the wildest mistakes, the most extrava
gant misconstruction of each other's character. Once
on a wrong track, every circumstance which really
points the opposite way but serves to misguide ; and
farther and farther apart they go, till those who by
unity might largely have increased their own happiness •
and that of mankind, live asunder, maimed both in user
fulness and the enjoyment of life. But, it is here that
a third person, resolved, as Lord Wentworth says, to
" let not a little beat him off so good a work," may
prove the good physician. Let him take pains to
ascertain the exact truth, let him state this truth to
each of the opponents, let him point out the error
under which either or both are suffering, and if they
really be men of lofty souls, his task is done, his re
ward is gained — it is of such, that the Great Teacher
declared ' Blessed are the peace-makers.'
Laud was about the last person to fulfil these con
ditions. The most he was likely to do was, without
any inquiry into facts, without troubling himself
as to who really was right or wrong to address

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 137
himself to the weaker party, and advise him not 1638.
to quarrel but to show his love of peace, by
yielding unconditionally, perhaps his very honour
and truth, to the stronger, . and he would then
counsel the stronger who might be altogether in
the wrong to accept the mean submission. Should
this equivocal mode fail, he would be likely to
maintain a pleasant friendship with the strong and
evil, utterly deserting the weak and just as an ob
stinate wrangler, foolish and perverse who deserved his
fate. Laud's manner of commencing his task was not
promising. He announced as his sole motive for call
ing on the antagonists, the wish of Lord Wentworth
that he should try to make peace between them. As
for himself, he had quite work enough of his own to
attend to, and should be very glad if Lord Clare would
refuse his interference. Still, as it was a good work,
and his friend desired him to perform it, he would not
refuse the trouble.
His success was in proportion to his zeal. Yet
Lord Wentworth again wrote : —
" I still beseech you be pleased to settle a peace, if
possibly it may be, in the house of my late Lord Clare,
which I shall most humbly acknowledge. Howbeit,
perchance this is more than either I or yourself shall
have from anybody else. But I owe so much to the
memory of the wife I had from them, that it gives me
infinite contentment when I am able to further any
thing I think would have pleased her."
The attempt proved a total failure.
Meanwhile, another and much more entangled suit
was progressing.

138 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. Tjp t0 the year 1637, the strongest of all Lord
Wentworth's supporters in Ireland, independently of
his two personal friends, Radcliffe and Wandesforde,
was Adam Loftus, the Lord Chancellor, who had been
one of the Lords Justices previous to the arrival of
the Deputy. Wentworth had on every occasion es
pecially acknowledged his help, and it will be remem
bered on his late visit to England, procured him the
honorarium of £3000 in acknowledgment of his good
services. Yet, shortly after this, for some unknown reason, the
good feeling between the Deputy and Chancellor began
to decline and show its decay in various insignificant
matters. At length the smouldering fire burst into an
open blaze.
Sir John Giffard brought an action against the Lord
Chancellor on behalf of Sir Francis Ruishe for breach
of contract. It appeared that the eldest son of the
Chancellor had married the daughter of Ruishe, and
at the marriage an agreement was made, that in
return for a portion of £15,000 brought by the lady,
the Chancellor should settle £300 a year on herself
and £1200 a year in land on her children. The
marriage being completed and the portion paid, the
Chancellor refused to perform his part of the contract.
On this, the father of the lady employed Sir John
Giffard to bring an action against the defaulter.
The case was tried before the Lord Deputy and
Council, and decided against the Chancellor, who, on
this, loudly protested against the sentence, challenged
the authority of the Court and bitterly accused the
Lord Deputy of having secretly instigated the pro
ceedings against him. Lord Wentworth in return

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 139
burst into one of his diseased and undying rages, and 1638-
immediately sent his report to England. He soon
received a letter from Mr. Secretary Coke, to the
effect, that his Majesty was highly displeased that the
Lord Chancellor, so great and ancient a judge, and
who best understood how to make perfect answers,
should now by three imperfect answers to the Lord
Deputy and Council, have shown disrespect to justice
and dishonour both to the Lord Deputy and the
State. In order to prevent any farther scandal to the
government by so eminent an example of contempt,
the King requested the Lord Deputy, in case the
Chancellor persisted in denying his authority and that
of the Council, to take the seals from him and use
such compulsory means as law and justice required.
But considering his long service and present old age,
if he at once submitted, his offence was to be passed
by and he was to retain his office, which otherwise
was to be elsewhere disposed of.
To this message of his Majesty, Coke added the
following scornful comment of his own.
" The Lord Chancellor is in your hands, which, I am
persuaded, will support him better than his own, in
this infirmity of his age and passion."
But right or wrong as might have been the Chan
cellor in the main cause, it was unjustifiable to treat
him like a child in this manner, and he very properly
refused to submit. He accordingly petitioned the
King for leave to come to England and lay the case
before him. As long ago as the year 1628, permis
sion to come to England whenever he pleased had
been granted him under the great seal, it was there-

140 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. fore a mere matter of form to apply for it now.
However, his request was well taken. In granting it,
the King used these words : " Our said Chancellor,
having occasions of importance requiring his present
repair hither, hath humbly besought us to give him
leave to come over hither, as not presuming to adven
ture to come without our pleasure and direction therein,
notwithstanding his former grant, Avhich we do not
only take well from him, but are now graciously
pleased to grant unto him this his suit."
A letter was therefore sent to Lord Wentworth
directing him to license the Chancellor's departure.
It was one of the constant double-faced ways of
Charles. First, he had given the Deputy absolute
power over the defendant. Then, without the least
reference to this, he had made the defendant absolutely
independent of him.
It was not likely that with the King's license for
his departure, the Chancellor should submit, nor was
it more probable that with the King's warrant to com
mit him, Wentworth should forbear. In such a case,
the strongest must win the day, and accordingly, Sir
Adam Loftus was deprived of his seals of office and
committed to prison by the Lord Deputy and all the
Council for contempt of court. An account was sent
to the King, who thereupon fully confirmed his com
mittal, but at the* same time declared his intention of
hearing the appeal of the Chancellor, on condition that
he apologised to the Court for his contemptuous
behaviour. If he did this, he was not to come to
England at once, but to stay in Ireland till he had
stated all his grounds of appeal, and answered all the
charges of the Lord Deputy and Council in full. But

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 141
he still refused to apologise, and this being reported to 1638.
the King, a royal message was sent to the Lord-
Deputy and Council, expressing the most complete
approbation of their conduct to the unlucky Chan
cellor, " Only," said his Majesty : " we mislike your
overmuch forbearance and patience, in permitting such
scandalous disrespect to be cast by him both upon you,
our Deputy, and upon the Board ; which reflect upon
our authority and the government very much, and are
not to be passed over.
" We do, therefore, require you to call him again
before you, and represent unto him his miscarriage in
such sort as it appeareth by your said letters and our
great mislike thereof. And withal, let him know, that
for reparation of the honour due to us and our govern
ment there, we require him to submit himself, and to
acknowledge his fault before you, and to petition for
pardon in that behalf; without performance whereof
you are to keep him still in his restraint ; and we are
resolved not to admit him to our presence ; which
otherwise (that and such other things being performed
as our former letters required) we are pleased to grant,
and that with such expedition as you desire." *
What was the use of resistance after such a warning
as this? Nothing but the consciousness of inno
cence and the resolution to suffer rather than gain
relief by ignoble means, could have sustained the
Chancellor in continued defiance. Of one of these he
was certainly deficient.
Lord Wentworth and the Council both declared
that he had so grossly misrepresented matters that
* The King to the Lord Deputy and Council, ii., 196.

142 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. nothing'less than a public hearing of the case should
satisfy them, as the only way to vindicate the honour
of their proceedings, and their own good name to the
world.* They charged the Lord Chancellor with "foul trans
gressions in the exercise of his place, to the great
scandal of his Majesty's catholic justice and oppression
of the subject, as well as to his lordship's own par
ticular benefit." If they were not able to prove their
words, then would they have abused the King.
They " imputed to the Chancellor his insolent
breaking through even all his Majesty's directions for
the government of this kingdom (Ireland), and that,
by his vast assumptions and universal irregularities,
he hath invaded and disordered the whole frame of
justice and all the other courts of judicature through
out the kingdom, and do all to a man advertise that,
in our poor opinions, that lord, the peace and pros
perity of this State and his Majesty's affairs cannot any
longer stand together."
The style of these general charges are so manifestly
exaggerated that it would be quite unjust to condemn
Loftus from them. The fact that the whole of the
Council joined against him is also no proof of guilt.
Innumerable have been the cases in which a large
number have joined to condemn an innocent person.
Nothing but a knowledge of the whole of the facts
can enable us to judge this or any other case justly.
And these we do not possess, as, unfortunately, the
great events that so rapidly followed prevented a
rigorous revision of the trial of this case.
* The Lord Deputy to Sir John Wintour, ii., 227.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 143
A vague report, given by Lord Clarendon, ascribes 1638.
the interest of Lord Wentworth in behalf of the pay- ~
ment of the marriage settlement of the young Lady
Loftus to a scandalous intrigue between himself and
her, some letters " of a tender nature " having " been
said " to be found in her cabinet after her death. But
of this, also, there is not the slightest proof. Neither
the letters nor a single sentence from them were ever
given, while the defendant made not the slightest
allusion to such a cause. But as Lord Wentworth's
brother had married a Mrs. Ruishe, there was a very
simple reason for the Deputy taking a special interest
in this case.
The strongest argument is furnished by the Lord
Chancellor against himself. To gain his release, he
signed a mean petition for pardon, with a confession,
which, if false, tells more against him than if it were
true, and exhibits one of the most painful pictures of
humiliation and cowardice, while, at the same time,
an old man compelled to such an utterance by fear
alone cannot but excite our pity for himself and disgust
for those whose lack of mercy and forbearance forced
him into such a position, using the helplessness of old
age as a tool of crime.
Notwithstanding this confession, he did not gain
his liberty. His neglect to comply with the orders of
the Council in several matters — such, for instance, as
sequestrating a portion ofhis estate to pay the sum sued
for — furnished cause for detaining him in prison, and
it was not till the 19th of November, 1639, that his
appeal against the judgment was heard before the
King and the Privy Council of England. He gained
nothing by it, as the Irish sentence was fully confirmed

144 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. in every article, and he was compelled to pay the
portion according to his agreement.
As far as we can judge, he appears to have been
in the wrong. No reason is assigned for his breaking
the contract he had voluntarily made, and the error of
Lord Wentworth appears to have been not in deciding
the cause against him, and compelling him to keep his
word, but in the fierce and merciless manner he
maintained to a man who, if in the wrong, was old,
and had been a faithful servant to both the King and
his Deputy, and who, while compelled to do justice,
might have been spared the petty indignity of a public
apology. A more pleasant occupation during the time was the
consultation of Lord Wentworth with Lord Clifford.
Clifford, as has been already stated, had been ordered
to hold himself in readiness, and he had written to
Wentworth, to ask his advice.
To him Wentworth spoke openly, and expressed
himself with less confidence than hitherto. He said
he should never meddle with the affairs of Scotland
unless compelled — one kingdom was enough for him
to attend to. If the Marquis of Hamilton, who had
been sent as King's ambassador to them, should fail
them, Lord Wentworth thought the effect would be in
every way most troublesome and distracting. The
inward rent was more to be feared than any out
ward enemy, so long as they were all united against
the latter. But blows, he felt sure, must be exchanged.
To his brother-in-law, Clifford, who had always
been greatly attached to him, he gave the following
counsel : —
"You may be sure you are to have your share.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 145
And a business, indeed, worth your looking unto, as 163&
an occasion wherein you may not only express your ~
virtue and the ancient faith of your house to the
Crown, but make it a great and ready step to your
own honour and fortune. And therefore,- in my judg
ment, you are with all cheerfulness and diligence to
attend and execute such commands as his Majesty may
honour your Lordship with."
He then advised him strongly to see to the train
ing of his men with his own eye, assuring him that
the presence of the commander had a wonderful effect
on the progress of the men. He especially advised
him to be a proficient in the use of pike and musket,
as when soldiers saw their officers well acquainted
with the commonest duties, it encouraged them greatly
to learn them themselves. This plan would make him
quickly master of work which, if trusted to inferiors*
would be drawn out to a mighty length.
" I wish myself at your elbow for an hour a day next
week," said Lord Wentworth, kindly, " in which
time if I made you not the best musketeer Trent
North, you should never trust to my assumption at
after." He then warned him to be very careful in choosing
only able-bodied men, licensing all aged and decrepit
persons to go free, and send strong ones in their
places. Also after he had carefully trained men for service,
not to allow them to exchange without his special war
rant, or that of some responsible officer. The trained
men should, as far as possible, be either householders
themselves, or the sons of good yeomen, with settled
places of abode, so as not to be tempted to flit about.
VOL. II. L

146 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. He was to accustom his men to bear the weight of
their armour and weapons, so that it might as soon as
possible become easy. Above all, let him win the
King's confidence in his fidelity, and deserve it. And
as it was likely there would be a garrison placed in
Carlisle, he could not too soon use the interest of his
friends to be made governor of it. It was all the more
worth Lord Clifford's trial, as Wentworth believed that
when once the garrison was there it was not likely to
be removed again.
At present, he believed the King would surely send
Clifford some able soldier to aid him in his task ; but,
if not, he himself would let him have a practised officer
from his own army, who should teach his men the use
of arms, and that "better perhaps than one of your
great colonels, who many times vainly think it an
inferior thing for them to know anything that belongs
thereunto." Fervently did Lord Wentworth endeavour to raise
up friends for his master, and inspire them with loyalty
against the struggle he began too plainly to see could
not be avoided.
To the Marquis of Lorne he wrote, thanking him for
his warning, and calling on him to support the King.
" In a time so uncertain and declining towards disobe
dience," he told him, " it becomes us all, especially
persons of your lordship's blood and abilities, actively
and avowedly to serve the Crown. A perfunctory
duty is less, by much less, than can acquit us. either in
ourselves or to others, never to stand in judgment before
the clear discerning eye of our great and wise master.
To be lazy lookers on, to lean to the King behind
the curtain, or to whisper forth only our allegiance, will
not serve our turn."

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 147
His next argument was artfully directed to the 1638.
self interest of Lord Lorne, of whose disinterestedness _
he had many and grave doubts. He himself truly
needed no such argument to serve the King as the
following : —
"Much rather ought we to break our shins in
emulation who should go soonest and furthest in
assurance, and in courage to uphold the prerogatives
and full dominion of the Crown, ever remembering
ourselves that nobility is such a grudged and envied
piece of monarchy that all tumultuary force offered to
Kings doth ever in the second place fall upon the
peers, being such motes in the eyes of a giddy multi
tude as they never believe themselves clear sighted
into their liberty, indeed, till these be at least levelled
to a parity, as the other altogether removed to give
better prospect to their anarchy."
Now follows a striking illustration of Lord Went
worth's views on religion. He is perfectly honest in
what he says : —
" But most lamentable it is to hear that religion
should be once mentioned to patronise the disobedience
of subjects towards their King ; that it should be
preached in a Protestant Church, against so excellent
and Christian a prince, is most scandalous, and in
flames and heightens the madness of it beyond all
example. " Could Bellarmine, Mariana, with all the rest of
that rebellious college do more? Nay, did they
ever so much ? Certainly, no. For they never ab
solved subjects of their allegiance, but when the King
in their opinion was heretick in fundamentals.
" But to shake off that strait bond for discipline, for
L 2

148 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. ceremonies, for things (let Mr. Bloyer and his Presbyters
~ rage never so much to the contrary) purely and
simply indifferent, is more, in truth, I think, than the
Church of Rome itself can justly be convicted or
accused of.
" May God, therefore, in his goodness avert that
mischief, that great impiety from amongst us, and give
us the grace with modesty and humility to look into
and discern those better duties which all law of God
and man exact of us in these exigents."
If these things were indeed purely and simply in
different, why should the King force them on a nation
at the expense of war. Certainly Wentworth himself
would not have done it. He now supported the King
not to uphold his religion but his authority, even in
such trifles. But to the Scots they were no more
trifles than the great idol to which Nebuchadnezzar
bade the prophet bow. All through the Old Testa-
, ment idolatry was stamped as the greatest of sins.
All through the New Testament Christ and the
Apostles had marked their worship by its absolute
simplicity and absence of form. Christ himself preached
anywhere. On the heights of the mountain, by the
waves of the sea, even amid the fields of corn his
voice was heard. The very strongest of his denuncia
tions was reserved for the Pharisees, who, leaving the
spirit, rested all on the empty form of religion. Paul
had not hesitated to denounce the superstition that
imagined the Lord of Heaven and Earth could
narrow his dAvelling-place to a temple made with
hands. What possible precedent or authority could be found
in the acts ofthe first disciples for enforcing the wearing

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 149
of a surplice, the turning to the east, the bowing at 1638.
the name ofChrist in a creed, while the name of God 
himself was passed over without notice ?
To obey the orders of Laud and the King, with
regard to these things was, in the eyes of the Scots,
to become idolaters. In religion, no single thing was
a matter of indifference to them, and that any " exi
gence " could compel them to place the law of the
King above that of God they denied.
If it be objected that they were wrong in thus en
deavouring to act up to a code of laws founded for
another people in another land long ages ago, the
answer is plain. The King, equally with themselves,
professed to make this volume his law. To measure
him by it, therefore, was simply to judge him by the
standard he himself had set.
Having done his best with the Lords Clifford and
Lorne, Lord Wentworth had now the disagreeable but
imperative duty of admonishing his nephew, Sir Wil
liam Savile, for refusing to obey the commands of his
Vice-President, Sir Edward Osborne, to send his horses
to York. That any one related to himself should be
so mutinous was especially grievous, and, knowing how
great must have been the annoyance of the writer, the
tone is all the more surprising. That a man capable
of administering deserved reproof in a manner so
courteous, dignified, and reasonable, should at other
times have given way to malignant abuse, and for a
mere trifle, is very lamentable. It is difficult to imagine
a more worthy and gracious reprimand to an obsti
nate and hot-headed young man than Lord Wentworth
administered. It must be remembered that Savile
was the son of Lord Wentworth's sister, orphaned of

150 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. both his parents, and had been as a child committed to
~ the care of his uncle by his father, who had been a
close friend of Wentworth.
Such conduct as that of Savile could in no light be
justified. Had he belonged to the popular party, he
had no right to hold office and set the laws at defiance.
As it was, he professed himself a loyal adherent of the
King, and "yet insulted his superior officer, and set a
bad example of insubordination.
He showed great ingratitude to Lord Wentworth,
by adding to his troubles as President. To disobey
Sir Edward Osborne was,in fact, to disobey Lord Went
worth. The latter had always been a most kind uncle
to Savile. He had proved a faithful guardian to him
when left an orphan, and for many years had devoted
a large portion of his time to the management of his
nephew's estates. His letter* had no influence on
Savile, who continued to oppose Osborne as before,
and soon gave cause for a new remonstrance.
Lord Wentworth now received a letter from the
Bishop of Down, warning him a justice of the peace in
the country of Antrim, and a Scot of good property
both in Ireland and Scotland, had secretly gone to
Scotland, and there signed the Covenant. The Bishop be
lieved that many other Scots in Ireland had followed the
example of Adair ; that all the Puritans in his diocese
were quite confident that the revolt in Scotland would
have the effect of procuring toleration for themselves.
Many whom he had brought to conformity had now
again broken loose. Scotch merchants coming to

* This letter will bejfound in the Strafford Papers. It is with much
regret that I find my limits exclude it here.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 151
Ireland on business openly avowed they had signed the 1638.
Covenant, and boldly justified the Act.
To this Lord Wentworth replied by advising the
Bishop to remain quiet till they had captured Adair.
He told him to find out the names of all who had
signed the Covenant and send them to him.
To this the Bishop answered, that there were many
not only in his diocese but all over Ireland, who had
signed, only he could not prove the fact. He had
lately no intelligence from Scotland, as all his letters
had been intercepted. But he sent a list of persons,
with this remarkable assertion : —
"I daresay that these persons whose names I
present to your Lordship are guilty, because they
are notable Nonconformists, and have been lately in
Scotland." As for those who contemned his process and opposed
his jurisdiction, they were more than would fill all the
jails in Ireland. As in Scotland they had signed a
bond to defend each other by arms, so in Ireland they
had vowed to defend each other by oaths. They made
him weary of his life.
It was quite true that the Scots in Ireland were
growing confident. Charles had tried to deceive their
countrymen at home by every kind of false concession,
simply to keep them quiet till the spring.
But his acts were vain. There were too many in
England to sympathise with Scotland to render it pos
sible to hide from them his secret preparations for
war. The Scots were kept well informed of what was
going on, and refused to be deceived.
Charles, therefore, told Wentworth he was at full
liberty to use his own judgment to make what prepa-

152 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1G38. rations he thought fit in Ireland, and, though he could
not afford to diminish the army there, still he hoped
he would be able at least to spare him five hundred
men to garrison Carlisle. He was to send an answer
at once to this effect, and to be sure to observe the
utmost secresy in the matter. If he could manage
the men, then some pretext must be invented for their
leaving Ireland. Also the King hoped he would send
him some good cannon.
To this Lord Wentworth replied that he would
provide the five hundred men by the end of two
months — earlier would be impossible, as they would
have to be selected and brought together from various
different garrisons.
They should be well provided for a twelvemonth
with powder, bullets, and matches from the Irish
stores. They and their officers should be of the firmest
loyalty to the Crown ; they should be men of great
bodily strength, and perfect in the knowledge of their
profession : in short, said Wentworth, proudly,
" such as England itself, without sometime of exer
cise and practice, shall hardly be able to set beside
them." It is easy to imagine the busy care he would
employ in sending out such a picked body [as
should call forth expressions of admiration from all
beholders. Any one might safely have staked his life on what
the appearance of these troops was certain to be.
Then for the pretence Avhich Charles had warned
the Lord Deputy must be made for raising this force,
Wentworth had composed a pleasant little fiction.
He should say that, as he hearcl that the Marquis of

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 153
Lome was fortifying the other side of the water 1638.
without the. King's orders, it seemed to him very
suspicious, especially as the Scots were riding up and
down the same part armed with the, for them, very
unusual weapon of a sword. The Council should con
firm this story, and thus prevent any idea of the real
destination of the troops, who were publicly to be
levied for Carrickfergus, Derry, and Coleraine.
A ship was to be in readiness to embark them at
the appointed time, and the port of disembarkation
Lord Wentworth advised to be Whitehaven, in Cum
berland, within two days' march of their destination.
He advised that their pay, from the day of their
leaving their present quarters, should be raised from
sixpence to eightpence a day, in order to encourage
them. Sixpence was the Irish, eightpence the English
rate, and the soldiers might reasonably complain if, in
England, they had not English pay. It was true this
would increase the expense to £1500 in a year, but
the cheerfulness and contentment it would give would
be worth more than the money. As for the officers,
he would trust to the King's princely bounty for such
augmentation as they should merit. Still, he must
remind his Majesty that the deduction of this force
was very perilous at such a time, and, therefore, he
begged permission to raise an equal number of men to
replace it.
The next question was for a commander for the de
parting troops. Lord Wentworth thought they would
prefer to serve under one they knew, and for that
purpose he recommended Sir Francis Willoughby, who
would accompany them to England. But if that were
not convenient, then he suggested his own brother-in-

154 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. law, Lord Clifford, already the King's Lieutenant on
— the Border. He was by nature secret, trusty, and
loyal. Besides this, he belonged to a family of great
honour and countenance in those regions, and, indeed,
it might be an excellent thing for his Majesty's affairs
if Lord Clifford were made Governor of Carlisle.
This suggestion Avas carelessly slipped in between
the advice for the disposal of the men, which he now
continued. It would be very needful to add to this
Irish force at least fifty if not a hundred horsemen,
who might serve also as scouts along the Border.
He then adverted to the King's demand for cannon.
He had a sufficient quantity of ordnance, but strange
to say, it was all at present useless for want of car
riage. Pie had sent for seasoned planks to England
to supply this want, but was answered, there was none
in store. He then ordered wood to be felled in Ire
land, but as yet it was not seasoned, the Irish timber
being not only bad but cut at the wrong time. How
ever, by Whitsuntide he trusted to have twelve field
pieces, and eight pieces of battery ready mounted.
Having thus settled his own part, Lord Wentworth
proceeded to advise the King for the future. By all
means, he must fortify Dumbarton, and secure it by a
strong garrison. The place was of the utmost import
ance, and three thousand men might be placed there
to the best advantage, and by the help of the fleet be
victualled from Ireland if necessary.
By the fleet, also, all the best harbours on the south
western coast might be gained, and with the concur
rence of Lords Nithsdale and Kircudbright, and other
loyal Scots, all the ground between the two garrisons
might be secured. Besides, " with such a cloud hang-

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 155
ing behind over their backs," the Presbyters would 1638.
hardly be able to preach far from home. And so, at
least, they would be forced to keep the fire within their
own borders, without bursting fortli to the annoyance
of their neighbours. If matters should come to ex
tremity, it would be worthy of his Majesty's wisdom
to think how at once he could seize all the shipping of
the Scots both in England and Scotland, particularly
to pounce upon as many of their ships coming laden
from the vintage in France, and those fishing on their
own coasts. " Perchance, taking from them their wine,
it might render them more sober."
But the most important step of all was to seize
Leith, to fortify it strongly and garrison it with ten
thousand men. This would not be difficult by means
of the fleet which should carry this force, and by
commanding the line of coast, provision the town at
pleasure. Only let his Majesty cast his eye on the map and
note how handsomely Leith, Dumbarton, Berwick, and
Carlisle lie quartered to cut off all the lower and best
part of Scotland from the rest.
The Scots were understood to be much excited with
hopes of help from their countrymen in Ireland, and
indeed there was so much arrogance among them
there, that the conjecture was likely enough. Still
Lord Wentworth was confident he could keep all quiet,
on one condition, viz., he must have full authority to
check the first signs of revolt and crush the serpent in
the egg.
Then followed one of those repulsive outbursts of
insolence which from time to time disfigure his corre
spondence. After many lines of wisdom, of thought,

156 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. of foresight ; after fond expressions of loyalty and
~ friendship, suddenly do these most odious utterances
start forth. It is quite possible that some paroxysm of
bodily agony aroused the demon at these moments,
and prompted words that in calmer feelings he might
not have spoken. Knowing what at this very time he
was enduring in the shape of the most racking internal
disease that can tear the human frame, in addition to
the gout, we may be charitable enough to suppose
that possible. Meanwhile, justice reluctantly must be
obeyed, and the words alluded to, literally given. " Let
none magnify of these barbarous mutineers, as being
above your Majesty's discipline to correct and reduce.
For it is not possible in human reason, but they are
without much difficulty to be bowed to right reason
without adventuring of many blows. For, by the way,
I should never advise to afford them the honour of
striking a battle with the Crown, much rather to keep
them in with strong garrisons by land, with your fleet
at sea, and so watch, fast, and starve them out of this
madness into their right wits.
" Undoubtedly, sir, there is nothing much to be feared,
or indeed considerable, but the expense of treasure in
the service. And first or last, sure they should forth
of their own store defray the charge, that invited us
to this drunken and surfeited banquet; and, in the
mean time, be forced into large contributions to these
neighbouring garrisons, procuring them to be spoken,
withal, in the same rate Absalom, we read, did with
Joab." Two days had not elapsed after this sentence
was penned, when Sir Edward Osborne, for whose
judgment Lord Wentworth had a high respect, sat
down to send him an opinion altogether the reverse.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 157
Osborne knew the Scotch better than Wentworth. 1638.
He had been near the Border, too, since these troubles
began, and had frequently conversed with the Scotch
commissioners in their passage to and fro. The Marquis
of Hamilton had just returned quite defeated in his
negotiations. All his attempts to put the Scots off
their guard had failed. Concession after concession
had been offered, and to those who knew nothing more
than the offers of the King, the Covenanters might
justly have appeared unreasonable and ungovernable.
But there was the old, old story behind the scenes — the
duplicity of Charles. So notorious was his character
by this time as a liar and a perjurer, that they would
have been weak indeed to have trusted to his word
without beating the ground on all sides. And the
Scots were about the last people in the world to neg
lect this. They were far harder to deceive than the
English. They kept their spies in all directions, and
had besides good correspondents among the discon
tented Southerners. Despite the " secrecy " and the
" pretexts " and the " caution " of the King, his move
ments and preparations were quite sufficiently known
to them to enable them to make counter-strokes in
return. And a murmur, rolling and growing louder
as it neared the Border, thrilled the whole frame of
many with a foreboding of a very different struggle
from that imagined by Wentworth. This opinion, Sir
Edward Stanhope, Colonel of the Train Bands of York,
ventured to express to the Lord Deputy, thus : —
" Give me leave to dissent somewhat from your
lordship. You do not think the lion is so terrible as
he is painted. Point blank against this I am not, and
yet think he is terrible enough to fear (frighten) us.

158 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. . " That he is terrible enough to fear us, sure, though
~ it cannot be but that we in number are more than
twenty to one. Yet how often hath that failed both
in the Roman wars, the Turkish, the French, and with
us against them, besides a numberless number of more
examples, more ancient, more modern, and nearer
hand. " It hath been, especially in places of advantage,
by the greatest commander in the world, thought too
many hands have as often done hurt as too few. And
doubtless they are able to bring men enough to the
field (though not to supply losses) yet to give battle
to any prince in Christendom, and keep as many as
may secure their own country, if there were need of
anything but the country itself to kill them that assault
it. Out of doubt, they may draw out above three
score thousand strong, able, well-armed men, such as
hardly will be terrified with any danger, and such as
are inured to all the ills that war commonly puts
soldiers to."
Stanhope here alluded to the numerous Scots who,
under the command of their countryman, Lesly, had
learned the art of war under Gustavus Adolphus. To
have fought under the standards of this great king was
to have obtained the highest certificate of competency
and endurance. Stanhope well knew the King was
arousing no mere barbarous mutineers, but veteran
warriors, to be terrified with no danger, worn out by
no hardship.
" Though in the first," he submitted, " we may
equal them, as long as health and strength lasts, yet
doubtless in the other we fall far short. It is most
certain of such men, excellently well armed, they have

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 159
in one shire thirty thousand. We are, questionless, 1638.
far inferior to them in number of great and expert ~
commanders within this kingdom. And I fear if it
should come to that, which God avert, they would be
too far within to be easily cast out again by those sent
for from foreign parts.
" And I am persuaded — nay, it cannot be, but we
shall have work enough to draw our eyes, hands, and
hearts from them to guard more precious things."
Not only did Sir Edward differ from Lord Went
worth in his estimate of the power of the Scots, but he
widely dissented from him in another equally important
matter. Lord Wentworth, strangely enough, was altogether
blind to the sympathy that must needs exist between
the English and Scotch Nonconformists. He looked
on them as ancient enemies, who maintained the old
feelings of hatred to each other ; and, with a most in
comprehensible lack of his usual caution, he wrote to
the King :
"Let none persuade your Majesty to distrust the
loyalty and cheerfulness of your English subjects on this
occasion. For, upon my faith to God, I believe they
will be found very ready and trusty in the pursuance
of all your commands, and most unwilling to divide
stakes with the other. And, as for this subject (the
Irish), questionless, the English (and native in this
exigent) are most assured no suspicion to be had of
them at all."
So far from agreeing to this, Sir Edward Stanhope
told him : " Doubtless, no part of his Majesty's
dominions but would be infested more or less. Nay,
which is worse, who can tell how many hearts they

160 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. have (God pardon and turn the hearts of such) in this
kingdom1? Who, though they may be drawn to ihe
field, may fight so faintly as they had better run away.
Nay, perhaps if fortune smile on them in any one
conflict, false cowards may prove fatal and bloody
butchers to their own side."
Notwithstanding the harsh words he applied at
times, perhaps to testify his own loyalty, it is quite
evident that Stanhope not only fully understood the
character and appreciated the power of dogged re
sistance in the Scots, but that he did not conceal from
himself that their course was a just one, and that the
feeling of its justice would inspire them with as much
strength as all their weapons, and that both together
would be likely to make them irresistible. He plainly
disapproved of the King's measures, and pointed out
every obstacle to his success ; perhaps in the hopes of
converting Lord Wentworth to his own opinion, and
of obtaining his influence in renouncing all persuasion
of the King to the war.
" If," said he, " it should come to so great a mis
chief as a winter war, if they were able to lie in their
trenches and have store of provision (as I believe they
Avould have, for doubtless they will make these parts
the seat of war), they scarce would ever need to fight,
but would find cold nights and ill weather their
familiar friends ; and we, I mean the common soldier,
would be found dead under every hedge.
"Doubtless, in point of enduring hardiness and
fighting in blood, the courage of the peasant is as
great as of either the gentlemen or noblemen, quite
contrary to them of France, and as now effeminated."
The attention of the reader is especially called to

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 161
the next words of Sir Edward Stanhope. They are in 1638.
every way remarkable, not only for the sentiments
they contain, but as coming from a man whose position
was altogether opposed to that of the rmen of whom
he was speaking. They must have fallen strangely on
the thoughts of Lord Wentworth.
"Neither," says Stanhope, "is it a small encourage
ment to the common soldier to fight for victory,
liberty, maintenance of their laws and privileges,
besides booty and riches.
" Whereas we have but one of these, the glory of
the victory, which of how mean estimation it is, and
how insensible the common people (our strength in
respect to number) are of it, we may by experience
daily find.
"Nor is it not to be unregarded that these will have
less courage to fight against such as intend us no ill,
but in their own defence, and perhaps will seem to
take nothing from us but that the necessity of war
compels them to."
Stanhope did not think the Irish could be depended
on. They were more likely to take advantage of a
time of trouble to turn against the English.
At last, he pointed out to Lord Wentworth the real
key to the supposed ingratitude of the Scots.
" The late Proclamation, doubtless, was a very
gracious satisfaction to their demands, yet they think
it such a thing as is void of all reality, and rather a
snare than a declaration of liberty from surmised
grievances, only published to gain time, and lose the
advantage supposed now in their hands. The con
fession and bond lately published (by the King) and
enjoined to be sworn to by all people of all estates and

162 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1638. degrees within the kingdom is suspected to aim at no
_ other end, but as a bait cast out among dogs to set
them together by the ears, and rather to annihilate
and break asunder their former covenant."
Stanhope was not the only man who recognised the
real blackness of the approaching cloud. Other in
telligence also reached Lord Wentworth, such as made
his first confidence of an easy victory begin to fail, and
to show him matters in their real light. His health
continued to decay. After his excursion into the
country, he returned to Dublin much less benefited
than usual, and had scarcely reached the castle before
a relapse swept away what little increase of strength
he had gained. Again we meet with the melancholy
apologies in his letters for his shortcomings on account
of his health. Thus to the King :
" Having already been three days and three nights
in a sharp pain of the gout, I do most humbly desire
leave to borrow the pen of my secretary," &c.
" My indisposition hath so hindered this despatch,
as before I had freed my hands of it, I am overtaken
with your Majesty's," &c, &c.
" I write in much pain and in a very untoward
posture, be your Majesty therefore pleased to pardon
the disorder of the discourse and the badness of the
character," &c.
" I caused myself to be taken forth of my bed and
to be set in this chair, that so I might humbly write
these lines to your Majesty," &c.
" If your Majesty knew the pain I here bear in
writing thus much, your goodness would pardon these
scribbles," &c.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 163
To the Earl of Newcastle.  1_
" You will be pleased to admit a lame man's answer
forth of his bed, by the hand of his secretary, that is
not able for the present to move any way but by the
help of others," &c.
To Sir John Wintour.
" This Avill be in answer to yours of the 5th of
November, nor could it be any at all without the help
of my secretary's pen ; in regard the gout hath so
lodged me in my bed as disables me in present to
write myself," &c.
Thus did the year draw wearily to its end. Yet so
resolved was the stern sufferer to be in no doubt as to
the condition of the five hundred troops promised to
the King, that frequently, when the least movement
was torture, he insisted on being lifted into a litter and
carried to the parade-ground, there to see the men go
through their exercises, and assure himself of their
perfection by the time of departure.

M 2

CHAPTER VII.

1639. Gloomily, and charged with ruin and death, broke
the year 1639.
The autumn had been consumed in vain discussions
and proclamations by the King, that he was willing to
grant every desire of the Covenanters, and assertions
that the charge that he was only striving to gain time
in order to raise a force against them, was a report
u than which hell itself could have raised none falser." *
His denials of his preparations did but the more exas
perate the Scots, who were kept constantly informed of
the truth, and by the new year they were in open
revolt. By order of their Assembly, soldiers were
levied, and taxes imposed for paying them ; fortifications
were raised. Edinburgh Castle was seized, and the
whole nation awaked. Everywhere, the ministers of
the Covenant harangued the people to join in the holy
war against Popery and in defence of their own religion.
Believing every word of the Old Testament to be
literally, inspired, and that every prayer there recorded
to have been uttered by David or any other eminent
chief of the chosen race, was a Divine example for
them to follow, the imprecations breathed by the King
* Rushworth, vol. ii., 559.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 165
of Israel against his enemies chimed in remarkable 1639.
harmony with their own excited feelings at this instant,
and as they had lawfully the pick and choice of the
whole sacred volume, which, it must be acknowledged,
comprises texts of sympathy for every conceivable state
of mind, it is not to be wondered that an assembly of
elders of the Church, who, " after sermon, sat dowrn,
not a gown amongst them all, but many had swords
and daggers," should infinitely have preferred the
Psalms, which declared the Lord to be a man of
war, filled with hatred towards his enemies, to the
precepts of mercy and forgiveness set forth in the
Gospel. Consequently, it was not uncommon for pious men to
pray publicly for vengeance on their enemies, inde
pendently of deliverance for themselves, as, for example :
One minister said from the pulpit, that as the seven
sons of Gibeon were hanged before the Lord, so the
wrath of God would not depart from them till twice
seven prelates (the number of the Scotch bishops was
fourteen) were hanged in the same manner. Another
refused to pray for the provost of Edinburgh on his
death-bed, because he had not signed the Covenant.
Another wished in his sermon that he and all the
bishops were at sea in a bottomless boat together, as
he would gladly go down if they might perish at the
same time.
It is all very well to hold up the hands at these
uncharitable utterances, but for those who maintain
the same belief — in the 109th Psalm, for instance — as
the Puritans, and treat all who look on any part of the
Bible as mere human utterances, as wicked heretics,
it must be difficult to deny the celestial right of these

166 THE LIFE OF THOMAS • WENTWORTH.
1639. honest preachers to follow their authority for such
" sentiments. In every shire of Scotland a committee of war was
appointed.* Merchants were sent abroad to purchase
arms and ammunition, and in a very little time there
were arms for thirty thousand men.
Edinburgh was strongly guarded; and Leith, on
which Lord Wentworth had cast so greedy a glance,
was fortified, fifteen hundred people, including women,
setting heartily to the work. And wherever the
labour was the hardest and most difficult, there were
the ministers to exhort and help with their hands as
well as their lips.
What had the King to oppose to all this enthusiasm?
The Earl of Northumberland, who was one of the best
informed men on public affairs in England, spoke in
the most desponding manner.
" I assure your Lordship," said he to Wentworth,
on the 2nd of January, " to my understanding (with
sorrow I speak it) we are altogether in as ill a posture
to invade others or to defend ourselves as we were a
twelvemonth since, which is more than any man can
imagine that is not an eye-witness of it.
" The discontents here at home do rather increase
than lessen, there being no course taken to give any
kind of satisfaction. The King's coffers were never
emptier than at this time, and to us that have the
honour to be about him, no way is yet known how he
will find means, either to maintain or begin a war
without the help ofhis people."
Cottington sent the pleasant intelligence to Ireland :
" Our business of Scotland grows every day worse,
* Rushworth, 8vo. iii., 2.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 167
so as we are almost certain it will come to a war, and 1639.
that a defensive one on our side. And how we shall
defend ourselves without money is not under my cap.
My Lord, assure yourself they do believe they shall
make a conquest of us, and that an easy one. They
speak loud, yea, even they that are here, and do despise
us beyond measure.-
" No course is taken for levying of money. The
King will not hear of a Parliament, and he is told by a
committee of learned men that there is no other way."
Lord Wentworth, whose anxiety was now thoroughly
awakened, in order to obtain the most ! exact intel
ligence, sent a spy into Scotland of the name of
Willoughby, a young ensign of good family. He
returned with intelligence that was anything but re
assuring. He told Lord Wentworth, that a few days
before his arrival, the Scots had received two ship
loads of arms of the best quality from Sweden. There
were nine brass drakes of taper bore, six culverins and
demi-culverins, all of brass, and upon their carriages,
ready to march, four thousand corselets and eighteen
hundred muskets, as good as any he ever looked upon.
And these were merely in addition to what Scotland
already possessed and could procure in other quarters.
Willoughby told Wentworth he had never seen a
country so stored with arms in all his life. Drill
masters went up and down, and, calling the inhabitants
of several towns together in one spot, there trained
them to arms.
The Covenant had been sent abroad to all Scots in
foreign countries, and generally obtained signature,
especially in Sweden, where the Scots were said to be
covenanted to a man.

168 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. All disguise was now over, and various councils
_ were held in London as to the best means of opposing
the Scots, whose unanimity was sadly contrasted with
the lukewarmness of the English.
" The military preparations that are here intended
do make a great noise," said Lord Northumberland,
" but advance slowly. I have had the honour to be
present at many debates for the ordering of this work,
where I find so much want of experience in those who
manage this business, and such regards to private
ends, that I have little hope to see any design prosper
that may tend to the public good, honour, or safety of
this land."
At length, something like organisation was fixed
upon. The English Council sent orders, in the name
of the King, to the Lords-Lieutenants of the counties,
to cause a view and muster to be made of all the
arms and trained soldiers within each county, and for
all the forces to be in readiness to join their colours at
a day's notice. All able men, from the age of sixteen
to sixty, were to be enlisted, besides the train-bands
and lists returned to the Council ; that each county
should provide its due proportion of powder, match
and lead, and store it in the magazines ; the beacons
were to be trimmed ready for the alarm, and well
watched ; all vagrants and suspected persons were to
be apprehended.
The King next addressed a circular letter to the
nobility, informing them of the rebellion of the Scots,
which, his Majesty stated, was begun upon the pre
text of religion, but in reality was caused by factious
spirits, and fomented by particular persons to shake off
monarchical government, though he had repeatedly

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 169
assured them he would maintain religion as established 1639.
by law.
That as they had now raised considerable forces,
he was resolved to repair in person to the North,
there to resist any invasion, and for that purpose he
must raise a considerable body of horse and foot.
He therefore summoned his nobles to attend him
at York, on the 1st of April next, in such equipage
and with such forces of cavalry as their birth, honour,
and interest in the public safety obliged them, and
to certify to him, within fifteen days, what help he
was to expect from them.
Writs were also directed to the Lord William
Howard, Lord Clifford, Lord Wharton, Lord Grey of
Wark, and Lord Lumley, requiring them to repair
to the North, with their households and retinues, well
armed, under the penalty of having their lands, goods,
and chattels in those counties seized by the King,
and used by him to pay the expenses of guarding
other parts.
Writs were likewise sent to the Mayors of Hull
and Newcastle, to fortify those towns at the ex
pense of the inhabitants. Levies were ordered of
raw troops, to go to Holland, in the place of trained
and experienced soldiers there, who were at once
to return to England. All the Lords-Lieutenants
were ordered to their respective counties, the Earl of
Bridgewater to his presidency of Wales, and all go-
venors of islands, forts, and castles to their respective
commands. Archbishop Laud now came to the aid of the King,
and sent letters to all his clergy, to inform them of
the traitorous conspiracies of the Scots, under the

170 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
; • 1639. pretence of religion, which, he said, was always the
cloak to cover the designs of factious spirits. But
he did not doubt that the bishops and clergy in
general would give freely to the common defence. He
also wrote in the same style to Doctors' Commons,
expressing his conviction that the judges and others
of the common law would contribute to the King's
necessities. The next person to the rescue was Queen Henrietta
Maria, who addressed the Roman Catholics. She told
them she had always believed in their loyalty and affec
tion to his Majesty, and she now called upon them to
verify her words — that she had undertaken his Catholic
subjects should equal all others in help at the present
moment. Often had she solicited favours for them,
and she now begged them to show their gratitude
by assisting his Majesty with a considerable sum of
money, freely and cheerfully presented. And as she
presumed this sum would not be unworthy her
presentation to the King, so she should receive
it as a particular mark of respect to herself, the
merit of which she would try to improve to their
advantage. It need hardly be said that one of the first to re
spond to the King's appeal was the Lord Deputy of
Ireland. At first he thought of sending the King the
half of his picked guards ; but second thoughts told
him of the danger of diminishing his force in Ireland
at present. He therefore gave orders to his steward,
as his rents came in, to pay into the hands of the King's
treasurer of war the sum of £1000 at Midsummer, and
another £1000 at Christmas, as his contribution ; and
he added, what was rather dangerous, " If this be

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 171
not sufficient, I do most humbly beseech your Majesty 1639.
to command all I have there to the last farthing."
Wandesforde and Radcliffe also sent the King £500
between them, and Lord Wentworth's younger brother
£100. This was all they could do at present, being unable
to furnish soldiers as yet from their own families.
"Our sons," said Wentworth, "are all children;
but if they were able to bear arms, I would send the
young whelps to be entered in your Majesty's militia.
Judge it to be their greatest honour, it might be so ;
and for a conclusion, so it might be better for your
service, hang up the old dogs."
He then told Charles, in answer to his question as
to the possibility of provisioning Carlisle from Ireland,
that it was too late for the present season ; but by next
winter he could, at cheap rates, send beef, butter,
corn, biscuit, and herrings. Cheese was a deficiency of
Ireland. Even the five hundred men just ready for
starting had to wait for that till their arrival in
England, and be content with bread and beef till
then. Having done his best in the way of money, Lord
Wentworth now exerted his influence in the King's be
half. He wrote to his Deputy Lieutenants in Yorkshire,
exciting them to do their utmost in the present crisis.
They had indeed responded already in such a manner
as to give him great satisfaction, and enable him
to express his "joy and contentment" with their
conduct. Had the cause been a good one, it would have been
impossible not to enter with sympathy into his rousing
words :

172 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. " Proceed on, then," he cried, " in the name of God,
_ suitable to these beginnings and becoming yourselves.
And I wish from the bottom of my soul I might be
there to fight by and with you, with that kindness in
your particulars, with that faith towards my King and
country, that I trust you have ever observed in me.
Believe me, it is the relation I stand in to his Majesty's
affairs on this side, and not my heart, that could have
denied me to you at this time."
He then obtained from the King authority to depute
the whole of his power in every branch in England to
Sir Edward Osborne, who, though Vice-President, was
hitherto limited in many ways. But Wentworth fully
trusted him, and enlarged his power to the utmost,
making him his Deputy Lieutenant-General, in order
that he might hold due rank in military matters.
It will scarcely be credited that, after the munificent
contribution of Lord Wentworth, his zeal and activity,
that in the present most dangerous hour, when it was
needful beyond all things to maintain strict discipline
and trust, and support so faithful a servant, that the
King again began his former habit of countermanding
Lord Wentworth's orders, of giving away places at
his disposal, and pardoning offenders condemned at
the Castle Court. Lord Wentworth, patient as he
was under anything that came from the King, found
it hard to restrain his feelings at conduct that must
paralyse his power to help the foolish prince, who
could thus trifle with such important influences, and at
such a time.
For example, Lord Wentworth would state the cir
cumstances of a case, and before passing the final act
would ask the ratification of the King, in order that

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 173
all might be clear. This he would obtain, and then 1639.
pass sentence. Suddenly, some time after, he would
receive an order from England, ordering him to revoke
the sentence, and set the defendant free. Sometimes,
this reversal was obtained by the friends of the defen
dant, sometimes by enemies of Lord Wentworth. But
in either case it was an insulting arraignment of the
justice of the Lord Deputy and Council of Ireland, and
a most gross breach of the conditions on which alone
they had consented to accept their anxious and respon
sible office. And it was not as if the reversal were
obtained by a fair trial, in a court of appeal — it was
simply by the bare word of the King, gained by per
sonal influence alone.
Two special instances of this royal breach of con
tract now occurred.
A lieutenant in the army, of the name of Smith, was
tried before the Castle Court, for what was recorded
as " a most abominable and malicious conspiracy to
ravish Sir Arthur Blundell of his estate, life, and good
name, aggravated by this circumstance, that Mr. Smith
then served as lieutenant, where Sir Arthur Blundell
commanded him as captain."
The case was proved against him, and he was sen
tenced to imprisonment and a fine of a thousand
marks, and the payment of costs to Sir Arthur
Blundell. The fine, much reduced by Wentworth and his
Court, and costs, were paid, and the rest of the sen
tence had scarcely been put in execution, when an
order arrived from Mr. Secretary Windebanke, by whose.
very hand the King had ratified the sentence, ordering
it to be revoked and the fine remitted. No reason

174 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. was assigned beyond the mercy of the King. Not the
slightest proof was offered or assertion made that the
decree was unjust. And that any Court, with its pre
sident, could be expected to submit to such interference
as this, was too much. It made justice a mere child's
play. If the Court or judge were convicted of wrong, let
them be replaced by a better ; but while they sat the
public and acknowledged administrators of justice, it
was monstrous that their decrees could thus be blown
into air by the mere word of the King, and that too
passed without the least notice or consultation with
any member of the Court.
With all his king- worship, Lord Wentworth felt, if
this went on, ruin must be the speedy result, and so
he informed Windebanke.
He said he could not choose but bemoan himself
that he was forced to revoke the performance of so
many directions sent him under the King's own hand,
and begged the secretary to read the copy, which he
now enclosed, of the conditions promised to be observed
towards him when he accepted the government ; and
of these conditions he also besought him to remind the
King. If these were continued in such disregard,
then the affairs of the country must go back much
quicker than they advanced. Such acts as this last
added most painfully to his difficulties and unpopularity,
as it seemed as if he were always the cause of harsh
ness, and the obstacle to the King's natural clemency.
"Indeed," he exclaimed, "it is overhard I should be
put to give all the negatives single and alone. I shall
willingly take my share, but too much is too much."
The case in question was one of especial difficulty.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 175
A fixed fraction of all fines went towards the revenue 1639.
and without a new process how could he take out of ~~
the exchequer by his authority the sum paid, and, still
harder, force the plaintiff to give back the just com
pensation he had received for his wrongs.
No case had ever been more clearly proved than
this of Smith, and if, after all, he was to escape with
impunity, then the sentences of the Court would become
Bruta fulmina; and Lord Wentworth confessed he
knew not the innocence that could promise itself
security. So indignant was he that he almost forgot
that he was speaking of the King, and declared, " Such
favour granted to delinquents is commonly scandalous
to' public justice, discouragements to the judges that
gave the sentence, and the Court itself thereby becomes
despised." The other most aggravating performance of the
King was a repetition of the same thing, of which we
have already given many specimens. This was to
give away in England honours and offices within the
gift of the Lord Deputy only, and which were of in
calculable importance for the latter to retain entirely
under his control, in order that he might be able to
reward his faithful officers and servants.
The death of the Earl of Kirkcudbright had left the
command of a troop of horse vacant. Without the
least warning or consultation of Lord Wentworth, the
King gave the captaincy to the Earl of Desmond, and
the first intelligence Wentworth received of this was a
letter under the royal signet commanding him thus to
dispose of the commission.
Again he was brought to the very verge of despair.
This was even more exasperating than usual, for this

176 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. troop happened to be wholly Scottish, and in the
~ present state of affairs not to be trusted. The death of
the captain had afforded Lord Wentworth an unhoped
for opportunity of disbanding it and distributing the
men among new regiments apart from each other. In
place of the old troop he intended to form another of
men on whom he could depend. But the arrival of
a new captain, an absolute stranger, who must neces
sarily be entrusted with the delicate task of " quietly
and insensibly framing the new one," was fraught with
all the obstacles of ignorance of place and men and
circumstances, as well as depriving Lord Wentworth
of the power of appointing a man he knew, and who
was well acquainted with the Irish army. And the
affront offered to him not only lowered his authority in
general, by showing men that they could give com
mands without consulting him, but left those unre
warded who really merited promotion, and whom he
had promised should obtain it. In fact, these two
last acts of Charles went a long way towards treating
the Lord Deputy as a mere cipher.
" I do," said he " most humbly beseech his Majesty
might be pleased to command that excellent provision,
settled by his own orders, might be strictly observed on
all sides, that no suits be absolutely granted there till
the Deputy and Ministers here be commanded humbly
to certify what they shall in their judgments find fit to
be understood there for his Majesty's service."
So often, however, did this miserable interference
continue to occur, that Lord Wentworth, as a last
resource, addressed a long letter on the subject to
Windebanke. He not only felt the King's conduct as
an obstruction to the fulfilment of his duties in every

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 177
way, but he was stung by the want of consideration 1639.
for himself as a man. The following words are most
extraordinary as coming from him, though in every
way much less severe than was merited by the King : —
" His Majesty may command all that ever I have,
and break my sleep very small, it being accustomed
with me so entirely to attend his Majesty's service, as
I am verily persuaded few men in the world think on,
or consider their own private so little. Besides, it is
in my fate to find few that are pleased to remember or
mention just and equal things, which might persuade
for me ; yet feel many hands injuriously tearing from
me not only the rights of my place, my innocent and
peaceable conversation, the candour of my good repose
among men (all this under the sun and with impunity),
but even the capacity also of serving here with that
advantage to the Crown I otherwise might."
He then proceeded to argue his case with an energy
that must awaken sympathy in all Avho, holding
positions of high responsibility, are deprived of the
means of fulfilling it, while nevertheless they are called
upon to answer all consequences.
In judging of the arbitrary acts of Lord Wentworth
it has been too much the fashion to ignore all these
difficulties by which he was surrounded, and how often
he was deprived of the lawful engines of power by
the fickleness of the King. There was no remedy but
to renounce the King's service, or to serve him in
defiance of justice ; both could not reign, and Went
worth had made his election. He simply acted what
so many, even in the present day, most loudly preach.
But let us listen to his own words : —
" Should those great offices incident to the disposal

178 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. of a Lord Keeper, a Lord Treasurer, a Lord Chamber-
lain, a Lord Marshal, a Lord Admiral, a Master of the
Horse, a Captain of the Guard, &c, become the suit
of every young courtier, those noble persons would
quickly in their own case find themselves aggrieved,
and yet some of them, perchance (by what rule of
justice I know not), shall move, press, and importune
the whilst that the like liberty may not be afforded
unto me, that they respectively challenge and enjoy
themselves. " As if I were the only servant of my master un
worthy to have the dues of my place, howbeit, an
employment, verily, they would think a great prejudice
to have put upon them in any sort with all the great
advantages belonging unto it.
" Yet is the difference very great, for with all these
(except the Lord Admiral) the inability of these sub
ordinate Ministers may be supplied by a Deputy,
however himself only like to answer ; the Giver no
ways liable to answer the transgression.
" But in these cases the duties of the Captains are
not to be done by proxy. Their ability or weakness
may be unto a General the loss of the cause, his life
and honour ; nay, insensibly wrest forth of the thoughts
of the inferior officers and soldiers all respect and
obedience, and so the very soul of all action cast into
a dead sleep.
" Nor, indeed, can it with reason be expected or
hoped for otherwise, but when the power of punish
ment and reward is entrusted with their persons who
are chief in command."
Passionately he asserted : —
"If I were guilty to have executed this power

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 179
greedily to my own lucre, not to have therein intended 1639.
the good of the army above all other respects, to have
thought of advantaging myself one groat in the
disposal of the late four new raised troops of horse,
there were something inwardly might quiet me, tell
me, I were rightly served if the army were not, — I
speak it with confidence and truth, — in all respects
infinitely more fit for service than I found it, there were
something outwardly might tell me the privilege were
justly denied that I had negligently abused.
" If the liberty had not, as I humbly conceive, at
first been granted unto me ; were not his Majesty's
orders for me, and they, such as being observed, have
brought the greatest prosperity upon these affairs that
hath been since the English Conquest ; I should con
ceive reason might well advise to try some other way
in the moulding and bowing this State more to his
Majesty's advantage.
" If my poor endeavours had taken less effect, if I had
lived in a condition below other Deputies before me,
or the dignity of this government, ever of more regard
with me than my own quiet or benefit, it were but just
that not only the power to gratify worthy and fit per
sons for the service of the Crown, but even the enter
tainment and profits themselves were taken from me,
which others had the happiness not only to enjoy, but
to have their labours rewarded besides; my Lord
Chichester with land at one gift worth at this day ten
thousand pounds a year; the Lord Falkland ten thousand
pounds in money at once. However, I never coveted
more than the inherent rights and honours belonging
to the place, and yet I modestly persuade myself my
pains have been equal, my expense far beyond either

N 2

180 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. of them, and his Majesty's revenue advanced in my
" short time ten times as much as in both theirs."
This was entirely true. The popular idea that he
was the recipient of incessant favours and bounties
and bribes at the hand of the King, was utterly false.
Equally false and slanderous was the report that he
abused the opportunities of his place to his own advan
tage. When we remember how completely monopolies,
either by gift or purchase, were the custom of that
day, Lord Wentworth, so far from being singled out as
a criminal for his share in what almost all who had the
chance partook, deserves rather praise for his great for
bearance in not far oftener profiting by the advantages
of his place to largely increase his income by these
means. Constant prominence is given by his enemies
to the fact of his monopoly of tobacco, while they
quietly pass by the large amount he spent from his
private purse on public expenses, and especially the
great founding of the linen trade, which he might
justly have monopolized, but which he was most
anxious to impart to others.
It was these omissions that helped to make his
life more bitter. He saw that not only was every
fault catalogued, and, when possible, magnified, but
never by any chance were his most earnest efforts for
good recognised by his countrymen. Even the King
signified his approbation merely in cold general terms.
Not a soul ever cared to measure the amount of pain
and labour that his efforts had cost him. And this
lack of appreciation had an unfortunate effect on his
character. As has already been noticed, he had that
child-like side to his character which is generally a
part of a great mind. And though nothing could stop

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTAVORTH. 181
his energy or make him do his work with less care, still 1639.
he missed the kindly words of encouragement to whose ""
influence he was as open as a child, and chilled by the
frozen atmosphere around him, himself grew colder,
sterner, and harder to others.
Kind friends, also, were not wanting to impress the
fact of his unpopularity upon him by special means.
Lord Cottington took the trouble to write to him that
his enemies in England spread the report that he was
universally deserted in Ireland ; and Willoughby, his
spy in Scotland, brought back the news amongst his
other matters, that he was hated " most extremely " by
the whole Scotch nation, who even threatened to do
him personal mischief.
At the English Court, Lord Holland, who had
written to him to assure him of his esteem, was his
greatest enemy. Not a noble open enemy, to himself
expressing his disapprobation, but a man smooth and
smiling to his face, and losing no opportunity of injur
ing him behind his back. And that he constantly had
the ear of the King was one of the secret cares that
gnawed at the heart of Wentworth, who had been well
warned of the real feelings of Holland towards him.
Mingled with his natural and just reasons for object
ing to place the troop of Lord Kircudbright under the
young Earl of Desmond, occurs a most extraordinary
statement, referring to his own personal safety in the
matter. That he should often allude to assassination as a by
no means impossible fate, is not to be wondered at ; or
that the names of Ravaillac and Felton were so often
on his lips. But that he should associate such an idea
with the chance of the arrival of the Earl of Desmond

182 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. in Ireland, is indeed too remarkable to be passed over
without notice. He can scarcely have had any just
ground for so horrible a suspicion, and in all proba
bility it is to be traced to the condition of his nerves,
strung to a pitch of sleepless fever, the result of in
cessant mental and bodily pain and toil. Alluding to
young Desmond, he says : —
" I esteem it were in me to betray these affairs,
should I not by all means possible avoid the bringing
of young and unexperienced persons to be captains
in this army in a time thus conditioned ; or, which is
far less, neglecting the just care I owe my own
family, to venture my honour or my life with L know
not whom. My life shall be as freely laid down for
my gracious master as any that lives, yet L am not
weary of it neither; should be very unwilling to
die like a fool, or, to deal clearly, desirous to fight
but in the company of such as understand their pro
fession, such as I should in some measure take to be
as well wishers to my person as to the cause."
These words are, to say the least, equivocal, as if
he hesitated to utter his real meaning, which yet he
could not altogether withhold. And what follows is
so unlike his general haughty disregard of his own
perils, so tottering seems the usual fixed resolution,
that the condition of the writer speaks through it
more than anything else. Again and again, he returned
to the subject of Desmond.
" I beseech you, what can I hope for from the
tender years of this young nobleman? Experience
tells me what to fear. I will name no man to his
prejudice; but I protest by one youth, whom his
Majesty commanded me to make a captain here, I

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 183
have had more trouble, the King's payments more 1639.
scandal, than from the whole army besides.
" It is a condition below a gentleman to be put to
deny all, and not to be allowed to gratify some ; very
hard to my seeming, that by strictly observing his
Majesty's orders I should procure so many enemies,
and not be admitted to keep them when I might oblige
one friend, and he a person in all respects abler to dis
charge the duty to the public.
" Only I shall crave leave that a tenderness to my own
private, may not silence me to the public, interest ; but
that therein my lines may be read without prejudice."
Many a time had Lord Wentworth been forced to
remonstrate, but never before had he spoken as at
present. It is evident that, for the time at least, his
confidence in the King was beginning to fail, and a
feeling of hopelessness was creeping over him that he
could not subdue. Never does he appear to have been
so desponding. He could not repress his complaints,
could not conceal his despair of success, nor his con
viction that the King would destroy faster than he
could build.
" It discourageth a servant," he said, " in his own
confidence, seeing himself not allowed the upright
credit and benefit of his labour and watches, but that
others must make and obtain suits of those things
which of custom and right reason are assigned him.
" Nor can I in any time, much less in this, promise
myself any ability to execute the commands of his
Majesty, unless the power not only of punishing, but
of rewarding fit persons also with such places as belong
to the Deputy be left unto me ; to the end that, as I
displease many, I may at least engage some few to

184 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. undergo with me the hazard of all events ; bring up
others in hope of preferment, desirously and atten
tively to execute what I shall direct for the good of the
service." The change in him is to be noted by another cir
cumstance. Of the two Secretaries of State, Coke and
Windebanke, it will be remembered the former had
been chosen by himself and the King as the one to
conduct Avhatever part of the correspondence was
especially private and confidential. Three years ago,
not even to Coke would Wentworth have thus expressed
himself about the King. But now he uttered the
whole of his discontent to Windebanke, and that too
by the hand of his secretary. It may, therefore, be
concluded that he intended the King to know his
feelings, and, perhaps, indulged a faint hope of alarming
Charles into different conduct by giving his opinions
the chance of support at the hands of a third party,
who, unprompted, might warn the King of the effect
of his worse than folly.
Perhaps the intense stupidity manifested by Charles
at this moment, annoyed Lord Wentworth more than
his constant breaches of his privileges and rights. He
made requests impossible to be granted, gave orders
that could not be obeyed, and offered suggestions that
a schoolboy would have known better than to follow.
Thus, not content with the splendid troop of horse
men that Lord Wentworth had raised for him entirely
at the expense of Ireland, and with the knowledge that
even in peace, Ireland had needed all her own money,
he desired Lord Wentworth to send him a good sum
from thence, and if he could get it no other way, he
was to borrow five thousand pounds.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 185
With Charles, to wish for a thing was to ask for it, 1639.
no matter what might be the circumstances. Lord
Wentworth had speedily to put a stop to his hopes in
that quarter.
" As for borrowing the sum his Majesty desireth,"
said he, " I should, I protest to the Almighty, pawn
all my estate to the uttermost farthing to effect it ; but
that which is truth will be heard. I do not believe
that, to save my life, I were able to borrow five thou
sand pounds amongst all the merchants of this town.
Generally, all people here turn their stock in a course
of trading ; the number of moneyed men are extreme
few ; and those altogether take mortgages of land for
their security, and will in no sort meddle with any
man's bond."
And " even if a hundred thousand pounds in coin
could be raised, to send it over would be the utter
ruin of Ireland, the stoppage of all trade, and cost the
King in the end far more by the loss of the customs."
Wentworth was now again stung by the young wasp
in Yorkshire — his nephew Savile. With spiteful im
pertinence he continued his efforts to thwart his uncle,
and exerted his utmost influence to have another lieu
tenant joined with Lord Wentworth in Yorkshire. He
probably either had some friend of his own in his eye,
or possibly hoped for the appointment himself. But
he over-reached the mark. Lord Wentworth at once
consented to the appointment of another lieutenant of
York, and obtained of the King that Sir Edward
Osborne should hold the office. As the great object of
Savile had been that the lieutenant should be an oppo
nent of Osborne, and support himself in his opposition,
his chagrin must needs have been great indeed. A

86 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. side stroke was then aimed in revenge, as was believed,
~ by Savile, who sought to wound his uncle by injuring
his friend. Sir Christopher Wandesforde had held the
commission of colonel of a Yorkshire regiment, which
he retained yet. The orders of the King to all officers
to join their regiments had necessarily been not com
plied with by him, on account of his position in Ireland
as Master of the Rolls. Information of disobedience
in him and neglect in Lord Wentworth for allowing
this disobedience was therefore lodged against them.
Lord Wentworth Avas deeply moved by this conduct
in a nephew whom he had cared for as a son. But,
violent as he could be when he himself was in the
wrong, here, where his anger was most justly pro
voked, he still bridled it in an unwonted degree, though
he did not refrain from rebuking Savile as he richly
deserved. Lord Wentworth, not contented with writing him
self, applied to his old friend and tutor, the good
clergyman, Mr. Greenwood, who was living in York
shire, to speak with the unruly Savile, and bring him,
if possible, to a sense of his unbecoming conduct.
Unlike Laud, Mr. Greenwood did not commence the
task of a mediator by telling the offender that he hoped
he would refuse his interference. On the contrary, he
at once remonstrated with him, and when Savile
showed him the letters above quoted, Mr. Greenwood
pointed out kindly the value of Lord Wentworth's
remarks. He did his best, and wrote word to his old
pupil that he thought Savile's next letter would give
him good satisfaction, as he had promised to join
peaceably with Sir Edward Osborne in doing good
service. And as we hear no more of his opposition,

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.

187

we may suppose he kept his word. The last great 1639.
matter of personal trouble to Lord Wentworth was an
action for libel, which he brought against Sir Piers
Crosby, and which came off at this most inopportune
time. A working man of the name of Esmond, who was
engaged in the building affairs of the Castle, was
summoned for neglecting his work and refusing to
carry timber according to contract. On being brought
before the Court, the Lord Deputy shook his cane at
him and told him he would teach him better manners.
The man was sent to prison and shortly after died.
A report was then set abroad, that he had died of
terrible blows on the head given him by the Lord
Deputy. The story spread, of course, with the usual
amount of exaggeration, and Lord Wentworth, greatly
annoyed, traced the tale to Sir Piers Crosby. He
accordingly prosecuted him with several others for re
peating and spreading abroad his words.
The case was heard before the English Council and
decided against the defendants.
Crosby was fined £4000 to the King, and ordered
to give such satisfaction to the Lord Deputy as the
Court should direct, and the rest of the defendants
ordered to pay £1000 damages to the Lord Deputy.

CHAPTER VIIL

1639.

On the 27th of March, the King left London for
York. The appeal to the nobility and gentry for contribu
tions had met with rather a lukewarm response. Some
had given liberally in various sums from £100 to £10.
But many more had allowed the letters to remain
without response, and among these ominous defaulters
were the names of Noy, Godolphin, Denzil Holies,
and Sir Francis Seymour. However, there were the
ship-money, the money raised by monopolies and
heavy taxes on all the bare necessaries as well as
luxuries of life. The clergy gave more liberally than
any, and some of the principal nobles raised troops to
accompany the King, who calculated on accumulating
an enormous force on his journey. A letter was
despatched to the Vice-President and Council of York,
requiring them to make known to all the northern
counties that whosoever Avould provide provisions of
corn, meal, butter, cheese, or other fare for soldiers, or
hay, oats, pease, beans, or straw for their horses, for
supply of the army, which was intended to lie there
for their defence, should be duly paid at the market
price, notwithstanding what ill-affected persons might
say to the contrary.* * Rushworth, iii. 27.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 189
A Commission Avas then issued under the Great 1639.
Seal of England, constituting Thomas, Earl of
Arundel, General of the Army to be raised, and Robert,
Earl of Essex, to be Lieutenant-General, and Henry,
Earl of Holland, General of the Horse. And in order
that all the best horses might be preserved for the
officers of the King, orders were issued, that no horse
courser should be permitted to buy any horses at the
approaching fair of Wooburn, till the last day of the
fair, and no man was to sell his horse to a horse
courser for a less price than had been offered by the
King's agents.
A fleet was also rigged and put to sea under the
command of the Marquis of Hamilton, and containing
five thousand land troops who were to attempt to re
gain Edinburgh, Leith, or Dumbarton.
The five hundred men from Ireland had been des
patched to Carlisle, and Lord Wentworth strongly
urged the addition of seven hundred foot and two
hundred horse to complete the garrison. He had a
very great idea of the importance of cavalry, and told
the King how necessary it was to send small bodies
of horsemen to the border, to be continually moving
up and down the frontier in order to prevent any
sudden incursion. The three pinnaces employed on
the coast, were now absent with the troops, but on
their return in a few days, Wentworth said he would
victual them, and then send them to the north-east of
Ireland to beat to and fro about the head of Cantire
and Dumbarton Frith. Two pinnaces he calculated
would be quite enough to capture all the Scottish
boats trading from Ayr, Irvine, and Dumbarton ; still,
with his usual caution, he added another.

190 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. And as Charles had given orders that they might
take any good opportunity to land and plunder the
Scots, Wentworth, with somewhat needless humility,
thought permission necessary to prey upon Scotch
barks, and especially the long boats of the Earl of
Argyle. He also sent orders to all the troops and companies
garrisoned in Ulster, to be ready to march at five days'
notice, and he informed the King he had now three
hundred men ready for the relief of any pressing
necessity. On the 30th of March, Charles arrived at York.
There he was met by the mayor, who received him
with a speech of such disgusting flattery, as ought to
have awakened either the laughter or anger of any
man above the level of an idiot.
The mayor begged his Majesty's pardon that they
had caused him, their bright and glorious sun, to stand
still in the city of York, a place now so unlike itself ;
once an imperial city, where the Emperor Constantine
Chlorus lived and died ; in whose tomb a burning
lamp was found many centuries of years after ; a
place honoured with the birth of Constantine the
Great, and with the noble library of Egbert, and after
wards twice burned. And yet the births, hves, and
deaths of emperors, were not so much for the honour
of York, as that King Charles was once Duke of
York,* &c, and so on continued the nauseous stuff.
The Scots in the meantime had proceeded vigour
ously with their preparations. Poor as was the nation,
that mattered little when all, save an insignificant
* Rushworth, iii. 34.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 191
minority, were ready to peril life and limb and pro- 1639.
perty in defence of a just cause. They little needed
enforced taxes when voluntary contributions from the
poorest poured in. All who could bear arms gladly
learned their drill. Their most experienced veterans,
who, like Lesley, had practised the art of war on the
continent under Gustavus Adolphus, returned to give
their countrymen the benefit of their experience, and
the most aristocratic of the nobles mustered their
clans against the common enemy. The recreants con
sisted of the episcopalians, a few courtiers, and that
class, everywhere to be found, who secretly betray a
good cause for their own personal profit, while a few
honestly hung back as true believers in the divine
right of kings.
But so prompt had been the Scots, that before
Charles arrived at York, Edinburgh, Dumbarton and
Leith had been secured in addition to Dalkeith, a place
of less importance, but notable as containing the
regalia of Scotland. This had been committed by. the
King to the Earl of Traquair, who, unable to defend
it, had given a pompous warning to the Scots to
beware how they touched the regalia. They replied,
with a sneer, that Dalkeith was not worthy of such
treasures, and they would take them to the capital,
and accordingly sent them to Edinburgh.
When Lord Wentworth heard of these rapid suc
cesses, his heart misgave him ; and when he received
intelligence that the King intended to march to Edin
burgh, he looked upon it as nothing less than surren
dering himself a prisoner. Charles had professed his
intention of holding a Parliament in the Scotch capital,
but Lord Wentworth had seen enough to be quite

192 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. certain that the Scots recognised no divinity as hedg
ing a King, and trembled for the consequence. His
real attachment to the person of Charles showed itself
in his anxious petition to him, not to go.
" It was writ me," he wrote to the King, " your
Majesty intends to go to Edinburgh, and to be present
at their Parliament. Sir, the reading of it went as
cold to my heart as lead, and the consequences of such
an assurance fright me to think of them. But I trust
God is not so angry with us, as to suffer your Majesty
to be led into so apparent a danger."
He strongly advised the King to attempt nothing
this summer beyond securing Berwick and Carlisle
by strong garrisons, well training his army, and
preventing any incursion into England. But let his
Majesty by all means avoid fighting this year.
The King then desired Wentworth to have his
cruisers ready by the 16th or 20th of April, off the
north west of Scotland, as he wished them to take
what they could from the coasts.
But this, also, was deprecated by Lord Wentworth.
He pointed out to the King how small would be the
advantage of plunder, how great the provocation that
would thus be given. As to seizing their shipping,
that could be done as well, if not better in August.
There was also a strong objection against that.
If the war were with a foreign enemy, then, Lord
Wentworth said, he should like well enough to have
the first blow. But as the dispute was with his
Majesty's own natural, though rebellious subjects, it
was a tender point to draw blood first, for till it came
to that, all hope of reconciliation was not lost. And
the Scots would not have the least excuse for saying

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 193
that his Majesty had brought matters to such an 1639.
extremity. An attack on their coasts might provoke them to
assault some part of England, and might at least, enable
them to prevent the placing of men and ammu
nition in Carlisle and Berwick, which at present they
had no excuse for doing. But if they did so, as
things stood at present, then it would be an act of
open and inexcusable rebellion which would justify the
King in turning his army against them.
Another effect of attacking them first would be to
overwhelm the King's party in Scotland, and would
also precipitate the war on England before she was
fully prepared, and, by depriving the Covenanters of
all hopes of grace, drive them to desperation.
Berwick and Carlisle were the two pledges of success
to the King. Therefore, nothing should be done till
they were secured. Perhaps, the summer would bring
the rebels to submission without any need of the
King to injure the trade of his kingdoms by falling on
the shipping.
The best employment for the pinnaces, at present,
was to cruise up and down the north-west coast of
Scotland, rather to secure the subjects of Ireland than
to attack the Scotch. Much was to be lost, little to
be gained. But, at any rate, it was best to do nothing
till August, as then the season would secure both
kingdoms till next spring, when all things would be
more forward than at present.
A letter from Sir Francis Willoughby, the com
mander of the five hundred men from Ireland, fully
confirmed Lord Wentworth's opinion. Though the
coming of these men had so long been known, not
VOL. II. 0

194 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. the least preparation had been made to receive them .
~ There was not straw enough even for them to sleep
on, their first night at Whitehaven, and they had to
separate and send a few two miles distance in search
of quarters. Though a list had been previously sent
of the conveyances required for the baggage, not a
single one was in readiness. Not a soldier was yet
placed in Carlisle, nor even a single piece of artillery.
However, the news of the arrival of the Irish
troops soon spread abroad, and their splendid appear
ance awoke hope and confidence. As soon as Lord
Clifford heard of their arrival, he hastened to receive
them and send the needful conveyances. He also at
once obtained two hundred men and sent them off
to Carlisle, where they were soon joined by the Irish
force. At the same time Lord Essex took possession
of Berwick, with Sir Jacob Ashley ; and thus these two
important posts were at length secured, to the great
joy of the people, who had been living in daily dread
of an invasion of the Scots. The confidence of the
King increased. The two Secretaries of State being
left at London, he commanded Sir Henry Vane, Comp
troller of his household, to act their part and transact
his correspondence. In order to please the people
and attract them to himself, he suddenly recalled all
patents for monopolies of carriages, broken tobacco,
butter,' logwood, and various other articles. He also
sent word to Lord Wentworth that, by the 1st of May,
he expected to be encamped near Berwick, or at least,
on the other side of Newcastle, and that, at the same
time, his fleet would be on the coasts of Scotland with
the Marquis of Hamilton and five thousand land troops,
provisioned for three months. Thirteen pieces of

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 195
artillery were on their way to Carlisle. He desired to 1639.
express his great satisfaction and content v/ith the
loyalty of his subjects under the government of the
Lord Deputy, and he looked on them with affection as
an effect of Lord Wentworth's care.
But, as for the Covenanters, it was but too well
known how they had proceeded, as far as in them lay,
to poison the hearts of his subjects throughout the
whole kingdom. And, as his grace and clemency had
met with a return of nothing but dangerous plots and
conspiracies, he resolved to provide for the worst, and
no further to be amused by treaty, but to make his
frontiers safe, so that by God's grace it should not be
in their power to break into the kingdom. He would
attack the Scots by sea, shut up their rivers and ports,
burn all upon their coasts, make descents into Scotland,
break off all intercourse and commerce with her people,
and infest them by all the means he could.
He, therefore, desired the Lord Deputy to draw a
considerable portion of his army to the north of Ireland
to be ready to join the fleet, even if they did nothing
more than terrify the Scots. Also to have in readiness
three or four thousand men, to be ready at four-and-
twenty hours warning to go to Scotland, either to Ayr,
Irwin, or the mouth of Clyde, in order to prevent the
Scots from sending all their forces to the English
border. For it was quite possible that unless some
thing was done to divert their forces, they would all
concentrate in one body and enter England. But,
still, his Majesty was resolved not to provoke a battle,
only to remain on the defensive.
However, all the ships of the Scots in the port of
London, to the number of thirteen, were seized, and
02

196 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. orders given to capture all their vessels in the English
~ ports, also all their goods throughout England and
Ireland. Letters were also directed to the United
Provinces, desiring them to suspend all privileges en
joyed by Scotch merchants, as they were all Cove
nanters, and to protect them would be a wrong to
England, with whom the United Provinces were in
amity.* The assertion of the King, that he meant simply to
remain on the defensive, was sufficient to satisfy
Lord Wentworth, who did not much heed his menaces
to Scotland, so long as he waited to fulfil them till
he was prepared. Lord Wentworth now arranged to
send his faithful Radcliffe to York, there to settle the
payment of Willoughby's men, and report on the
general condition of things.
Wentworth took the greatest pride and interest in
this regiment. He sent the members a kind message,
and told them he would well care for their interests
in Ireland. He sent word to the captains and under
officers to take special care to exercise their men twice
every week, if they expected any respect from him
on their return to Ireland.
To the commanders, Sir Francis Willoughby, Sir
Henry Blundell, and Sir Henry Tichbourne, he ad
dressed a few rousing words.
He expressed his confidence in their sense of
honour, and of the fair field before them to show their
merit. But two things he yet especially recommended
to their care. The first was to keep their authority
over the men they commanded ; not only to maintain
them in good order as a common duty, but because
* Clarendon State Papers, ii., 36.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 197
they would thus better serve the King. The second 1639.
was to examine carefully all the defects of the town
and castle of Carlisle, and hoAV they might best be
strengthened and made tenantable. Also to calculate
what provision they should need in case of a siege,
and forward the estimate at once to the Secretary of
State, and desire him to furnish what was needful,
without delay.
Another piece of most excellent counsel he added on
behalf of the privates. He advised the officers to find
some employment for them, by Avhich they could earn
some money, and thereby be kept from riot and
disorder. He ended with the kind words :
" It is not easily to be believed how much I think
of you, or how much I tender you ; and I promise my
self so much from you all, as if you do not more
gallantly than other men you meet with you shall not
satisfy my expectation. And I pray tell Captain
Weinmann, and Captain Blount, all the lieutenants and
ensigns, as much from me. And so happiness and
health accompany you each one."
After writing the above, Lord Wentworth received
the pleasant news that they were looked upon as so
superior to other regiments, that they would probably
be sent to join the main body of the army, to train the
rest. He, therefore, again most earnestly pressed them
to keep their men to arms, and "never think them
good enough, but still endeavour to make them better."
The most disheartening intelligence reached him of
Scotland. Windebanke told him it could not be worse.
The delay in garrisoning Berwick and Carlisle had
given the Scots great advantage. For so many men

19S THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. Avere needed there, that there were too few in Scot-
_ land to make any way with the rebels. Treachery,
too, was suspected in the French ambassador. Pro
fessing to have received orders from home, he intended
to move to the seat of war, with the purpose, it was
believed, of furnishing intelligence to the French. But
intimations were given him that his presence was not
desired, to which he was forced to pay unwilling heed.
Lord Wentworth now wrote to the King for in
structions, and accompanied his requests with the
most earnest advice. He thought the castle of Dum
barton had been very clumsily lost. He considered it
of far greater consequence than the castle of Edinburgh;
and had the fleet only sailed in time it might so easily
have been secured. As it was, there seemed nothing
to restrain the Scots from marching into England.
The seizure of their ships in the ports, he looked on
as a great error. It quite set aside the policy he had
so anxiously recommended, of not giving the Scots any
excuse of attack. But, in consequence of this pre
cipitate deed, all the circumstances were altered, and
he now knew not what to do. He hadjarranged to
have an oath put in form by which all loyal Scots were
to abjure the Covenant. If they refused, he desired to
know the King's pleasure as to the culprits.
Should he imprison the delinquents and seize their
lands and possessions for his Majesty, " for the use of
the public % " We may be sure the eyes of Charles
sparkled at this proposition.
Should not a Proclamation be issued ordering all
Scots resident in Ireland to return to their homes,
under pain of forfeiting their estates? Was it the
King's pleasure that all Scotch vessels out at sea

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 199
should be seized ? And if so, how were their crews 1639.
and cargo to be disposed of? Would it not be well to
detain the masters, and make them serve as pilots for
English vessels along the Scotch coast? And many
other suggestions burst from the busy brain of Went
worth. But he most decisively advised the King to fortify
Carlisle and Berwick in the strongest manner. To
increase their garrisons with powerful bodies of horse
and foot ; to largely store them with every kind of
ammunition and provisions, and to place persons in
authority there of proved loyalty to the Government.
If this were done, he thought the cavalry alone would
secure England from invasion this year. Only let the
summer be spent in perfectly exercising the troops and
making both officers and men familiar with their duty.
A battle might be avoided for the present by strongly
and commodiously entrenching the army in some place
of advantage, so as to secure Newcastle, and have the
use both of that town and of the sea. All this was the
more needful, as Sir Francis Willoughby had reported
how unfit the country was to receive an invading
enemy. But thus safely entrenched and fortified, the
King might look calmly and without opposition on
the fury of the foe, till the strength of their outbreak
was exhausted, and then, perhaps, they might see their
wickedness and yield. And this was more to be
desired than a victory by arms. But if not, then there
would be time before next spring to collect money,
arms, and men, and all things needful, finally to crush
them. But he did not rest satisfied with warning Charles
alone. He knew how dilatory was the latter in fol-

200 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. lowing the most urgent counsel. It was owing to this
that all the great castles in Scotland had been lost.
And it was impossible any longer to treat the Scots
with contempt.
Wentworth, therefore, wrote to Sir Henry Vane,
repeating all that he had said to the King, and adding
other directions equally important.
He cautioned him against a mistake very likely to
be made by Charles, viz., that of quartering his army
in some inland district, where, being unable to obtain
relief by sea, he might soon be cut off from provisions,
as the enemy would surely lay waste the country
round. It was also of highest importance to command the
strictest order and discipline of war to be observed in
the severest manner. The captains should be com
manded diligently to exercise their men, to teach them
the perfect use of arms ; drawing them into convenient
spots for that purpose, thrice a week. Once a week,
they should be drawn out in large bodies, brigades,
at least, and then embattled and marched in whole
regiments. Skirmishing and giving fire on each other
was not to be neglected. In short, they must be
rendered perfectly familiar with the active part of war.
Besides this, the whole army should sometimes
march out in line of battle, if the ground would
permit it, two or three miles backwards and for
wards, the soldiers fully accoutred and bearing all
their arms.
By these means, in addition to other advantages,
the soldiers and officers would be kept from idleness,
which was the general cause of armies growing disso
lute and licentious.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 201
All these duties the King should require to be put 1639.
in execution by the chiefs of his army, commanding
them in person to attend to those high commands and
not to transfer these tasks to lieutenant-generals and
sergeant-majors. Nay, if his Majesty in person would
be pleased sometimes to be in the field himself, his
affairs would prosper none the worse, but would make
the officers more careful, give infinite comfort and
cheerfulness to his men, be a noble recreation to him
self, and his judgment attending upon the work in
hand, still show him something worthy his knowledge.
Lord Wentworth said he was quite aware that all
these cares were held to be little matters, beneath the
attention of the chief commanders, and only fit to be
deputed and entrusted to inferior officers. But those
who held that opinion should certainly not command
him.* " It was by these apparently little things," he said,
"that all the great actions of war were accomplished
and perfected. Nay, besides that, if the chiefs neg
lected small duties, and held not a strong hand over
their performance, but cast the reins loose on the neck
of their army, it would run into a thousand outrages
headlong, the discipline of war be utterly lost amongst
them, and by the next spring their men be as ignorant
and as useless as soldiers as at present.
" There was also one matter of supreme importance,
and that was, that the soldiers be kept in their
quarters to their night duties constantly ; their
watches, outguards, and all things incident to that
particular of war as strictly observed as if the enemy
were lodged within a mile. And it would be to excel-
* Letter to Sir Henry Vane, ii., 325.

202 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. lent purpose, if, when they went to exercise, the Master
~ of the Ordnance were directed to his place, where to
march with the ordnance, so that the ministers be
longing to that part of the militia might be acquainted
and perfect with what belonged to their duty."
Some apprehensions were entertained of the Scots
rising in Ireland, and it is certain Lord Wentworth
kept his eye fixed upon them.
" Ifthey should stir," said he, " (our eight thousand
arms and twenty pieces of cannon arrived, which I
trust now will be very shortly) I hope to give them
such a heat in their clothes as they never had since
their coming forth of Scotland. And yet our standing
army here is but a thousand horse and two thousand
foot, and not fewer of them, I will a-warrant-you, than
a hundred and fifty thousand ; so you see our work is
not very easy. The best of it is, the brawn of a lark
is better than the carcase of a kite, and the virtue of
one loyal subject more than ofa thousand traitors."*
Lord Wentworth now received information that the
appointment of Desmond to the troop of Lord Kircud
bright, which had so greatly excited him, had been
made at the instigation of Queen Henrietta Maria.
His anger was extreme at this piece of meddling
on her part. It was not to be borne, at a crisis so
dangerous, when all things depended on the army,
that his disposition of the officers should be set aside
by an ignorant Frenchwoman, even though called by
the name of a Queen. There had always been a silent
antagonism between her and him. He had a great
respect for women of real talent and feeling, and had
been singularly happy with all his three wives, each of
* Letter to Vane, ii., 328.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 203

whom required but to know his wishes to fulfil them.
Consequently, he was the more disgusted at the con
stant attempts of the Queen to " manage" her husband.
She disliked Wentworth, because he did not flatter her
and obey her whims ; also, he did not sufficiently
resemble a hairdresser's doll to satisfy her highly-
exalted taste for manly beauty. She thought him
" vairy uglee," his sole redeeming quality being in her
eyes "his preetie white hands," and on them she often
expatiated. He had a mean opinion of her intellect, none at
all of her judgment, and was constantly irritated by
her interference in the affairs of the Government. He
now sent off a message to Sir John Wintour, desiring
him to inform her Majesty that he should receive it as
a great and singular favour, if she would move no further
in this matter of the Earl of Desmond. It was a pre
cedent which, if persisted in, would introduce a mighty
disorder in the army, and disable him altogether from
serving his Majesty as otherwise he trusted he should
be able to do. It was most pernicious in this time of
general action, when the whole of Scotland was in
revolt, and great numbers in Ireland were disaffected.
He had need of the most experienced officers, and he
trusted to be approved in the bestowing what of right
and by practice had ever belonged to the place he
occupied for such good and important ends and pur
poses. He trusted rather to be sustained and strength
ened for better duties in his Majesty's service, not thus
disabled, and at length despised and neglected, in the
course of his service even by those who, next to their
Majesties, ought to respect and obey him the most, so

1639.

204 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. long as his Majesty honoured him with the charge and
~ power of General amongst them.
He wished the Queen to know that, if once these
places of command in the army became suits at Court,.
looked upon as preferments and portions for younger
children, the honour of the government of Ireland, and
consequently the prosperity of affairs, would be lost.
We may be quite sure that the kindly feelings of
Queen Henrietta Maria to Lord Wentworth were by
no means increased by these plain words.*
He now received news of his regiment at Carlisle.
They were the wonder and the admiration of all
around. Attempts were made to exchange the men
into other companies, and they were everywhere in
request to help drill the raw recruits. All the orders
of Wentworth had been exactly obeyed, and not a man
had been lost since their departure from Ireland.
Twice a week they were exercised, and " having their
new clothes, made a brave show." But these fine
soldiers themselves were disgusted with the comrades
offered to them, as well as with the wretched improvi
dence and bad management, of which the careful
training of Lord Wentworth had made them severe
critics. On a rumour of their being distributed in
various places, they with one accord, officers and men,
joined Sir Francis Willoughby in requesting Lord
Wentworth that they might either remain altogether
and perform the service for which they were sent, or
' else be recalled to Ireland. They boldly declared
they were jointly resolved not to sue for or accept of
any other employment than that of guarding Carlisle.
In that they Avould do their duty, and were ready to
* The Lord Deputy to Sir John Wintour, ii., 328.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 205
spend their lives and fortunes in the King's service. 1639.
But part they would not.
They found neither stores nor any storehouse nearer
than Newcastle. Nothing Avas provided to replace
their diminishing ammunition, nor any materials to
repair the fortifications. The place was so weak
that they were in constant dread of the approach of
the enemy before it was ready. Only £200 was in
possession of the Mayor, and with this they began to
prepare their wheelbarrows and other tools. Food and
lodging were very dear. The soldiers found it hard
work to live on 3s. 6d. a week. The town itself
pleaded poverty, and declared its inability to afford
them either fire or light when on guard.*
At this juncture, when money was so urgently
needed by the King as well as men, a document
arrived in England which, had it fallen under the eye
of Lord Wentworth, would probably have resulted in
an explosion such as would have made the writer more
modest for the future. For, however oppressive the
acts of the Lord Deputy to his countrymen, there was
not a man in the British Isles more jealous of foreign
interference and insolence. The following is a copy
of this delectable epistle : —
(Entitled)
u Instructions from the Pope to his Nuncio in England.
" You are to command the Catholics of England in
general, that they suddenly desist from making such
offers of men towards this Northern expedition, as we
* Sir Francis Willoughby to the Lord Deputy, ii., 330.

206 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. hear they have done, little to the advantage of their
_ discretion. And, likewise, it is requisite, considering
the penalty already imposed, that they be not too
forward with money more than what law and duty
enjoins them to pay, without any innovation at all, or
view of making themselves rather weaker pillars of the
kingdom than they were before. Inform the provin
cials of every order, that it is expressly prohibited no
more assemblies (of what nature soever) shall admit of
the laity to have either voice or session in it, being
what will be urged for a precedent is but only an
usurpation. " Declare unto the best of the peers and gentlemen
by word of mouth, that they ought not to express any
averseness, in case the High Court of Parliament be
called, nor show any discontent at the acts, which do
not, point blank, aim at religion, being in general the
most fundamental law of that kingdom.
" Advise the clergy to desist from that foolish, nay
rather illiterate and childish, custom of distinction in
the Protestant and Puritan doctrine. And, especially,
this error is so much the greater when they undertake
to prove that Protestantism is a degree nearer to the
Catholic faith than the other. For, since both of them
be without the verge of the Church, it is needless
hypocrisy to speak of it ; yea, it begets more malice
than it is worth.
" That the provincials are required to give a general
warning through all orders that no religious person
ought to be seduced by any noblemen, either officers
of the Crown or the like, who pretend to be schismatic
into a praemunire. For he that dares not follow
the truth as his conscience directs him, is not worthy

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.

207

to be sought or followed by any of our faith. But, 1639.
on the other side, we give the like command, that who
soever is thought inclining to God in his heart, let no
man be so rash to boast and speak it abroad.
" All busy inquiries are forbidden, but especially
into arcanas of the State. That none of the Church,
whether lay brother or ecclesiastical, contribute so
largely as they have done to the society ; but dispose
their charity that every order may partake alike."*
There is a great deal of common-sense in this letter.
The repulsive part of the matter is, that a foreign ruler
should take upon himself to issue orders in England.
Still it was a good thing that the Catholics were held
back from supplying funds for this wicked war. It
was also a good thing that money was scarce in every
direction. The Council were at their wits' end. Loan
after loan was refused, and very cold answers came in
from the gentry in answer to a new appeal.
" Though they be not direct refusals," said Winde
banke, " they are almost as ill, for they bring us no
relief, nor no hope of it. Some petty sums, and those
very few, have been offered. So that my Lords begin
to apprehend it may be of dangerous consequence.
Upon the whole matter, my Lords have commanded
me to represent with all humility to your Majesty that
they see no possibility of procuring such supplies to
your Majesty as are expected till the end of October."
The higher classes were not the only recreants.
The King had sent letters to the citizens of London
demanding a heavy loan.
On the 10th of June the committee appointed to
procure money for the King met at Whitehall, to
* Clarendon State Papers, ii., 47.

208 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. receive the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London and
~ place before them the needs of the King. The Recorder
first read aloud the King's letter. After this, Arch
bishop Laud made a speech representing the needs of
the King, and the danger of the whole kingdom if he
were not supplied. The only place where ready money
was to be had was the city, which, hitherto, even in
times of less peril and necessity, had been ready to
serve the Crown. His Majesty demanded nothing by
way of gift or contribution, but a loan upon good secu
rity of repayment both of principal and interest, by
which they would be no losers, but gainers. On such
terms they seldom refused any applicant, and of course
it was impossible they could make the least difficulty
to the King upon so urgent an occasion, and where
their own safety was so nearly concerned.
His Grace was warmly seconded by the rest, and
the Lord Privy Seal told the listening Mayor and
Aldermen that when he was Recorder in the time of
King James, the city had lent £100,000 for a-year at
three days warning, and had it repaid punctually to
a day. But still the Lord Mayor required time to consider
with his friends as to the wisdom of following this
bright example.
To this the committee replied that though the busi-,
ness was very weighty, yet it needed no such delibera
tion. The greatest difficulty lay in the manner of
doing it ; for they must know it must be done, and
that being yielded to they should have time to advise
upon the rest. It would therefore be quite enough to
consult together privately on the spot, and give the
result to the committee before their departure.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 209
The committee then withdrew, leaving the Lord 1639.
Mayor and Aldermen in the Council Chamber. After ~~
the lapse of an hour, these disloyal citizens informed
the committee that considering the present scarcity of
money and damp of trade, they held it impossible to
give his Majesty satisfaction.
" My Lords " of the committee replied, they durst
take no excuses or refusals, and advised the Lord
Mayor and Aldermen to be careful how they .gave his
Majesty such just cause of indignation, which must be
of dangerous consequence to the city in general, and
to every one of them. And Lord Cottington went so
far as to tell them, they should have sold their chains
and gowns.
This eloquence having no effect, they were left to
consider the matter again, and a proposal made to
raise so much a month.
But before the time arrived for their answer, its
necessity was superseded by events which will shortly
appear. Among the Scots who had settled in Ireland were
the usual per-centage of traitors and cowards in a good
cause. These, instead of the pride in the valour and
independence of their country that the majority avowed,
trembled with abject fear lest they should be thought
to share it, and thereby endanger their worldly pos
sessions. And to ensure their own safety they drew
up a petition, which has stamped the names of all who
signed it with shame and dishonour.
It was addressed to the Lord Deputy and Council,
and written in the names of " divers lords spiritual and
temporal, knights, gentlemen, and others of the Scot
tish nation, inhabiting the kingdom of Ireland."

210 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. The petitioners stated that they had with inward
sorrow, hitherto, observed the disorders in Scotland,
occasioned by the covenant entered into by their
countrymen there without his Majesty's regal autho
rity or assent.
And as the petitioners altogether disliked those
courses, and feared lest they might be suspected of
being a party thereto, notwithstanding their perfect
innocence, they desired to vindicate their loyalty.
And to enable them to prove themselves perfectly free
from " so great a blemish, from the contagion and
malignity of the lewd and desperate transgressions of
that faction," they begged the Lord Deputy and his
Council would prescribe some test by oath, or other
means by which they could show how free they were
from any suspicion of consent to these proceedings of
their wretched countrymen.
Nothing could be more opportune for the King than
this request. It was exactly what Lord Wentworth
needed, and took from him all the odium of suggestion.
Of course he complied, and by order of the Lord
Deputy and Council, the following oath was ordered
to be administered to every Scot in Ireland. All who
refused to take it were to be sent before the Council.
" I do faithfully swear, profess, and promise, that I
will honour and obey my sovereign Lord, King Charles,
and will bear faith and true allegiance unto him. And
defend and maintain his royal power and authority.
And that I will not bear arms, or do any rebellious
or hostile act against him ; or protest against any his
royal commands, but submit myself in all due obe
dience thereunto. And that I will not enter into any
covenant, oath, or bond of mutual defence and assist^

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.

211

ance agamst any persons whatsoever by force, without 1639.
his Majesty's sovereign and regal authority. And I
do renounce and abjure all covenants, oaths, and bonds
whatsover, contrary to what I have herein sworn,
professed and promised. So help me God in Christ
Jesus."* This oath was so satisfactory to the King, that he
ordered it to be taken, also, by all the Scots in Eng
land above the age of sixteen, and a commission was
accordingly issued to that effect.
Meanwhile, the King found almost as much difficulty
in obtaining privates for' his army, as in finding money
to pay them.
In England the Marquis of Hamilton, and in Ireland
the Earl of Barrymore, were compelled to press their re
cruits ; few, indeed, came voluntarily to their standards.
So detested was the service in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex,
and Kent, where Hamilton sent his press-gang, that
men were found to mutilate their feet causing lameness
for life, and even to hang themselves rather than serve.f
In Ireland, where the Earl of Barrymore took the
King's commission to raise a thousand men, he pur
sued a system the opposite to that of Lord Wentworth.
He took no money either to pay the troops or provide
for their necessities. The old scenes of former times
were soon revived. The houses of honest labourers
were invaded, and the tenants with their sons pressed
into the royal service. The recruiting parties were
composed of the most brutal ruffians. Wherever they
appeared, the inhabitants took to flight as at the ap
proach of an enemy.
* Nalson's^Oollections, i. 219.
+ Mr. Garrard to the Lord Deputy, ii. 357. p 2

212 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. Lord Wentworth was highly disgusted, and begged
that if a levy must be made in Ireland for the Scotch
war, that it might be managed by the Irish ministers
ofthe Crown.
On the 29 th of April, the King left York on his
journey to Berwick. Before leaving, he expressed his
great satisfaction with his reception at York, saying,
that he had never found the like true love from the
city of London, to which place he had given so many
marks of his favour. On the first night after his de
parture he was lodged at Raby Castle, the seat of Sir
Henry Vane, where he was magnificently entertained ;
and from thence he proceeded to Newcastle, where he
met with a similar reception at the hands of the mayor
and citizens.
As he approached Berwick, his army was drawn up
in line of battle, and at its head he marched to the
Tweed and pitched his camp at a place called Birks,
two miles west of Berwick.
On hearing of the King's arrival at Berwick, Lord
Wentworth wrote to him to entrench his army with
all possible strength and diligence, always taking care
to leave a free passage between the camp and Berwick,
and also the sea free. And by no offensive act to
provoke an invasion till the end of August. If this
could be managed, and the cavalry meantime strength
ened as much as possible, he thought it not unlikely
that the King might with great success suddenly march
with all the cavalry to Edinburgh, spoiling and burning
all the corn of the champagne country, and seizing all
the shipping, fishing, and commerce, disable them for
the winter. And not less than two thousand men
should be left in Carlisle.*
* The Lord Deputy to the King, ii. 356.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 213
This last plan is hardly consistent with the usual 1639.
clear vision of Lord Wentworth. If the Scots were in
sufficient force to allow of any danger of their boldly
marching upon an entrenched army, and attacking two
well-fortified garrisons, it would scarcely be likely they
would keep so poor a watch as to admit of a great
surprise, or allow an enemy unchecked to ravage their
lands. But there was also another impediment to this plan.
Neither army could afford to wait. The English were
discontented and mutinous ; the Scots could not so
long neglect their work, submit to the loss of trade
and fishing by the blockade of their ports, for Lord
Hamilton had now arrived off the coast with the
fleet. " It was our great desire," said the Chaplain of the
Scots army, " to have at once been at handy strokes,
well understanding that our poverty could not long
permit us to keep the field together. If the ships
should keep us besieged by sea, and hold us from all
trade ; if on our border an army of strangers should
force us to lie in camp long before them, till our country
men, even from the North, came on our backs, till
the Irish came on the west and English on the south,
we saw at once that this would undo us without stroke
of sword."
The faithlessness of Charles gave the desired oppor
tunity. The Scots, with strange imprudence, had
agreed not to come within ten miles of the royal camp
so long as Charles did not cross the border.
But on Sunday, the 2nd of June, a council of war
was called in the English camp, and intelligence
was brought that the Scots were in their quarters

214 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. at Kelsey, about six miles' distant and about 1,500
strong. It was then resolved to attack them, and, accord
ingly, the next day, the Earl of Holland, with 2000
horse and 2000 foot crossed the Tweed, and marched
into Scotland.
The day was one of sultry heat, such as had not
been known within living memory, and the infantry,
though cooled by wading through the shallow river,
were too fatigued to be able to overtake their cavalry,
which had now advanced three miles ahead of them,
and come in sight of the enemy. As they came on,
the Scots sent a trumpeter, demanding what men were
they who thus, in warlike array, entered their country.
As he uttered this challenge, a large body of horse
troops came rapidly behind him, and suddenly all
the hedges became alive with Scotch soldiers. It
had been a mistake, indeed, to dream of catching them
sleeping. From behind the little hills new troops sprang up,
and surrounded the English horsemen on every side.
The surprise was to the English, who had fallen into
their own trap, and, without striking a blow, they
ignominiously turned back, re-crossed the Tweed, and
fled to the royal camp.
But the truce had been broken, and there was now
nothing to fetter the action of the Scots, while this
miserable adventure had but too plainly revealed the
condition of the English.
On the following day, the King commanded all the
nobles, gentlemen, and his own train to muster before
him. Having obeyed his order and " made a gallant
show," though unfortunately nothmg else, they dis-

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH* 215
mounted, and having all sent their horses to their 1639.
respective quarters, were about to retire. Suddenly
the alarm was sounded that the enemy was among
them. It was given by Sir John Byron, who, rushing
into the royal pavilion, brought out the King and
showed him the Scots marching upon the camp, with
colours flying and fully prepared for battle. The King
took out his field-glass and went to the side of the
Tweed. There was no mistake. The main body of
the enemy was all on the nearest side of Dunse Hill,
and none ready to oppose them.
The King uttered an oath. " Have not I," said he,
" good intelligence ! that the rebels can march with
their army, and encamp within sight of mine, and I
not have a word of it till the body of their army give
the alarm . "
He then sent for the general, who blamed the scout
master, and he, in turn, accused the scouts. No shame,
and no regret were manifested by the troops. Instead
of any eagerness to redeem their neglect, they began
to murmur about the badness of their provisions, that
their biscuit was mouldy and they could get no drink
in the camp. They could find no better subject of
conversation in sight of the Scotch army, than abuse
of Sir William Savile, for furnishing his own regiment
the best, complaints that no food could be had out of
Scotland now beyond a few lambs that had been
bought, &c, &c.
While in the midst of this pleasant state of affairs,
the King was holding a hasty council of war, the Earl
of Dumfermline, preceded by his trumpeter, advanced
from the Scotch camp and came to the pavilion of the
King.

216 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. He brought with him the oft repeated petition for
liberty of religion, and the declaration that only to
defend that and keep the laws of God, and by no
means to rebel against the King, had they taken arms.
If only their rights, according to the laws of the land,
were granted, they would instantly return contentedly
to their homes.
It was utterly useless to contend with them now,
and Charles was forced to yield what otherwise they
had the power to take. With the hope of saving his
pride, he caught eagerly at the word " laws," and pre
tending to have misunderstood the Scots before, and
to have thought they wished to set aside the laws, he
soon came to terms, and on each side the following
articles were agreed to.
On the King's part :
1. That all matters ecclesiastical shall be determined
by the assembly of the Kirk, and matters civil by the
Parliament and inferior judicatories, which assemblies
shall be kept once a year, or as shall be agreed on by
the General Assembly.
2. That a free General Assembly be kept at Edin
burgh the 6th of August next, where the King intended
to be present, and a Parliament held there the 20th
of August next, for ratifying what shall be concluded
in the said Assembly, and setting such other things as
shall be necessary and therein an Act of Oblivion to
be passed.
3. That upon the Scots disbanding their forces, dis
charging their tables, restoring his honours, castles,
forts, and ammunition, and to his subjects their
liberties and estates, he will retire his fleet and land
forces, and restore what ships and goods are detained.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 217
4. That as he intends no alteration of religion or 1639.
laws, so he expects obedience of his subjects, and if
any shall continue disobedient, the calamities that
ensue are occasioned not by him but by themselves.
The articles were afterwards put in this form :
1. The Scots to be disbanded within forty-eight
hours. 2. His Majesty's castles, forts, ammunition, and
royal honours to be delivered up.
3. His ships to depart after the delivery of the
castles. 4. His Majesty to restore all persons, goods, and
ships arrested since the 1st of November.
5. No meetings or convocations but what warranted
by Act of Parliament.
6. All fortifications to desist.
These articles were then signed on both sides, and
both armies were disbanded.*
Thus ended in utter disgrace and deserved shame
this expedition against the Scots. Happily for the
honour of the English name, it was impossible to call
it a national cause. The Scotch lords who had taken
part with the King were everywhere the objects of
scorn and execration to their nobler countrymen.
When the Marquis of Hamilton, by the orders of the
King, went to put Lord Ruthven into the Castle of
Edinburgh, and see it furnished with provisions and
ammunition, as he passed along the streets of the
capital, he was overwhelmed with such hootings and
hissings, that, in terror, he called on some of the
covenanting lords to attend him to the castle, as a
guard against the people, who hurled at him the
* Rushworth, 8vo. iii. 64.

218 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. epithets of " pirate," " traitor," " enemy to God and
' the country," &c. And the Earl of Traquair, Lord
Treasurer in Edinburgh, who was also obliged to visit
the city, met with a similar reception. His white staff
of office was torn from his servant, and on a rebuke
offered to the people by the council, all the apology
was the bare act of returning the staff.*
* Rushworth, iii. 64.

CHAPTER IX.

When the news of the pacification reached Lord 1639.
Wentworth, he regarded it, as indeed it truly was, merely ~
as a truce which the weakness of the King had com
pelled him to make. To a man so faithless as Charles,
it was apparently a great advantage. It not only
afforded him time to prepare new instruments of com
pulsion, but gave him possession of all the fortresses
of Scotland, which before were in the hands of the
Covenanters. Indeed, it is much to be wondered at,
that the castles, or some of them, should not have
been retained as hostages by the Scots.
Wentworth, little heeding the jealous eyes that were
bent upon him in England, even more than in Scotland,
now rapidly proceeded on that course which could not
fail to strengthen and confirm the suspicions of all the
friends of liberty. Though the peace declared should
at once have put a stop to all warlike preparations, he
continued them more vigorously than ever. He ad
ministered the oath to the Scots in Ireland with the
same rigour as before. He filled his arsenals with
arms sufficient for ten thousand foot and one thousand
horse, with all other stores in proportion. And he
most earnestly counselled the King to maintain his
full garrisons in Berwick and Carlisle, and perfect the

220 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. fortifications of Leith as well as garrison it strongly
~ with loyal troops.* He still deprecated the plan of the
King's holding a Parliament in person at Edinburgh.
But if his Majesty persisted in this intention, he
begged him, at all events, to secure his return, and
take such measures, that no advantage might be taken
by the Scots of his being on the spot, to constrain
him to comply with anything which might in the least
"press upon his honour," or embolden either the Scots
or any other of his subjects in the future.
Three principles Lord Wentworth said must be
granted :
1. That it was the knowledge the Covenanters had
of their own weakness, not their better affections, that
inclined them to seek an accommodation.
2. That nothing is to be yielded there, which by
way of precedent, may encourage to protest or contest
the royal commands or the laws already established.
3. That England and Ireland ministering to the
King's sovereignty — as Lord Wentworth said, he felt
confident they would, if rightly handled — there was
abundantly in the King's power, suddenly and safely
to conform Scotland to his will in all just things.
It was well that the little word "just " came in the
right place in the last sentence. But even then, Lord
Wentworth deemed it advisable to ask the King to burn
the letter containing such equivocal matter.
But the Scots, on their side, were equally cautious.
They insisted that the terms of disbanding both armies
included the discharge of the garrisons of Berwick and
Carlisle, and they loudly protested against any addition
* The Lord Deputy to the King, ii. 372.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 221
either to the fortifications or the number of men in 1639.
the royal castles of Scotland.
This unexpected stroke of the Scots completely
thwarted the cunning designs of the King. How to
cany them out, he could not devise. His preparations
could not be carried on secretly, and if attempted
openly, they would be met with counter forces that
might lead to a result like the last. And yet, to allow
the Scots to remain in possession of the victory, was a
humiliation he could not endure.
In this predicament he resolved to send for Lord
Wentworth personally to confer with him. But even
by this he feared to awake new suspicions. He there
fore wrote to Wentworth, telling him to come to
England but be sure to hide the cause. " I have,"
said he, " had too much to desire your counsel and
attendance for some time, which I think not fit to ex
press by letter more than this. The Scots Covenant
begins to spread too far. Yet, for all this, I will not
have you take notice that I have sent for you, but
pretend some other occasion of business, as to be
present at the hearing of the Chancellor's Appeal, or
what you will."
The King was too little in the habit of seeking
timely counsel of his ministers, not to show that he
was profoundly embarrassed at this time. But anxious
as Lord Wentworth was to obey him, and at once
proceed to England, some delay was unavoidable, in
order to arrange the government of Ireland during his
absence. And most unfortunately, too, he was now
suffering from one of those attacks of illness that were
becoming ever more frequent and violent. He thus
wrote to the King : —

222 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. " Verily, Sir, my foot should this very morning have
~ been in the stirrup towards your presence, but, that
the condition of this great charge doth necessitate me
to have powers from your Majesty so to do, and settle
also this government in such a manner as in these
cases is required.
" Howbeit, in sadness, my health is not very good,
and such a lameness fallen into my knee, the remainder
of my last year's gout, as is very troublesome to me
now, and hath been ever since the last winter."
He was in great apprehension lest he should lose
the use of his limbs at this juncture. But with stern
resolution, he immediately began to look for some
remedy, and arranged to be carried to England on a
litter rather than be wanting to the King.
And, at once, he ordered Sir George Radcliffe to
see that all forms were prepared for the transfer of his
duties to a lieutenant during his absence. While
these were being made ready, Lord Wentworth rapidly
selected his deputies and made his domestic arrange
ments. His two little girls he resolved to send to their
maternal grandmother, the Avidowed Countess of Clare.
She had often asked him for them, but he never could
persuade himself to part from them for so long a stay
and at such a distance. But as separation was now
inevitable, he settled at last, to entrust them to her.
It was on this occasion that he wrote the following
beautiful letter : —

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 223
1639.
The Lord Deputy to the Countess Dowager of Clare.
" May it please your Ladyship,
"My Lord of Clare having writ unto me, your
Ladyship desired to have my daughter Ann with you
for a time in England to recover her health, I have
at last been able to yield so much from my own com
fort, as to send both her and her sister to wait your
grave, wise, and tender instructions. They are both,
I praise God, in good health, and bring with them
hence from me no other advice, but entirely and cheer
fully to obey and do all you shall be pleased to command
them, so far forth as their years and understanding
may administer unto them.
"I was unwilling to part them, in regard those that
must be a stay one to another, when by course of
nature, I am gone before them, I would not have them
grow strangers whilst I am living. Besides, the'
younger gladly imitates the elder in disposition so like
her blessed mother, that it pleases me very much to
see her steps followed and observed by the other.
Madam, I must confess, it was not without difficulty
before I could persuade myself thus to be deprived the
looking upon them, who, with their brother, are the
pledges of all the comfort, the. greatest, at least, of
my old age, if it shall please God I arrive thereunto.
" But I have been brought up in afflictions of this
kind, so as I still fear to have that taken first that is
dearest unto me; and have in this been content
willingly to overcome my own affections, in order to
their good, acknowledging your Ladyship capable of

224 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. doing them more good in their breeding than I am.
Otherway; in truth, I should never have parted with
them, as I profess it a grief unto me not to be as well
able as any to serve the memory of that noble lady in
these harmless little infants.
" Well, to God's blessing and your Ladyship's good
ness I commit them, and have of sorrow in my heart
till I see them again, I must, I know it right well.
And I believe them so graciously minded to render
themselves so the more, the more you see of their
attention to do as you shall be pleased to direct them,
which will be of much contentment unto me. For
whatever your Ladyship's opinion may be of me, I ,
desire, and have given it them in charge (so far as
their tender years are capable of) to honour and observe
your Ladyship above all the women in the world, as
well knowing that in so doing they shall fulfil that
duty, whereby of all others, they could have delighted
their mother the most, and do infinitely wish they may
want nothing in their breeding, my power or cost
might procure them, or their condition of life hereafter
may require.
"For, madam, if I die to-morrow,'I will, by God's
help, leave them ten thousand pounds a-piece, which I
trust, by God's blessing, shall bestow them to the com
fort of themselves and friends, nor at all considerably
prejudice their brother, whose estate shall never be
much burthened with a second venture, I assure you.
" I thought fit to send with them one that teacheth
them to write. He is a quiet, soft man ; but honest,
and not given to any disorder. Him I have appointed
to account for the money to be laid forth, wherein he
hath no other direction but to pay and lay forth as

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 225
your ladyship shall appoint, and still, as he wants to 1639.
go to Woodhouse, where my cousin Rockley will
supply him. And I most humbly beseech you to give
order to their servants, and otherwise to the tailors at
London, for their apparel, which I wholly submit to
your ladyship's better judgment. And be it what it
may, I shall think it all happily bestowed, so as it be
to your contentment and theirs. For cost I reckon
not of, and anything I have is theirs so long as I live,
which is only worth thanks, for theirs and their
brothers all I have must be, whether I will or no, and
therefore I desire to let them have to acknowledge me
for before.
" Nan, they tell me, danceth prettily, which I wish
(if with convenience it might be) were not lost, more
to give her a comely grace in the carriage of her body,
than that I wish they should much delight or practice
it when they are women. Arabella is a small prac
titioner that way also, and they are both very apt to
learn that or anything they are taught.
" Nan, I think, speaks French prettily, which yet I
might have been better able to judge, had her mother
lived. The other also speaks ; but her maid, being of
Guernsey, the accent is not good. But your ladyship
is in this excellent, as that, as indeed all things else
which may befit them, they may, and I hope will, learn
better with your ladyship than they can with their poor
father, ignorant in what belongs women and other
ways. God knows, so distracted, and so a-wanting
unto them in all, saving in loving them ; and therein, in
truth, I shall never be less than the dearest parent in
.the world.

226 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. " Their brother is just now sitting at my elbow, in
_ good health, God be praised ; and I am, in the best
sort I may, accommodating this place for him, which
in the kind I take to be the noblest one of them in the
King's dominions, and where a grass time may be
passed with most pleasure of that kind. I will build
him a good house, and, by God's help, leave him, I
think, near three thousand pounds a year, and wood
on the ground as much, I daresay, if near London, as
would yield fifty thousand pounds, besides a house
within twelve miles of Dublin, the best in Ireland, and
land to wit, which, I hope, will be two thousand
pounds a year, all which he shall have to the rest,
had I twenty bro'thers of his to set besides me.
" This I write not to your ladyship in vanity, or to
have it spoken of, but privately to let your ladyship
see I do not forget the children of my dearest wife,
nor altogether bestow my time fruitlessly for them. It
is true, I am in debt ; but there will be, besides, suffi
cient to discharge all I owe, by God's grace, whether
I live or die.
" And next to these children, there are not any
other persons I wish more happiness than to the house
of their grandfather, and shall be always most ready
to serve them, what opinion soever be had of me.
For no other usage can absolve me of what I owe, not
only to the memory, but to the last legacy that
noblest creature left with me when God took her to
himself. "lam afraid to turn over the leaf, lest your ladyship
might think I could never come to a conclusion, and
shall therefore add to all the rest this one truth more,

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 227
that whenever I be happied through the occasion, 1639.
there is not any more
" Your Ladyship's
" Obedient and most humble
" Son and Servant, " Wentworth.
"Fairwood Park,
" The 10th of August, 1639." *
There was another reason, also, for sending away
the children. The son of Sir Edward Osborne had
lately been killed at York by the sudden fall of a
chimney, and, ever since, the fear of a similar accident
had beset the little Wentworths.
Alluding to this miserable calamity, Lord Went
worth wrote to Laud : —
" The sad news of the death of the Vice-President's
son was very grievous unto me, the rather that my
friend should come to such a misfortune there where I
had placed him. But it hath scared all the women
and children in the house most seriously, and, to say
truth, with reason. For I do not think there are any
where so many rotten chimneys as are in this Castle,
and so dangerously high and weakly set, as if they
had been so done purposely for mischief. These late
great winds frightened them sufficiently ; but I do not
think it will now be possible to keep them in their
beds, when boisterous Boreas shall swell his cheeks
* The Lord Deputy to Lady Clare, ii., 379.
Q2

228 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. next. God bless the young whelps, and for the old
dog there is less matter."*
Just at this time the Lady Loftus, in whose behalf
Lord Wentworth had decided against the Chancellor,
died. The manner in which he spoke of her after her
death is a great argument against the miserable scan
dal attached by his enemies to his friendship for her.
Thus to Lord Conway he expressed his grief: "We
have sadly buried my Lady Loftus, one of the noblest
persons I ever had the happiness to be acquainted
with. And as I had received greater obligations from
her ladyship than from all Ireland besides, so with
her are gone the greatest part of my affections to the
country ; and all that is left of them shall be thank
fully and religiously paid to her excellent memory and
lasting goodness."
And later he spoke of her as that " gentle person,
who to have procured the whole world could not have
moved a dishonourable or unrighteous thing to me ; no,
though she had known aforehand that I would have
yielded thereunto."
By words and deeds, Lord Wentworth endeavoured
to arouse a feeling of loyalty towards the King. The
arguments he used are remarkable for their plausibility,
and afford a striking example of the possibility of
placing a bad cause in a good light.
Sir Richard Hutton, one of the judges who decided
in favour of Hampden in the famous trial on the ship
money, was a relation of Lord Wentworth by marriage,
and frequently corresponded with him. Just at this
time, before his departure for England, Lord Went
worth thought it well to express his opinion on this
* The Lord Deputy to the Archbishop of Canterbury, ii., 251.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 229
course ; but very different is his manner from the flip- 1639.
pant tone in which he spoke of Hampden to Laud.
The following argument, in favour of arbitrary taxation
by the King, may well impress minds really as shallow
as Lord Wentworth was in the habit of considering
those of the taxed people to be : —
" I do conceive that the power of levies of forces,
at sea and land, for the very — not the feigned — relief
and safety ofthe public, is such a property of sovereignty,
as were the Crown willing, yet can it not divest itself
thereof. Salus populi suprema lex; nay, in cases of
extremity, even above acts of Parliament. And I am
satisfied that the monies raised for setting forth a fleet
was chastely bestowed that way, not at all vitiated by
any application otherwise, nay, satisfied that it was
necessary that it should be so, and that our fleet at
sea were in these times of mighty honour to the King,
most fit to preserve the rights of private subjects, the
peace and safety of the commonwealth.
" And, considering it is agreed by common consent
that in time of public danger and necessity, such a levy
may be made, and that- the King therein is sole judge,
how or in what manner or proportion it is to be
gathered ; I conceive it was out of humour opposed by
Hampden beyond the modesty of a subject, and that
reverence wherein we ought to have so gracious a
sovereign." The second part of his argument is still more im
pressive : —
" The prospects of Kings into mysteries of State are
so far exceeding those of ordinary common persons, as
they be able to discern and prevent dangers to the
public afar off, which others shall not so much as dream

230 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. of till they feel the unavoidable stripes and smart of
: them upon their naked shoulders. Besides, the mis
chief which threatens State and people are not always
those which becomes the object of every vulgar eye ;
but then commonly of most danger, when least dis-"
covered; nay, very often, if unseasonably over-early
published, albeit, privately known to the King long
before, might rather inflame than remedy the evil.
" Therefore, it is a safe rule for us all, in the fear of
God, to remit these supreme watches to that regal
power, whose peculiar indeed it is ; submit ourselves
in these high considerations to his ordinances, as being
no other than the ordinance of God itself ; and rather
attend upon his will with confidence in his justice,
belief in his wisdom, assurance in his parental affections
to his subjects and kingdoms, than feed ourselves with
the curious questions, with the vain flatteries of
imaginary liberty, which, had we even our silly wishes
and conceits, were we to frame a new commonwealth,
even to our own fancy, might yet, in conclusion, leave
nothing ourselves less free, less happy than now,
thanks be to God and his Majesty, we are, nay ought
justly to be reputed by every moderate-minded
Christian." That Lord Wentworth, at least, persuaded himself
of the truth of these words there can be little doubt.
According to the principles adopted by him, the money
spent on the fleet sent out to crush the Scots was
" chastely bestowed." But once admit the ground that
the King is responsible to God alone, and that regal
wisdom is supreme on earth, and it is difficult to see
why the whole legal establishment should rest on any
other basis than the royal will, or to recognise in the

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 231
coronation oaths anything but an insulting, if not an 1639.
impious, farce. The whole of Lord Wentworth's argu-
ments vanish into air when opposed to the fact, that in
England a king reigns solely on certain conditions
accepted by himself, and by which he confesses him
self to be a mortal, bound by precisely the same obliga
tions of morality as the rest of mankind.

CHAPTER X.

1639. It was not before the middle of November that
Lord Wentworth was able to leave Ireland. When all
his arrangements had been made, and even his baggage
got ready, he was seized with violent paroxysms of
two of the diseases that held him in their racking
fetters. But desperately struggling with these most
cruel enemies, he, nevertheless, set sail and crossed St.
George's Channel. On disembarking at Chester he
was obliged to pause, and while resting his shattered
frame he wrote to his wife describing his bodily suffer
ings. After a few days he set out for London, and imme
diately on his arrival,' probably to give that colour to his
visit which the King had desired, the appeal of the Lord
Chancellor Loftus of Ireland against the judgment of
the Irish Council and Deputy was heard in the Star
Chamber by the King in person. The appeal was
vain, and the case a second time settled, and now by
the Privy Council of England, against Loftus. Among
those who thus decided were Vane and Holland, both
enemies of Wentworth.
The late Pacification of Berwick had been the
greatest mortification ever experienced by the King.
Never was a defeat more complete than that. He
writhed beneath the shame, and hated the Scots with
tenfold hatred. The ease with which they had secured

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 233-
the victory opened his eyes, and showed him that if he 1639.
meant to make a second venture he must oppose-
with a stronger force.
He could not forget the warnings of Lord Went
¬worth, and his cautions not to commence the war
before spring. Those cautions he had disregarded,
and struck the first blow by seizing the Scottish ves
sels. The fears of his wise counsellor had been
verified. Had the King only followed his advice, how
different had been his position now ! At length, Charles
began to recognise the value of the mind that had
maintained the most dangerous portion of his dominions
so long in peace. By his own management he had
lodged himself in a Slough of Despond, and according
to the custom of human nature in such circumstances,
he looked to the man for cure whose advice to prevent
the evil he had scorned. Wentworth now was to be
his most trusty weapon. A new leaf must be turned
over. Those aids to authority in the shape of worldly
dignities that Wentworth had so much needed in his
most difficult task in Ireland, and which he had been so
coldly refused, were now to be granted. Not as a reward
for his past services, not to make his path easier for
himself, but to render him more useful to the King
was a title to be bestowed. The new year of 1640
witnessed what Lord Wentworth playfully called " the
death of that great person, the Lord Deputy of Ireland,"
and his transformation into the Earl of Strafford and
Baron of Raby. Strafford being the name of the
hundred or wapentake in which his paternal mansion
was situated, he chose that for the name of his earldom.
At the same time he was made a knight of the Garter,
and his title of Lord Deputy changed into the higher one

234 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland — a name which had slept
~ since the days of the Earl of Essex. From this time
he was known no more as Lord Wentworth, but by
the name always applied to him in speech and history
that of the Earl of Strafford.
His first act in his new dignity was to join with
Laud and the Marquis of Hamilton in a secret council
to debate on the needs of the King. The affairs of
Scotland threw all else into the shade by their mag
nitude and importance.
With Strafford's views of royalty, the triumph of
the Scots was as unbearable as to Charles himself, and
he had an additional cause of anger that Charles did
not feel. To the mortification inflicted on his political
opinions was added the warmth of a partisan. His
affection for the King added the King's pain to his
own. Quietly to rest in this condition was impossible
to him. His King, his idol, was a mark of scorn to
the world. The enemies of his friend were tri
umphant. Could he, even at this late hour, have
recognised the real position of the two parties as they
stood in the light of abstract justice alone, and said to
Charles : " You are wrong in the whole matter. Ter
rible is the humiliation, galling the smart, unbearable
almost to speak of, while yOu look at it in the sense of
a vulgar defeat. But take the truly royal position of
a prince who desires the habitation of his throne to be
justice and judgment indeed, and you will rejoice in
having been prevented from perpetrating a wrong:
you will accept the stern lesson at the hands of a noble
people, and feel how far more glorious it is to rule
over a free nation than a horde of slaves. Let this
suggest to you the need of studying the spirit, the dis-

. THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 235
position that can prove itself so stedfast. Be yourself 1639.
the first example of obedience to the laws, and rebel
lion will be all unknown in England. And for me, a
loyal servant, a faithful friend, let me die rather than
fail you in what is good, or serve you in what is ill;"
— could Lord Strafford have suddenly awakened to a
sense of whither his blind affection, his abandonment
of all things to the desires of the King were leading
him ; — could he with devotion as firm have seen the star
of Right, and steered unswervingly his course by that
as chief — who can say what would have been the
result ? Not much, it is to be feared, to the good of
the King, who would probably have dismissed him with
rage and disappointment to a prison.
There are minds which need only the call of a noble
and sympathetic nature to spring from darkness into
light, which will joyfully grasp the outstretched hand
that seeks to draw them from the mire into which they
have been betrayed by guile or the force of a mighty
temptation, which, even unaided by all, can never
reconcile themselves to a base condition, and still grope
and struggle and mourn for better things, even though
they have never seen or known them.
And there are others whom no power can sustain on
high. With a glorious upward path before their very
eyes, with great work, fit instruments, and whatever
can elevate and cheer, with a sphere waiting ; — all — all
are vain. The weight of worldly selfishness overbears
all else ; no wings are powerful enough to lift such a one
in -air ; its strongest attribute compels it to grovel.
Again and again attempts to raise it may be made, it
cannot exist above the earth, it has no sympathy with
those bright orbs whose mutual powers of attraction

236 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. sustain them in their celestial sphere, and the artificial
supports removed, it falls prone, once more, to perish
and decay.
A more hopeless nature than that of Charles it is
difficult to conceive. The wonderful patience of the
people in, again and again, pardoning his broken faith
awoke no desire of return in him. The vigour and
prompt decision of the Scots suggested no appreciation
of the importance of their worship in their own eyes ;
he looked upon their unity as conspiracy. Neither
had he the temptation of strong passions to hurry
him into folly, or the, excuse of hopelessly difficult
circumstances to drive him to dangerous despair.
As a king and as a man, fortune was propitious to
him. Fervent loyalty and friendship, such as the
noblest men would have died to win, were his, and
were as nothing in his eyes. His mind was essentially
poor, barren by nature, and much less cultivated than
is generally believed. This native poverty is his best
excuse. It is by accrediting him with far greater
powers than he possessed that the real injustice is done
to him. The glamour of a royal name, a handsome
face, a picturesque dress, have been most truly sug
gested as having a*generally undreamed-of influence on
his admirers, though it needs only to remember the
boundless power of mere appearance and name over
most minds to admit the possibility at once. That he
was incapable of improvement is seen by the failure of
all that could tempt a man to goodness to move him.
But with Lord Strafford it might have been other
wise. Had a truly good and great man felt for him
such an affection as he felt for Charles, and used that
affection to awaken him to conscience, none can say

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 237
what might not have been the result. Unfortunately 1639-
for him, the acquaintance of Pym and Hampden never
reached to friendship, and outside the House of Com
mons, even in his early days, when he shared their
political opinions, he was almost a stranger. Pym is
said to have been intimate, but no trace of this remains.
There are no signs of mutual visits, no friendly letters,
no kindly mention even in the earliest days. It was a
disadvantage to Strafford that those who really loved
him, worshipped him in the same manner that he wor
shipped the King, and were, without exception, men
who felt their inferiority. Yet from them he could
bear to be told of his faults without offence, and fre
quently he promised them to try to subdue his pas
sionate temper and haste — almost his only defects in
their partial eyes. And it is this deference to their
opinion, added to his wonderful devotion to the King,
that vindicates his fitness for a loftier sphere than he
found on earth. A soul capable of one unchanging
love for another through his whole life, who ever puts
the welfare, the happiness of that other before his own.
who is unmoved by any unpopularity, who clings the
closer for misfortune, sacrifices the more for need — no
matter how erroneous may be the manner in which he
.shows this feeling — so long as it is true in itself and
its object more to him than himself; such a man has
other possibilities hidden within, seeds waiting only for
that warmth which is their right atmosphere to bring
them to life. And among the other lessons taught us
by the career of Lord Strafford may not this be one ?
That when we see another armed with such powers,
yet seemingly deficient in the one thing that can render
>ihem a blessing to humanity, those gifted with a keen

238 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1639. an(J ]0fty moral sense shall not be content to blame the
defect, but hold it among their duties to endeavour by
influence to supply it, or rather to kindle the flame
hidden and lost in the flint for want of the friendly
contact of what, at first sight, seems the alien steel.
Had Hampden, for instance, dreamed of the possibility
of striking the first spark of conscience in Wentworth's
soul, of feeding the flame with affection, it is vain to
say that the noblest results might not have followed*
But this is only one of the many dreams of " what
might have been." Not the faintest effort was made
by the patriots to retain Strafford — not a single timely
remonstrance was heard. Unaided in his hour of weak
ness, the hatred with which he had ever since been
pursued rendered return next to impossible.
War with Scotland was again resolved on.. Ever
since the pacification, commissioners had passed to and
fro between the King and the Scots, consuming the
time in weary arguments that deceived neither. The
Scots were perfectly convinced that the moment they
laid down their arms and rendered themselves helpless,
the King would pour down his forces and compel them
to receive the hated,. and in their eyes unholy liturgy,
and any other matters he chose. His own breach of
the treaty, in filling the Castle of Edinburgh with troops,
gave them a fair excuse for not completely disbanding,
and amidst mutual recrimination both prepared for a
new struggle.
But the King was again met by the terrible need of
money that had proved such an obstacle before, andto
supply that need was now the subject of anxious con
sultation. A council was called to consider means. A
loan was first proposed, but it soon became evident

THE LIFE OF THOMAS AVENTWORTH. 239
that this would go but a short way. It was, never- 1640.
theless, adopted as a means of immediate supply, while
more solid plans were forming. To this loan Lord
Strafford subscribed no less than twenty thousand
pounds out of his own private estate, as well to afford
an example to others as for its own substantial use.
Though the obsequious judges had declared in favour
of the King's claim to ship money, their decision was
so palpably opposed to the laws, that it rather increased
than lessened the difficulty of collecting it. And all
other illegal measures promised such poor results, that
the only safe chance of obtaining sufficient means to
meet the voluntary forces of the Scots was to fall back
on the nation, and once more summon a Parliament.
The delight of the people at once more seeing their
beloved assembly would, it was hoped, put them in so
good a humour with the King, that they would be
ready with open purses to support him. But if not, if
a Parliament should refuse, then the council considered
the King, having exhausted all lawful means, would be
fully justified in taking the matter entirely into his
own hands, and raising money for the war in the
manner that seemed best to himself.
But England was not alone to be called upon. Lord
Wentworth had such confidence in the goodwill of the
Irish towards the King, and their total lack of all
sympathy for the Scots, whose hatred of Popery was
not likely to attract them, that he proposed to call
another Parliament in Ireland for the express purpose
of laying the subject before them.
Matters were then settled accordingly. Writs were
issued in England, summoning a Parliament to meet
on the 13th of April, and Lord Strafford took his

240 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. departure from England to hold the same august
assembly in Ireland.
Meanwhile, in each of the three countries were seen
again the preparations for a renewal of the civil and
most wanton strife. The Earl of Northumberland,
Lord High Admiral of England, was also appointed
Commander-in-Chief of all the Forces against the Scots,
and Lord Strafford named Lieutenant-General under
him. The navy was to be largely increased, twenty
new ships of war to be ready by the 10th of April.
The city of London was ordered either to furnish a
ship of war, or the money to enable the King to fit out
one of his own vessels. The citizens preferred the
latter alternative, and guaranteed the sum required.
Letters were sent from the Privy Council to the Lords
Lieutenants of the counties, with orders to raise a
certain number of troops, to whom the Earl of North
umberland would send officers to train them. On the
10th of May they were all to meet at one general
rendezvous, and thence march to Newcastle. For the
present all their expenses were to be paid by the
country, which was afterwards to be repaid out of the
exchequer. Men for the navy were to be raised in a
similar way.*
On the arrival of Lord Strafford in Ireland, the King
sent him a formal letter directing him to make certain
statements to his good subjects in Ireland. Among
these was an account of the wickedness and ingratitude
of the Scots. In this most pathetic document Charles
related to the Irish how he had hitherto tried to
conceal from all others the manifold distempers and ill
affections shown towards his government and person
* Rushworth, 8vo, iii., p. 127.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 241
by the Scots ; how he had endeavoured out of his 1640.
princely clemency silently to reclaim them, and equally 
bow their judgments and consciences to right reason
and that natural allegiance God required of them for
him. Yet, he said, his gracious inclination had not
wrought in them that clear sight and sense of their
disobedience he trusted would have been the case, and
which must have happened had his goodness and com
passion towards them been looked on and received
with such reverence and thankfulness as these qualities
deserved. But at length he was forced to expose the
culprits. They had grown worse through his for
bearance and moderation, and now, under the mask of
religion, had shown so little regard to the rights of his
Crown, and the dignity of his person, that he could no
longer neglect to put his affairs and armies in such a
condition as should enforce their obedience and con
formity. For this reason, therefore, he had resolved to call
a Parliament, both in England and Ireland, to consult
on these matters, and to offer to his well-affected
subjects the honour to endeavour with him the joint
safety of King and people.
And, in particular, Lord Strafford was to tell the
people of Ireland that through the disorders of others,
the King looked with delight upon their great and
continued expressions of affection and loyalty ; and,
what was more, he assured himself with all confidence
of their fit supply and personal assistance in the exe
cution and accomplishment of his just and pious
intentions. And therefore Lord Strafford was to demand of
VOL. II. K

242 THE LIFE OF THOMAS AVENTWORTH.
1640. them, in these pressing and urgent occasions of the
~ King, the grant of six subsidies, to be paid in three
years. At the same time, he was enjoined to tell them
that if God should give that misguided faction in
Scotland grace to submit, then the King would remit
two of the six subsidies, and employ the other four for
improving the revenue, so as to be no further burden
some to Ireland, unless some great and pressing occa
sion should enforce him-.
But the six subsidies were not all. People do not
maintain a character for generosity for nothing. Lord
Strafford was further enjoined to declare that the King
had that well-grounded opinion of the Irish faith and
courage, that he purposed to have a levy of eight
thousand foot and one thousand horse of them, to join
the rest of his forces at Berwick, to reduce Scotland to
obedience. And, in return for these loyal gifts, the King said he
had given Lord Strafford charge to advise with the
Council for the framing of such laws as should conduce
to their happiness ; and these being sent for his approval,
should be returned to be passed by their Parliament*
But these delightful messages were threatened with
a delay which nothing but the unconquerable spirit
and endurance of Lord Strafford could have prevented.
On his journey back to Ireland, he was seized at
Beaumaris with one of his paroxysms of pain, which
he thus describes to Secretary Coke : —
" Paper grows scarce, as are the winds, so you
must be content with half a sheet.
" Nevertheless, though it blows something westerly,
I Avill this morning on board. God grant us a good
* Strafford Papers, ii. 393.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 243
passage. That which makes me hasten the more is in 164°-
regard having had a great pain all night in one of my
ancles ; I am so lame this morning as I stir not
without much anguish ; and I should grieve extremely to
be bound up here to my chamber in a season wherein his
Majesty's service requires me so much in Ireland.
" I thank God it took me so late ! for, had it fallen
upon me three days sooner, it would have been impos
sible to have got me hither. But now the next ground
I touch, by God's help, shall be Irish. There within
two or three days, I shall either be well, and cease my
gout, I trust, for this year, or else be able to tell where
I may be found for three weeks, or a fortnight at
least. Howbeit, one way or other, -I hope to make
shift to be there and back again hither in good time.
For I will make strange shift, and put myself to all
the pain I shall be able to endure, before I be any
where awanting to my master or his affairs in this
conjuncture. And, therefore, sound or lame, you shall
have me with you before the beginning of the Parlia
ment. I should not fail though Sir John Eliot were
living. " In the mean space, for love of Christ, call upon
and hasten the business now in hand, especially
the raising of the horse and all together, the rather
for that this work now before us, should it miscarry,
we all are like to be very miserable. But carried
through advisedly and gallantly, shall, by God's blessing,
set us in safety and peace for our lives at after, nay,
in probability, the generations that are to succeed us.
Fy d faute de courage, je n'en aye que trop. What
might I be with my legs, that am so brave without the
use of them ? R 2

244 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
_.164(!i_ " Well, halt, blind, or lame I will be found true to
the person of my gracious master, to the service of
his Crown, and my friends."
These illnesses had now become so frequent that
Lord Strafford was obliged to take them into calcu
lation in all his plans, and so arrange for them to be
as little hindrance as possible. In the present instance,
he had directed the Parliament to assemble by a
certain day, and he found it already sitting on his
arrival. The Council had made a very sensible
alteration with regard to the subsidies. As the last
had been six in number, they feared that a precisely
similar demand would cause the people to take alarm
and imagine the first was now to be taken as a pre
cedent. ' The Council, therefore, asked for four, with
a promise of the other two if his Majesty should
urgently need them. To this amendment Lord
Strafford heartily agreed, and, on the 23rd of March,
the four subsidies were voted in the most cheerful
manner. Nothing could exceed Lord Strafford's
delight at the ease with which they were obtained.
It raised his spirits by giving him a proof of popu
larity that was so rarely experienced by him. Work
and pain without encouragement, without gratitude,
was too commonly his lot for this to pass unfelt and
unnoticed by him.
"This" (cheerfulness), said he to the King, "I take
to be of more advantage to your Majesty in itself, and
in the consequence, than the grant of six subsidies
would have been. And, amongst other reasons, which
may convince it to be so, I dare undertake (as little
beloved as some will needs have me to be by this
people) that if your Majesty would, it were in my

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 245
power to persuade them after Easter to give you four 164°-
subsidies more, payable the next two years after the
former levied.
" In one word, your Majesty may have, with their free
good wills, as much as this people can possibly raise.
Next, your Majesty may as safely account yourself
master of their lives and fortunes, as the best of Kings
can promise to find amongst the best of subjects.
And that if those in England comply with the like
alacrity, and minister to your Majesty's princely designs
and purposes, you will be at an end of the war before
it begins." Nothing now remained but to raise the troops and
furnish all their requirements and baggage. In this
Lord Strafford declared he would not lose an hour, nor
let the zeal of the Irish nation cool. To him their zeal
seemed on fire to serve his Majesty. This done, he
would return with all speed to England.
The assurance of Irish loyalty did not rest on the
word of Lord Strafford. Not content with their pro
fessions to the Lord Lieutenant alone, the Parliament
of Ireland in their address accompanying the offer of
the subsidies, spoke of Lord Strafford in a manner that
certainly justified his belief in their satisfaction with
his Government. Particular attention is called to their
words, as it will be hereafter necessary to refer to them.
They were as follows :
" In that his Majesty hath provided and placed over
us so just, wise, vigilant, and profitable a governor, as
the Right Honourable Thomas Earl of Strafford, Lord
Lieutenant of this your said kingdom of Ireland, who
by his great care 'and travail of body and mind, sincere
and upright administration of justice without partiality,

246 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. increase of your Majesty's revenues, without the least
hurt or grievance to any of your well-disposed and
loving subjects, and our great comfort and security, by
the large and ample benefits which we have received,
and hope to receive by your Majesty's commission of
grace for remedy of defective titles procured hither by
his Lordship from your sacred Majesty. His Lord
ship's great care and pains in restoration of the Church,
the reinforcing of your army within this kingdom, and
ordering the same with singular good discipline. His
support of your Majesty's wholesome laws here estab
lished ; his encouragement to your judges, and other
good officers, ministers, and dispensers of your laws in
the due and sincere administration of justice ; his
necessary and great strictness for the execution thereof,
his due punishment of the contemners of the same, and
his care to relieve and redress the poor and oppressed.
" For this, your tender care over us, showed by the
Deputy, and supporting so good governors, &c, we,
in free recognition of your great goodness towards us,
do for the abbreviation of some part of your Majesty's
inestimable charges, most humbly and freely offer to
your Majesty four entire subsidies," &c*
Not content with this, they wrote a long letter to
Mr. Secretary Windebanke, " expressing, even with
passion how much they abhor and detest the Scottish
Covenanters, and how readily every man's hand ought
to be laid on his sword to assist the King in reducing
of them by force." Then, as a contrast to the un
grateful Scots, they declared, " that their hearts con
tained mines of subsidies for his Majesty, that twenty
* Nalson's Collections, vol. ii. 180.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 247
subsidies, if their abilities were equal with their desires, 1640.
were too little to be given to so sacred a Majesty, ~
from whose princely clemency, by the ministration of
the Lord Lieutenant, so many and so gracious favours
are derived unto them." *
On their side, the Scots made every effort to prepare
for the coming struggle. The preachers exhorted them
to patriotism from every pulpit, and, as a bitter clergy
man of their enemies expressed it, " turned their lungs
into bellows to blow the fire which melted the plate
and rings and jewels into current coin." Loans were
eagerly volunteered, and the energy of the previous
year, if possible, was increased.
But the feelings of Lord Strafford were much
changed from what they had been the year before.
The reluctance that he had then manifested, had given
place to a restless activity that found full occupation
in his last preparations for departure. The language
as well as the conduct of the Irish Parliament had
excited him to a condition of feverish exultation.
Popularity was to him so strange a thing that he could
not conceal his delight or maintain his calmness. In
spite of all his reputed haughtiness, the approbation
¦ of his fellow men was dear to him as to any, and he
insisted that the rare tribute should be acknowledged.
"It is my desire," said he, "his Majesty will judge
betwixt those that have scandalized this Government,
to have proceeded with so much severity as had
rendered me a most hated person, indeed, a Vizier,
Basha, or anything else that might be worse, and the
humble assurances given by me to his Majesty that
* Nalson's Collections, ii. 182.

248 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. this people were infinitely satisfied and joyed under
— the shadow of his protection and justice, and that
they did not distaste me so much as willingly to
change me, or to desire any new Deputy in my
stead."* He strongly advised that the loyal Declaration of
the Irish should be read at the English Council, and
after published to the nation, both for the purpose of
awakening an emulation in England and of dis
couraging the Scots. So much did he hope from this
that he pronounced the Declaration to be of more
value than ten subsidies.
With regard to the levy of troops, an equal willing
ness was found ; and here, too, he saw new cause of
rejoicing. There is something very pathetic in the
way in which he dAvells upon his new experience of
sunshine. "As in their purses," said he, "so also in their
persons, I find them most earnest to venture them in
his Majesty's service, so as there will, I trust, be no
want of men. Nay (howbeit I have been reported by
some to be a person hateful to God and man, as if it
were not sufficient I should be so wretched as to be
thus hardly thought of by them, unless I were so
believed and taken by others), I held it, I say, much
conducing to the quickening of their zeal to let them
know that I would go along with them myself, and if
the game came to that, be found amongst them as
near the strokes as another man, which I find they
take extreme kindly from me, that they have me in
their reasonable good opinion, and that if it were left
* Letter to Mr. Secretary Windebanke, ii. 398.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 249
to their choice, they would not have any other general 1640.
than myself. Most certain it is that none of them ~
will be less forward to put himself into the action,
because to be commanded by me." *
As the result of this favourable disposition of the
Irish, he counted on being fully prepared by May, to
march from head-quarters in Ireland with an army of a
thousand horse, eight thousand foot, thirty pieces of
ordnance, and all other necessaries for transportation,
ammunition, victuals and pay for eighteen months,
without costing the English treasury a shilling during
that time, on the sole condition that his stipulations
should be complied with. For he was careful to warn
the King that unless good faith were kept with him,
all his plans must fail.
These stipulations to wrhich the King had already
assented, during the last visit to England of Lord
Strafford, were as follows : —
1. Fifty thousand pounds of the loan borrowed on
security of subsidies to be granted immediately to pay
for the outfit of the army, which was to be procured
in the Low Countries, at that time the cheapest arsenal
and military store in Europe. Ten thousand pounds
were at once to be sent there, and the rest of the
money to be ready as Lord Strafford should call for it.
2. The rents of the Crown lands of Londonderry
and Coleraine, or money forth of the exchequer of
England to their value, to be paid into the Irish
exchequer towards the war, so long as the Irish army
should be in service.
3. All the gunpowder served free from the magazines
of England. * Letter to Mr. Secretary Windebanke, ii. 399.

250 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. 4. A sufficient number of the King's ships to guard
the coasts and serve as a blockade against the Scotch
ports. 5. Pay for the two thousand foot and five hundred
horse, arranged to join the Irish troops in Cumber
land, the money to be advanced to the Irish treasurer
at war for three months beforehand, precisely as Lord
Strafford had hitherto paid the force sent under Sir
Francis Willoughby to Carlisle.
This was a very needful stipulation, nothing being
more likely than for Charles to send on his English
troops to join Lord Strafford's men, and leave Lord
Strafford to pay them as best he might.
6. A release from the heavy charge of the Irish
troops in Carlisle, and repayment of a month's advance
to them made by Lord Strafford.
These conditions had been drawn up some time
before, and absolutely guaranteed by the King. But
Lord Strafford again sent them to the Secretary of
State, warning him how much depended on their strict
fulfilment. He also told him that though of little use
in England, and never more needed in Ireland than
at present, still, in obedience to the King, he had
arranged to conclude all his preparations, and would
embark for England on Ash Wednesday.
But as if the memory of the manner in which Charles
had so often broken the conditions on which he had
undertaken the government of Ireland, could not be
stilled, on the same day that he thus warned the Secre
tary of State, Lord Strafford wrote to the Marquis of
Hamilton to the same effect, recounting anew the pro
mises, and begging Lord Hamilton to dwell on them
to the King, and enforce on him the need of keeping

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 251
the covenant he had made ; and boldly to remind him 1640.
that if his given words in this matter were not punctu- ~
ally performed, then Lord Strafford would hold himself
released from his charge, as he deemed it altogether
impossible to carry out the royal will without the need
ful succours.
At the same time, he dispatched his agent to London
to receive the ten thousand pounds with which he was
at once to go to Holland, and there buy the arms and
such stores as could not be obtained in Ireland. But
whatever could be furnished by the latter country, was
to be taken in accordance with the policy of spending
as much money there as possible, in order to encourage
trade. Never had Lord Strafford cause to write so many
pleasant letters as now. It was astonishing how
zealous the Irish were in this — one of the worst causes
ever embarked in. All obstinacy, difficulty, or reluct
ance seemed to have vanished, and the military and
civilians having shown their goodwill so heartily, were,
after all, to be outstripped by the clergy. These
zealous members of the church now came forward as
they had never done before. Enthusiasm in persecu
tion and abuse of heresy have been common at all
times to both Catholics and Protestants, Church people
and Dissenters. But they have generally been con
tented with inflicting pain and bad language on those
who differed from them in their interpretations of
Scripture, or the mode of public worship, or the ques
tion of religion. But liberally to advance money to
the best of causes in their own estimation has been
another matter by much less common.
In this instance it was different. Three subsidies

252 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. yet remained of the old grant by the former Parlia-
— ment to be paid during the next three years. To these
three the clergy of Ireland added six more, to be also
paid in the same time. So that for the next three
years, in addition to what the Parliament had just
granted, the King had nine subsidies to count upon,
Nor did they rest here. Besides this, they con
sented that a tax should be laid on all the ecclesiastical
livings in the kingdom of Ireland, to be rated and set
in the King's book at the sixth part of their full value.
And this tax when fully gathered, it was calculated
would quite double the amount of their contribution
by equalling their subsidies.
Certainly, if Lord Strafford looked on all these
munificent grants, in addition to the loudly uttered
commendations of the representatives of the Parlia
ment, the army and the clergy, as a proof of the general
satisfaction with his government, he cannot be blamed.
If the Irish were dissatisfied, they could show it as well
as the Scots, and with the advantage of the sympathy
and probable aid of the Catholics abroad, an encourage
ment of which the Scots were destitute.
Incredulity or scepticism was not a feature in Lord
Strafford's character. Firm in his purposes, resolute
in the preparation and carrying out of his plans, he
was very ready to believe the words of others, and to
listen to reports and affirmations, though neither his
actions or opinions might be changed by them. And,
indeed, it was hardly in human nature to turn a deaf
ear to the Avelcome assurances that were now made to
him. That they were unexpected is true. He had so
steeled himself to the hatred of enemies, so accustomed
his mind to work without encouragement, that he was

THE LIFE OF THOMAS AVEMTWORTH. 253
bewildered by what he was told was the truth after 1640.
all. And knowing how many efforts had been made
to injure his credit with the King, he was overwhelmed
with the sudden change. Formerly, he had constantly
to beseech the King not to listen to stranger enemies.
Now he had to persuade him to believe in friends as
strange. But faithful to the great sentiment of his heart, his
chief joy was the success this unlooked-for encourage
ment promised him in fulfilling the wishes of Charles.
In one kingdom, at least, the cause of the King was
triumphant, and he had been the cause of it ! The
thought fired him with redoubled zeal. This was his
highest reward, to be able, as he believed with literal
truth, thus to address his King : —
" Sir, your person and authority here is infinitely
honoured and reverenced. This people, abundantly
comforted and satisfied in your justice, set with ex
ceeding great alacrity to serve the Crown the right
way in these doubtful times, and much trusting and
believing us, your Majesty's poor ministers ; all this
in as high a measure as your own princely heart can
wish. " And if all this be not literally true, let the shame
be mine, so wretchedly to have misinformed your
Majesty. But if it be (as indeed it will be found) most
true, then your Majesty in your wisdom will find how
those persons are to be trusted hereafter, who, forth
of their personal spite to me, go about to have it
thought by your Majesty, and all the world besides,
to be quite otherwise. God forgive them their
calumnies, and I do."
But the body could not keep pace with the mind.

254 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. The empire of disease Avas too firmly established to be
~ touched even by the strong healing power of a cheered
and hopeful spirit.
Adverse winds had prevented Lord Strafford from
sailing on Ash Wednesday, according to his first inten
tion, and by the time they changed, his illness, ever
increasing with every new attack, again seized him.
Besides the gout, which, latterly, was the invariable
companion of whatever form his various maladies
assumed, he was now held for seven days with an in
ternal seizure so " violent and ill-conditioned," as he
says he never had before. This last assertion was now
a constant and mournful truth. Still growing worse
in health, rest of body and peace of mind were luxuries
for which he sighed in vain. " This illness," said he to
the King, "has brought me so weak as, in good
faith, nothing that could concern myself should make
me go a mile forth of my chamber. But this is not
a season for bemoaning of myself, for I shall cheer
fully venture this crazed vessel of mine, and either by
God's help, wait upon your Majesty before that Par
liament begin, or else deposit this infirm humanity
of mine in the dust."
He tried to keep his word. Torn and shattered
with bodily agony it was still less his powers of en
durance that he feared than that the physical weak
ness consequent on such torture should gain the day
and render it impossible for him to be moved. He
would die in the struggle if need be, but fail the
King, who was so anxiously expecting him, never.
He ordered himself to be lifted into a litter, and thus
i carried on board his ship. When this was accom
plished, the wind again threatened a change, and

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 255
another long delay. But though the gale rose so high, 1640.
while the vessel was yet in port, that the captain
declared it dangerous to put to sea, all his remon
strances were in vain. The channel must be crossed
before the wind settled from the east. That very
night the Lord .Lieutenant sailed, and, in spite of every
obstacle, arrived safely at Chester. But the ghastly
visitation of sea-sickness had now left the tokens of
its presence, and with the gout in both feet and the
" ill habit of health brought from Dublin," there was
no possibility of performing the journey to London
without some respite. However, the channel was
crossed, and east winds were divested of their most
formidable terrors. The physicians were therefore
enabled to enforce a rest of twenty-four hours on the
patient, whose inclination to disobedience arose neither
from the diseased nor the stupid obstinacy that so often
besets the invalid subject, but, in his case, was the
result of anxiety as to the effect of delay on the wel
fare of others.
But even he now felt delay to be inevitable. He
conquered his weariness and pain sufficiently to write
both to the Secretary of State and to the King to ex
plain the cause, — also to his wife, to whom he was as
ever a constant correspondent in absence. His letters
all bore the burden of one sad theme, a subject tedious
and provoking to the robust and healthy, but one that
cannot fail to awaken the deepest sympathy and com
passion from those who like himself have writhed be
neath the agony of direst bodily pain, and the still
worse torture of the nameless restlessness of the nerves
that forbid repose and consume the hours and long
periods of life — so anxiously longed to be given to high

256 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. enterprise and worthy labour — in " the constant anguish
" of patience."
The following is his sad letter to the King : —
" May it please your sacred Majesty,
" With some danger I wrought through a storm at
sea, yet light on a greater misfortune here in harbour,
having now got the gout in both my feet, attended with
that ill habit of health I brought from Dublin.
" I purposed to have been on my way again, early
this morning, but the physician disadviseth it ; and, in
truth, such is my pain and weakness, as I verily be
lieve, I were not able to endure it.
" Nevertheless, I have provided myself of a litter,
and will try to-morrow how I am able to bear travel,
which, if possible I can do, then, by the grace of God,
will I not rest till I have the honour to wait upon your
Majesty. " In the meantime, it is most grievous unto me to be
thus kept from those duties which I owe your Majesty's
service on this great and important occasion. In
truth, Sir, in my whole life I never desired health more
than now, if it shall so please God. Not that I can be
so vain as to judge myself equally considerable with
many other of your servants, but that I might give my
own heart the contentment to be near your commands
in case I might be so happy as to be of some small use
to my most gracious master in such a conjuncture of
time and affairs as this is.
" God long preserve your Majesty.
" Your Majesty's most faithful and most humble
Subject an4 Servant,
" Strafford.
" Chester, April 6th, 1640."

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. ii;
For the very first time during the whole of their i640-
acquaintance, the King is to be found willing and
voluntarily offering to make his own convenience
secondary to the welfare of his friend. It is true that
he now so completely rested all his hopes on the genius
and devotion of Lord Strafford, that the health of the
latter was of the very first importance to him, and
this most precious aid would be lost without the
greatest care. Nevertheless, it is just that Charles
should have the benefit of the best construction that
can be put upon his words with any probable assimi
lation to the truth; and, amid a crowd of mean and
selfish despatches, this little note of the King stands
out in too pleasing contrast to be omitted here. Lord
Strafford had been detained for some days at Chester,
when the King thus wrote to him : —
" Strafford,
" Having seen divers letters to my Lord of Can
terbury concerning the state of your health at this
time, I thought it necessary by this to command you
not to hazard to travel before ye may do it with
the safety of your health. And in this, I must require
you not to be your OAvn judge, but be content to follow
the advice of those that are about you, whose affec
tions and skill ye shall have occasion to trust unto.
" If I did not know that this care of your health
were necessary for us both at this time, I would have
deferred my thanks to you for your great service lately
done, until I might have seen you.
" So praying God for your speedy recovery, I rest,
" Your assured Friend,
" Charles R;
" Whitehall, April the 12th."
TOL. II. S

258 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. Strafford was forced to obey this kindly order, but
"even during his delay at Chester, he transacted a
curious piece of business.
While approaching Nesson*, on his voyage from
Ireland, he had observed a Scottish ship of about
seven score tons, and bearing eight or ten pieces of
ordnance, riding at anchor. On inquiry he found that
she was a merchant vessel, and that the master was now
in the town to receive for his freight about six hundred
pounds. Though an embargo had not yet been form
ally laid on Scotch vessels, the day was so near, that
to lose such a prize for a mere piece of formality was
not to Lord Strafford's mind. If he could find some
excuse to delay it till it could be lawfully seized as a
prize of war, the matter would be easy.
Of all obstacles to evil the need of a pretext is the
easiest removed. Lord Strafford privately advised the
merchants to stay their payments of the freight, and
then gave orders for the apprehension of the ship's
master and his mate, and told the Custom-House
officers to seize the vessel, " on pretence of cozening
the King in his customs." The delay that an inquiry
into this charge would cause, would be sufficient to
last till the embargo was declared. " And thus," said
Lord Strafford, exultingly, to the Earl of Northumber
land, " will she lie fair and open for your arrest, and
perchance prove your best prize of that kind; and
really being manned with English mariners, which may
be pressed for that occasion, be of all others the fittest
vessel for the transportation of your men and ammuni
tion to Dumbarton."
As was usual with Lord Strafford in similar moods
to the present, he threw aside the caution of calmer

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 259
hours, and recklessly flung around him such speeches 1640.
as were calculated to do him irreparable injury.
They were eagerly caught up and carried, with the
usual additions of reporters, to his enemies, and did
him incalculable mischief.
Nor would any condemnation be too stern to pass
upon them, if we were justified in forgetting the bodily
anguish under which they were uttered, and which
they partly represented.
Side by side with his passionate words, came the
piteous bursts of pain: " My present infirmities enforce
me by the pen of my secretary to answer your
letters." " I shall not delay one hour of putting myself in
the way of London, after such time as I shall by the
blessing of Almighty God be able to endure the journey,
it being my exceeding great grief to be thus detained
from the place where either his Majesty or any other
might think me capable to serve him."
" Will my weary hand be able to carry on my pen
not one line farther."
" Such hath been my weakness that I have not had
hitherto strength to answer yours."
Notwithstanding his struggles, he was unable to
realise his wish of reaching London in time to be pre
sent at the meeting of Parliament. Though the worst
pangs of the gout began to leave him, such was his
debility that he was unable even once to cross his
room, and as in Ireland so in England, the great
council was to assemble ungraced by his presence.

s 2

CHAPTER XI.

1640. The 2nd of March, 1629, witnessed the abrupt
closing of the last Parliament. Eleven years of dis
cord, poverty, and gloom, had elapsed since then.
Despotism had not vindicated the choice of the King
by the success of his personal government. The new
Parliament met.
On the 13th of April, 1640, the King, with all his
train, rode to Westminster Abbey, and having there
listened to a sermon by the Bishop of Ely, proceeded
to the House of Lords.
The new peer was not there. Fretting in tor
ment at Chester, he had been unable to take his
seat. When the King had ascended his throne, and the
Prince of Wales was seated on his left hand, the Com
mons were summoned, and the Lord Keeper, Sir John
Finch, was commanded to address the assembly on
behalf of the King. With Scotland in its present
condition, and the knowledge of the spirit abroad in
England, it might have been supposed that a special
modesty would on this occasion have marked the open

ing oration.

But a very few words were enough to show that as
far as language, at least, went, the failures and blunders

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 261
of eleven years were to manifest none of the wisdom 1640
of experience. Boasting, flattery, and the most mon- _
strous assumptions on behalf of royalty, formed the chief
points of the speech.
The members present were informed that though his
Majesty's kingly resolutions were seated in the ark of
his sacred breast, and it were a presumption of too high
a nature for any Uzzah uncalled to touch it, yet his Ma
jesty was now pleased to lay by the shining beams of
Majesty, as Phoebus did to Phaeton, that the difference
between sovereignty and subjection should not bar
them of that filial freedom of access to his person and
councils. Only they must beware how, with the son
of Clymene, they aimed not at the guiding of the
chariot. Then followed a catalogue of the blessed condition
of England under the King, with the assertion that the
Queen was not to be paralleled for her person and virtue,
and a' touching allusion to the "sweetest pledges of
their love," and after that the real business of the
day.. This, of course, was the crimes of the Scots. With
accuracy worthy of the King, a short abstract of the
doings of these "men of Belial" was now submitted
to the listeners. In this they were stated to have led
a multitude into a course of disloyalty and rebellious
treason, such as former times had left no parallel, or
the present furnish an equal. They had taken up
arms against the Lord's anointed, and invested them
selves with regal power and authority. Only the last
summer, his Majesty at his own charge, and at the
vast expense of many of his faithful and loving, sub
jects of England, went with an army against them.

262 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. But they took upon them the boldness to outface and
brave his royal army with another of their own raising.
Yet for all this his Majesty's goodness was not lessened
by that, nor could his gracious nature forget what he
Avas to them, nor what they were to him, but out of
his piety and clemency he chose rather to pass by their
former misdoings, upon their humble protestations of
future loyalty and obedience, than by just vengeance to
punish their rebellions.
But since then, he had discovered that they did
but prevaricate with him to divert the storm which
hung over their heads, and by gaining time, to purchase
more advantage for pursuing their rebellious purposes.
Then came a glowing description of the opposite
conduct of the Irish, who certainly deserved a very
handsome compliment for their loyalty, and their zeal
against the Scots was warmly eulogized.
The King's intention of coercing the Scots by means
of a powerful army was next announced, and all
present were warned that no attempt at mediation
between the Scots and the King must be made. Such
a thing would be very presumptuous to offer, as if any
one could possibly by solicitation make the King more
merciful than he was, and ever would be out of his
own spontaneous grace and goodness. But the Parlia
ment had been summoned to provide him with the
means for this war, and therefore he desired them
without delay to vote him the necessary subsidies.
The speech concluded with an allusion to tonnage
and poundage, which the King said, he desired not to
claim but by grant of Parliament, and an assurance
that, after the money was supplied and the Avar over,
he would listen to any just complaints.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS AVENT WORTH. 263
No sooner Avas the Parliament fairly opened, than 1640.
petitions for the removal of grievances began to pour ~~
in from different counties. And these petitions, and
not the urgent need of the King for money, occupied
the attention of the House. It was useless for the Lord
Keeper or anyone else, to promise in the King's name,
that after he had obtained his subsidies he would
redress every wrong. The people desired the redress
to come first, and their complaints were faithfully set
forth by their representatives in the Commons, and
especially by Pym, a man who possessed the entire
confidence of the people. He offered " a model of
the grievances which afflicted the commonwealth, and
which had disabled it from administering any supply
till they were redressed." These he divided into three
kinds :
1. Those grievances, which, during the past eleven
years' interval of Parliaments, were against the liberties
and privileges of Parliament.
2. Innovation in matters of religion.
3. Grievances against property.
In all these, Pym declared he should take care to
maintain the great prerogative of the King, which
was : " That the King can do no wrong."
This last emphatic statement boded mischief to the
friends of the King. The two last articles were especially
aimed at Laud and Strafford. Indeed, the latter was
charged with the first, unjustly enough. For the hatred
of Parliaments was inherited by Charles from his
foolish father, and, notwithstanding the axiom regarding
the immaculate nature of Kings, the government with
out Parliaments was the peculiar and personal crime
of Charles. But Laud cannot be freed from the

264 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. second, nor Strafford from the third charge. The
_ stories of Prynne and his fellows are enough to prove
the first, that of the seizure of Connaught and the
jury of Ulster to prove the second. After dwelling
on the first order, Pym proceeded to the second, and
complained of the encouragement given to the Roman
Catholics by the suspension of the laws against them.
His words on this subject are worthy of note, as
placing in a different light what otherwise seems an
act of bigotry and injustice.
"I desire," said Pym, "not to have any new laws
made against them (the Roman Catholics), God be
thanked, we have enough. Nor a strict execution of
the old ones, but only so far forth as tends to the safety
ofhis Majesty ; and such a practice of them, that that
religion, which can brook no co-rival, may not be ihe
destruction of ours by being too concurrent with it." *
It is always most interesting, when we find the cir
cumstances of the present resemble those of the past,
to turn to the past and see how they were regarded
by our ancestors.
The tendency of the ritualism introduced by Laud,
was watched with the^most jealous care by the Enghsh
Parliament. The maintenance of an officer of the
Pope, whose avowed purpose was to give his master
intelligence of the progress of popery in England, was
publicly noticed.
" There is," said Pym, " an intention of a nuncio
from the Pope, who is to be here to give secret intelli
gence to Rome how we incline here, and what will be
thought fit to win us thither."
He then pronounced ritualism a grievance.
* Parliamentary History, ii., p. 547.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 265
" I observe," he said, " as a great grievance, there are 1640.
divers innovations in religion amongst ourselves, to
make us more capable of a translation, to which
purpose popish books have been published in print.
Disputations of popish points are, and have been, used
in the Universities and elsewhere with privilege ;
preached in the pulpit and maintained for sound
doctrine, whereby popish tenets are maintained.
" The introducing of popish ceremonies, as altars,
bowing towards the east, pictures, crosses, crucifixes,
and the like ; which of themselves considered, are so
many dry bones, but being put together make the
man. " We are not now contented with the old ceremonies,
— I mean such as the constitution of the reformed
religion hath continued unto us ; but we must intro
duce again many of those superstitions and infirm
ceremonies, which accompanied the most decrepid age
of popery, bowing to the altar and the like."
After more of this nature, the speaker .then touched
on the third order of grievances, and his words must
have fallen heavily on Strafford.
Among these he named the fines for Knighthood,
which in his office as President of the North, Strafford
had rendered so profitable to the King. The gross
abuse and distortion of this ancient institution was
thus described : —
"In the next place of these grievances, I rank
knighthood, the original whereof was, that persons fit
for chivalry might be advanced. But this after was
stretched for another end, for money, and extended not
only to terre-tenants, but to lessees and merchants,
who were first to appear, and then to plead for them-

266 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. selves at the Council board, but were delayed from
day to day, to their great charge and inconvenience." *
It was to avoid all these ruinous delays and expenses,
that so many were glad to close with Lord Went
worth's plan, and pay a composition which settled the
matter at once and brought in " a good round fine "
to the King.
But it was quite true that the fine, not the service,
was noAv the object desired, and no worse principle
can be imagined, than one that makes a punishment a
matter desired for the profit it brings to the inflicter,
instead of the reform of the defaulter.
Then came the rest of the grievances under this
head, including the system of monopolies, military
impositions, especially the seizure of horses by warrants
of the deputy lieutenants alone.
It was in vain that the Commons were referred to
the King's opening speech, that they were told, if
their supplies Avere not speedy they would be useless,
that the army was already marching and costing the
King £100,000 a month. The Commons were re
solved no more to be fed with false promises, but to
have wrongs redressed before they advanced money.
The King then appealed to the House of Lords by
the same arguments. The Peers proved to be more
tender than the Commons, and agreed to invite that
stubborn body to a conference, and see what their per
suasion could accomplish.
Accordingly, by invitation of the Upper House, the
Commons met their lordships, who at once opened the
subject by the mouth of the Solicitor General. He
informed the Commons that the war was aheady
* Parliamentary History, ii.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 267
begun. The Scots had pitched their tents at Dunse, 1640.
and threatened to invade Northumberland. Then"
followed the previous arguments, with the promise of
redress of grievances "on the word of a King."
Possibly some of the Lords felt this pledge less weighty
than might seem — for some of them added, " on the
word of a gentleman also." *
The conference had a most opposite effect to the
one intended. The Commons warmly resented the
interference of the Lords on their special province, the
question of supply. They voted the proposition of the
Peers to be a breach of privilege, and declined to be
influenced by their persuasions.
As a last effort, the King sent a message promising
that if they would grant him twelve subsidies, to be
paid in three years, he would renounce his practice of
levying ship-money. f
But the wary members were not so to be caught.
Amongst others, Pym and Hampden pointed out that
the acceptance of such a condition would acknowledge
the King's right to ship-money.
Deep, indeed, was the pit dug for a nation so
slavishly bound by precedent as England.
But while the subject was still in debate, the angry
impatience of the King rose to its height, and on the
fifth of May, he suddenly dissolved the Parliament.
The dissolution was followed by the most arbitrary
acts. The houses of members of Parliament were
ransacked for treasonable papers, and members put in
prison " for undutiful answers to questions importing
his Majesty's service," and condemned, without trial, to
* Rushworth, vol. iii., p. 155. t Ibid. 156.

26 3 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. remain in prison till his Majesty's further orders.
~ Sheriffs were prosecuted for lack of zeal in collecting
ship-money, and the train bands called out to prevent
any rising of the irritated people. Public assemblies
Avere forbidden, and the boats that passed down the
river stations were prohibited from carrying " idle
persons." * The consequences were merely to infuriate
the populace.
The treatment of the Puritan ministers was still
fresh in their minds, and Laud, who, as a member of
the Privy Council as well as Archbishop of Canterbury,
was principally blamed for these acts of the King,
was the chief object of hate.
A paper was posted up on the Royal Exchange, in
viting the London apprentices to sack the Archbishop's
Palace. Five hundred men answered the call, and
had not the palace been strongly fortified and defended
within, the career of Laud might have ended there
and then.
The tumult was put down and the ringleaders
tried, and one of them named Thomas Bensteed
literally hanged, drawn, and quartered.
Uninfluenced by this warning, the soldiers who
were on their march to Newcastle constantly mutinied
on the way. Their pay, which Lord Strafford was
always so careful to remit punctually whenever it
rested with him, was perforce withheld in the condi
tion of the royal exchequer. Without pay, with
out proper rations, without the faintest interest in the
Avar, and with the knowledge of its utter unpopularity,
it was not likely that the soldiers could be kept in

good order.

* Rushworth, iii. p. 162, &c.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 269
By the dissolution of the Parliament, the King had 1640.
thrown away his last chance of extrication from the
miserable entanglement in which he had netted him
self. He now resumed his former method of government
by means of his Council, who in his name summoned
the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London to give in
the names of such of the citizens as were able to lend
money to the King. Several of the aldermen refusing
thus to aid in the sacrifice of their fellow citizens,
they were at once committed to prison, and the rest,
with the Lord Mayor, were ordered to find by a certain
day, such as could amongst them make up a loan of
£200,000 for the King. Should any refuse, the Lord
Mayor was to send in their names, and these, like the
aldermen already imprisoned, were to be prosecuted
by the Attorney General, in the Star Chamber, for
their contempt !
Meanwhile, the army as it marched northward was
maintained by billeting the troops on the inhabitants,
and especially in Yorkshire, where probably the great
influence of Lord Strafford was calculated by the King
to enforce any decree. But loyal as were the York
shire people, they had been too much abused, and on
the 28th of July, a petition was drawn up at York,
in which the people of Yorkshire stated, that only the
last year they had, in obedience to the King, expended
over £100,000 in military expenses alone, to their own
very great impoverishment, and far above what they
ought to have paid in proportion to other counties.
They declared the burden was so heavy, they could
bear it no longer. That they were oppressed with the
billeting of unruly soldiers, whose speeches and actions

270 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. tended to the burning of their villages and houses, and
~ to whose insolencies they were daily subject.
They prayed that as the billeting of soldiers against
the will of the subjects, was contrary to the ancient
laws, confirmed by the Petition of Right, the insup
portable burden might be taken away, lest some sad
accidents happen, which would be displeasing both to
his Majesty and his subjects.
On the reception of this the King became desperate,
and ordered the seizure of all the bullion which was
lying ready for coinage in the Mint. And this order
he would have enforced, but for a meeting of the mer
chants, among whom were many wealthy Spaniards,
who warned him* that such an act would not only
cause the loss of the coinage, and would ever after
prevent the bringing of bullion to the Tower, but
would ruin his Majesty's reputation, his faith being
pledged to the merchants for their freedom to carry the
bullion to the Mint and back again.
A compromise was then effected.
The merchants agreed to lend the King £40,000
(the value of a third part of the bullion) upon the'
security of the Customs.
Another plan for raising money was to buy up all
the pepper on security, and sell it for ready money
below its value.
The next scheme was to debase the coinage by a
mixture of copper with the silver, and to coin £300,000
in silver threepences, which, with an addition of
copper, were each to count as twelvepence. This
money was to be declared current payment for all ex-
* Rushworth, vol. iii., 8vo.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 271
penses incurred by marching army. * Some like that 164°-
of the pepper were put in practice, but most of
these miserable plans ended in propositions. Indeed
their absurdity soon became apparent. Had they been
all carried out to the utmost, it was palpable that they
would be but a drop in the ocean — -a crumb towards
the necessities of an army that was intended to
subdue a kingdom.
But all were attributed to Lord Strafford, He had
been carried by slow journeys to London, in a litter,
and arrived in time to take his seat in the House of
Lords. The rest of his time was chiefly consumed in
efforts at recovery, or such a fraction of health as
would allow him to reach the North. Frequently he
was detained from the Council Chamber by sickness,
to which he was forced to yield, so direly did he dread
being utterly disabled in the hour of utmost need.
Among other charges, apparently without founda
tion, is that of his censure of the Yorkshire petitioners,
and of his declaration that their assertion of an ex
penditure of £100,000 the year before was an ex
aggeration, j"
This can scarcely have been the case, as we find
him writing to the King, on the occasion of the York
shire train-bands being called out, and thus remonstra
ting against the heavy pressure placed upon his native
county : —
" Mr. Vice-President writes unto me from York,
that he hath your Majesty's order to march six regi
ments of the train-bands forthwith to Newcastle, and
that all the rest should be in readiness upon four-and-
* Rushworth, vol. iii., 185.
t It is Rushworth who brings this charge. See vol. iii

272 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. twenty hours' warning. This seems someAvhat strange,
"as I perceive, to them there that, contrary to the
former grace intended, the charge of this second year's
war likewise is thus likely to fall upon that county, to
their very great impoverishment, whilst the rest of the
kingdom at home keep their fingers warm in their
pockets. I confess, I am ignorant of the occasion,
and, therefore, presume not to judge of the counsel.
Yet, in truth, sir, methinks there might be more
equality held in their cases, and your levies so disposed,
as that the whole burden might not light commonly, as
it doth, upon the best affected, whilst the worst disposed
deride them for their forwardness in your service."
This was certainly written in no tone of censure to
the people of Yorkshire.
But the King was driven to extremities. The ques
tion lay between giving up the war, or raising, by force,
the means to carry it on. He preferred the latter.
The most insulting demands were issued in circular
letters to the people. Thus, the order for ship-money
was accompanied by the following threat to the
sheriffs : —
" If, through your continual neglect, all the ship-
money be not timely paid, both this and the former
admonitions given, you will add weight to your default
and contempt. And if you pay not in the least one-
half of the money payable by that county for the said
service by the last of this month (May 11th), and the
other half by the 24th of June next, -you must expect
to feel the smart and punishment due to so wilful a
remissness, in a business of so great import and con
sequence."* * Rushworth, fol., 2nd part, 2nd vol., p. 1182.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 273
To keep down the people, who it was feared Avould 1640.
rise in revolt against this hated tax, a provost marshal, "
with a band of soldiers, was ordered to patrol the
city and all the train-bands were kept ready for any
emergency. Laud by no means trusted to spiritual
weapons. "I have got cannons," said his Grace,
¦"and fortified my house as well as I can, and I hope
all may be safe."
In every county, recruiting sergeants marched, by
the King's order, to enlist the peasantry by force, if
necessary ; and when, as was often the case, an honest
labourer refused to be torn from his family and peaceable
occupation, to be butchered in a distant and unjust
war, against a friendly nation, whom he believed to be
in the right, the order was "to commit to prison such
persons as, being liable to the said press, shall refuse
to receive prest-money for the said present expedition
for his Majesty's service."*
But not only men were seized, horses and waggons
for the baggage, carters to drive them, and coat and
conduct money were to be furnished, under penalty of
fine and imprisonment. In short, nothing included in
the Petition of Right was left unviolated.
In London, a levy of four thousand foot was ordered,
together with coat and conduct money ; and the Lord
Mayor was sternly ordered to provide the best men for
the North.
But all would not do. An army Avas indeed gathered
together, but, as regiment after regiment was de
spatched, mutiny quickly followed the order to march.
Officers were murdered by the men; and when the
* Ibid. 1174.

27* THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. criminals were imprisoned, they were speedily released
~ by comrades as rebellious as themselves.
As a contrast, the Scots were marching southwards,
united by the same spirit that had proved so faithful
the previous year.
But, by a strange infatuation, the King's generals
appeared totally unable to realise the danger. In the
beginning of July, Lord Conway, the commander at
NeAvcastle, received intelligence that the Scots were
within a few days of Dumfries, with seven or eight
thousand men, with the intention of invading Cumber
land. This he chose to doubt. He thought the Scots
would not venture to invade England, but said he
would, nevertheless, prepare, and wrote for reinforce
ments. No better idea can be given of the condition of the
King's army than the curt reply of Sir Jacob Ashley
Major-General of Foot. It was as follows : —
"My Lord,
" I had order from my Lord General to send
four or five thousand men to your lordship to New
castle ; but, considering that there is not such a number
yet come, and those that are come have neither colours
nor halberds, and want drums, I forbear it, &c.
" There is come money but for seven days ; and if
I should send any of these troops in this case, you
would be sufficiently troubled with them for want of
pay, &c. Now, my lord, I am to receive all the
arch knaves of the kingdom, and to arm them at
Selby. " Before I came, some 500 of them were brought

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 275
to Lieutenant Colonel Ballard. They beat the officers 1640.
and the boors, and broke open the prisons, &c. Two
days since, Colonel Lunsford's regiment comes, who,
by the way, fought with all their officers, and, as they
passed, abused all the country." *
Pleasant persons, certainly, to be quartered on pri
vate and defenceless families.
Following this agreeable intelligence came more
letters from Sir Jacob Ashley, stating that a part of
his own regiment, raised in Berkshire, came to
Daventry, and there totally disbanded ; that the-
lieutenant to Colonel Colepepper was basely slain
by the Devonshire men ; that three hundred more
refused absolutely to go to Hull, for fear of being
shipped, j
Of course, the Scots were not ignorant of this state
of things, and by the 3rd of August Lord Conway
began to alter his opinion. For, on that day, he
received a letter from Sir Henry Vane, warning him
that word had reached London of the march of the
Scots with a powerful army, and begging him to do
his best to keep the troops from mutiny, till money
arrived, which the King was endeavouring to collect
a"s fast as possible.
By the 10th of August Sir Henry Gibb arrived
from Scotland, with intelligence that in three days the
Scots would be in England with 30,000 men.
Terrible was the consternation of Conway. The
foolish confidence, that the Scots would never cross
the border, had left Newcastle unfortified, and pitiable
was the condition of the commander.
* Clarendon, State Papers, ii. p. 101.
t Clarendon, State Papers, ii. p. 101.
t 2

276 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. The King told him, in emergency, to burn the
~ suburbs, but as *the buildings were of stone, that pro-
misedjittle good. What was to be done 1
" If I leave any number of men in the town," said
Lord Conway, " their arms will help to arm the Scots,
and they are in great danger to fall into their power.
If I quit the town and leave no soldiers, I am sure it
will be imputed to me as a most dishonourable thing,
when an enemy is master of the field that night, to
quit to him that which cannot be kept, and in such
manner as he shall receive least benefit by it. I will
immediately give order that all the ships go out of the
river ; those that caanot, to be burnt or sunk." *
In this strain he wrote to Northumberland and
Strafford, who, strange to say, remained almost as in
credulous as before as to the real power ofthe enemy.
But Lord Strafford, whose judgment was strangely
enfeebled — who was fitter for the hospital^ at this time
than the Council board, wrote back an angry reply to
Conway. It is certain that Lord Conway had been
strangely misled, but now, at least, he fully measured
the danger. It might be supposed that his former
supineness, not his present alarm, was the cause of
displeasure, and he must have been strangely asto-*
nished to receive the following extraordinary rebuke
from the Lieutenant-General : —
" My Lord,
" Yours of the 10th present was yesterday delivered
unto me as I sat at Board, and I understand that the
other to my Lord-General (whereof you favoured me
with a copy) gives much discourse at Court, and that
with no advantage to your Lordship. It is observed
* Clarendon, State Papers, ii. 102.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.

277

that it is contrary to all that your Lordship hath 1640.
formerly writ, wherein you still judged England secure ~~
of the Scots this year. And that to believe so mighty
an increase of number above what you foimerly men
tioned, and in truth can probably be really so, upon no
more ground than from the bare relation of Gibb, a
known Covenanter at heart, and that, too, not of his
own view, but on the credit and report only of the
Lord Haddington, is a little wondered at.
" But above all, those who wish you not well,
severely interpret to your prejudice that, upon so slight
an advertisement, and from a person whom you had so
little cause absolutely to trust in that business, you
should so suddenly pronounce the town of Newcastle
lost, and so early take into thought the quitting of the
place. " Besides, we all believe it to be but a mere northern
crack in regard we do. not as yet understand anything
from the Governor of Berwick contrary to what he had
formerly written in that behalf, which we conceive we
should certainly have done before this day if the Scots
had been suddenly increased twenty thousand men, as
Gibbs reports, it seems, to you.
" Nevertheless, I have written to the Vice-President
to have all the trained bands in Yorkshire in a readi
ness, and will to-morrow move that Colonel Goring
and another regiment of foot, Avith all the horse may
instantly be directed to march up to you. Which all
too-ether with the trained bands of Durham and North-
umberland, with the town itself, I should think would
be sufficient to make good the place, till the rest of
the army march up to your relief.
" But, for the love of Christ, think not so early of

578 THE LIFE OF THOMAS AArENT WORTH.
1640. quitting the town, burning of suburbs, or sinking of
ships. For, believe me, if any such thing escape you,
there are those who would quickly misconstrue you
therein to the King. And, with all my heart, I wish
you had not writ that letter, it being most true Sir
John Conyers mentions nothing of it; which makes
me also believe Gibb's news either to be out of folly
or malice, mistaken or misrepresented to your Lord
ship." *
What had become of all Lord Strafford's cautious
foreseeing mind when he wrote this strange epistle ?
Hitherto, he had been the last man in the world to
close his eyes to danger, and the very possibility of
attack was sure to find him long before prepared.
Now, like a child, he is angry at being told unwelcome
tidings, and would fain turn away from the unpleasing
sight. Nothing but the announcement that he will
send to the Vice-President for reinforcements, sounds
like his former self. Sorrow, pain, anxiety, and toil
had begun too plainly to sap the fortress of this noble
intellect, and in this letter the first signs of the breach
become clearly visible.
The next day a Council was held, at which the chief
subject of discussion was the advisability of the King's
departure for the north. Charles wished to go. He
thought his presence would arouse enthusiasm and
bring out supplies. But Strafford was averse, and
thought it premature. For once Charles was in the
right in differing from him, and declared that his own
fear was only lest he should be already too late.f

* Clarendon, State Papers, ii. 103.
f Hardwicke, State Papers, ii. 166.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.

279

It was therefore decided, that the King should march 1640.
to York at the head of all the forces he could collect,
and the 20th of August was appointed for his de
parture. On that eventful day, he published a procla
mation of the usual kind. All the Scots who should
enter England in a hostile manner, and all who should
help such Scots were declared traitors. Yet the King
would even at this hour forgive them if they would
return. And he professed before God and the world,
that he never did and he never would hinder his sub
jects of Scotland from enjoying their religion and liber
ties according to the ecclesiastical, civil, and municipal
laws of their kingdom. And if they would yet acknow
ledge their former crimes and exorbitances, and in
humble and submiss manner, like penitent delinquents,
crave pardon for what was past, and yield obedience
for the time to come, they should still find that his
Majesty would be more sensible of their due conformity
and obedience than he had been of their rebellions,
and he rather desired their reformation than their
destruction.* On the same day, orders were sent to the Lieutenants
of the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland to
keep strict watch on the Borders, to keep the beacons
trimmed, and to search all the granaries on the Border,
so that no person might keep such a store as should
benefit the enemy should they seize it. And as it was
usual to put nearly two thousand cattle to pasture in
the summer with only a boy or two to watch them, it
was now ordered that the owners of such cattle should
send with them herdsmen enough to drive them from
the enemy, should pillage be attempted. On this 20th
* Rushworth, fol., iii. 1221.

280 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. of August, therefore, the King, with the Earl of Straf-
~ ford and the Peers who formed his Council, set out for
York. On the self-same day, the vanguard of the Scotch
army crossed the Tweed, and entered England under
the command of the Earl of Montrose.
By the 23rd of August, the King arrived at York,
where proclamation was made that he himself was
come to lead the train-bands against the enemy. But
the answer to this, was a petition from the chief per
sons in the county, reiterating their former complaintsr
and declaring their inability to accompany his Majesty
unless fourteen days' pay was issued for the troops
beforehand. The Earl of Northumberland, General of the royal
forces, still continuing too ill to travel, the Earl of
Strafford, the Lieutenant-General, who was far worse
in health, assumed the chief command.
By the 27th of August, the Scots had advanced
within four miles of Newcastle, altogether unchecked.
Lord Conway was powerless. The country refused to
advance money to pay the train-bands, or the regular
troops, and the men themselves were rather glad of
the excuse of no pay to stay at home and guard their
homes, quite as much from the protectors as from the
enemy. So feeble in frame that he was scarcely able to sit
his horse, his nerves quivering with the internal torture
of the most agonising of his maladies, his very eyesight
dazed and blinded with the oppressive glare of the
light, no one with any feeling of justice, much less of
humanity, would judge Lord Strafford harshly at this
moment. He might have followed the example of

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.

281

Northumberland and saved himself not only from suf- 1640.
fering, but from danger and responsibility, by claiming
the privilege of his direful sickness. Better, in every
way, had he done so. But he would not leave his
friend in this extremity, cost what it might ; so long as
he could totter to the front, there he would be found.
He now addressed the people of Yorkshire in behalf
of their- King. But all his eloquence had vanished,
even the force with which anger alone will sometimes
charge its words was gone. Weakness marked his
speech. He told the people how they were bound to
help his Majesty at their own proper cost noAV that the
kingdom was invaded ; that it was little less than high
treason in any man to refuse his aid ; that they were
no better than beasts if they refused to attend the
King, when his Majesty offered in person to lead them
on. He warned them that it was a matter of prudence
to prevent the Scots from advancing further, as if the
enemy once tasted the sweetness of the land, he would
hardly depart. If they Avould only do this service
now, the King had promised him, that all demands on
them should be lessened for the future.
On the same day, he wrote another letter to Lord
ConAvay, bitterly complaining of his allowing the Scots
to march so far.
Unjust as the letter is, and without reference to his
own former most inconsistent epistle, blaming Lord
Conway for his alarm, still the opening sentence dis
arms our justice, and compassion for the unhappy
Avriter in so sad a condition, compelled to perform the
most onerous duties of another man in addition to his
own, is the first sentiment awakened. Thus he begins.
" I purposed to have been moving towards you to-

282 THE life 0F THOMAS WENTWORTH.

1640.

morroAv, but I am so very sick and weak as the King
will not permit me to stir hence till Saturday at the
soonest. Your Lordship will admit me to deal plainly
with you. I find all men in this place extreme ill
satisfied with the guiding of the horse, and publish it
infinitely to your disadvantage, that having with you
one thousand horse and five hundred foot, you shall
suffer an enemy to march so long a way without a
skirmish, nay, without once looking upon him.
" And it imports you most extremely by some noble
action to put yourself from under the weight of ill
tongues. Your last letter then certified us that the
enemy is intended to pass the Tyne at Hexham. If
so, I shall advise that you, with all the horse and at
least eight hundred foot, and all the cannons you have,
march opposite unto them on this side the river, and
be sure whatever follow, fight with them upon the
passage. Indeed you look ill about you, if you secure
not the river. If there be a bridge at Hexham it must
be broken down.
" Dear my Lord, take the best men, and do some
thing worthy of yourself." *
A sudden accession of bodily pain here stopped the
hand ofthe writer ; to use his own language, " so furi
ously assaulted " him, that he was " not able to write
a word more."
How different to his former lucid arrangements for
any purpose great or small, are these most vague and
irritating orders ! Formerly, for a man to do something
worthy himself was, in the eyes of Lord Strafford, to
do something to advance the end in view. None ever
* Strafford Papers, vol. ii.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.

283

thought less of empty glory, none were more minutely 1640.
cautious in weighing intelligence ; yet now, he, soon
after, added a postscript, desiring Lord Conway, who
had so long been on the spot, who must have the best
means of knowing the truth, to surrender his judgment
to the word of a solitary spy, who had gone from York
and returned with the news that the Scots cavalry
was " not considerable," and their foot " at most but
20,000." Lord Conway became desperate on the receipt of
this letter. Strafford was his commander, and as
Conway truly said, though these words professed to
be only advice, they were, in reality, a command for
him to break his neck upon any disadvantage.
An accident fortunately settled the question for him.
The two armies were separated by the river Tyne,
where, for a few hours., each watered their horses, and
regarded without disturbing each other. Suddenly an
English soldier fired on a Scotch officer as he was
leading his charger to the stream, and this proved the
signal for a general engagement. The English troops,
raw and cowardly as well as hopeless, very soon threw
down their arms and ran away, and their commander,
after a vain attempt to rally them, Avas compelled to
sound a general retreat. The Scots soon crossed the
river, and very speedily convinced Lord Conway of
the impracticability of holding Newcastle.
At midnight, on the 28th of August, therefore, the
whole army marched to Durham, leaving the Scots in
full possession of Newcastle. The King was at North
allerton, and Lord Strafford at Darlington, twenty-six
miles from Newcastle, when this fatal news reached
them. At once, the King retreated to York, while

284 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1340. Lord Strafford sent messengers to the army to order
the chiefs to rally their scattered forces, and to keep
them in a compact body.* There Avas no remedy,
he said, but retreat, and Hull appeared the best place.
He now fully admitted that to fight with the miserable
rabble, miscalled soldiers, that were all Lord Conway
possessed, was out of the question. Nothing could be
done till the King's forces arrived, which he hoped
would number 20,000 men. He would use as much
diligence as possible to provide bread, and £8,000
were already to meet them at Topcliff Lord Conway
was to assure the soldiers that in a few days £80,000
would arrive from London, which would " give every
man his own royally."
The promise of payment for provisions was also by
no means unnecessary. The Scots were so very
exact in these matters, that unless the King was equally
punctual, it was to be feared the disloyal peasants
might prefer selling for ready money to the enemy to
trusting their sovereign for his purchases.
Miserable was the condition of the country in the
north. The coal mines of Newcastle, which employed
ten thousand persons constantly, were utterly deserted.
Of the four hundred ships that used to anchor in the
river not one Avas to be seen ; those that arrived at the
mouth taking immediately to flight, without a cargo,
on hearing the state of things. The shops were closed,
and many houses precipitately deserted, leaving all the
contents to the enemy. The city of Durham was
almost depopulated, and a famine of bread was
threatened, the King's army having devoured all in
* Rushworth, fol., part ii. vol. ii. p. 1240.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 285
their march, while the country people were too terrified 1640.
to supply the market. Fear of the brutalities of the
royal troops was quite equal to fear of the Scots.
On the 2nd of September, the Lords of the Scots'
Covenant drew up a petition to the King. They pro
fessed themselves unwilling to shed English blood, and
of this reluctance, they said, they had given proof by
dismissing their prisoners with meat and money, not
withstanding their own men who had strayed from
headquarters had been massacred. In Newcastle, thejr
had paid for all they consumed ; and now their sharp
sufferings had forced them to enter England, where
they lived on their own means and provisions, injuring
neither property nor person, till they were compelled
by force of arms to put down those who opposed their
passage. And they prayed his Majesty, at last, to
consider their pressing grievances, and provide repara
tion for their wrongs and losses, and with the advice
of a Parliament in England to settle a firm and durable
peace. To this the King replied, on the 5th of September,
that as their petition was only in general terms, he
desired to know their special grievances. And for
mature consideration thereof, he had summoned the
peers to meet him at York on the 24th, that with their
advice he might answer the petition. He commanded
the Scots to advance no farther with their army,
which forbearance would be a way towards that recon
ciliation of which none were more desirous than his
Majesty. To this the Scots replied : — " That the particulars
were contained in the conclusions of their last Parlia
ment, already printed, and were briefly —

2S6 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. " 1. That the last Acts of Parliament be published
"in his Majesty's name, as well as that ofthe Estates.
" 2. That the Castle of Edinburgh and other
strengths may be used for their defence and security.
" 3. That their countrymen in England and Ireland
be free from censure for subscribing the Covenant, and
from oaths and subscriptions contrary thereunto.
" 4. That the common incendiaries may receive
their just censure.
" 5. Their ships and goods, with the damage thereof,
to be restored.
" 6. Their wrongs, losses, and charges to be repaid.
" 7. The proclamation against them as traitors to
be recalled. And that, by advice and consent of his
Parliament, his Majesty would remove the garrisons
from the Borders, and other impediments of a free-
trade, and with their advice, condescend to all things
which may establish a firm and well-grounded peace." *
A commission was now issued, authorising Laud and
others of the Privy Council to provide in the King's
absence for the safety of the kingdom, and writs were
issued to the rest "of the Peers to attend the King at
York, on the 24th of September.
Meantime, the Scots played a masterly stroke. On
the 9th of September, they wrote to the Lord Mayor
and Aldermen of London, and, after referring to their
published account of their wrongs, declared that their
present occupation of Newcastle was necessary for
their security, but was not meant to stop trade on the
river. They knew how needful coals were for London,
and they wished the trade in them to continue ; and
hearing that masters of ships were hastening away
* Rushworth, 8vo, iii., p. 205.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 287
empty, they sent two noblemen to them to persuade 1640.
them to stay and load, and they renewed the assurance
to the city of London as a testimony of their respect
and goodwill for their affection and the peace of the
two kingdoms.
Hitherto, the Scots had paid their way, but the
maintenance of so large an army, coupled with the
stoppage of all their trade, began to render this im
possible, and to reduce them to the expedient of all
victorious invaders, of levying contributions on the
inhabitants ofthe conquered districts.
Heavy murmurs now began to reach the King. The
people of Northumberland said they had to pay the
Scots £300 a-day, besides hay and straw in such quan
tities as threatened to leave their own cattle to starve.
The people of Durham were called on for £350 a-day,
and petitions to the King for relief began to pour in.
A Parliament was the only chance, and both London
and Yorkshire prayed his Majesty to summon one.
It was plain that something must be done. On the
25th of September, a great Council of the Peers was
held by the King at York, to discuss the means of
subsistence for the army. The Earl of Berkshire
proposed that Yorkshire and the adjacent shires, with
London, should advance the money on promise of
repayment. To this, Lord Strafford at once objected. He said
that Yorkshire had already been at a heavy charge,
and was greatly impoverished. The men were now
licensed to go home, to be ready to return at an hour's
warning. They needed rather to be supplied them
selves than to furnish others. He then offered to give
an account of the state of the army, which, he said, he

288 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. had taken as he found it, and so could not be responsible
_" for former actions.
They were already a fortnight in arrear to Yorkshire
for food. Between 19,000 and 20,000 foot, and be
tween twenty-two and twenty-three regiments of horse,
in addition to the Scottish reformed officers' regiments,
were in pay, which amounted to £60,000 a month,
and all this was short. If this army disbanded, with
the enemy in such a position, the country would be
lost in two days, and the fire go to the farthest house
in the street. No infamy named in history would
equal the desertion of their men at such a crisis. Two
hundred thousand pounds was the least they could
subsist on till Parliament met. He did not wish to
risk all by a battle ; he preferred to wear out the Scots
by delay.
The Earl of Berkshire next suggested to draw up a
list of the chief towns, and to request contributions
from them. But the Earl of Bristol said he feared this
would fail ; the city of London was the place to look
to, and if a Parliament were promised, he thought the
money would be forthcoming.
The Peers present then agreed they would all be
security to London if she would advance the money,
and it was settled to ask for £50,000, to be ready in a
fortnight, £100,000 in a month after that, and £50,000
a fortnight after that. It was thus settled : —
By October 12 £50,000.
By November 15 . . . £100,000.
By December 1 . . . £50,000.
It was also settled that the King should summon a

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 289
Parliament, to meet by the 3rd of November, and that 1640.
commissioners from both Scots and English should
meet at Ripon, there to discuss articles of pacification.*
When this was signified to the Scots, they expressed
their delight, but stated a slight difficulty. The treaty
would take up some time to settle ; and, during the
negociations, how was their army to be maintained ?
Unless the King would supply them with the means,
it was not in their power to stand still even for so
good an object as a final peace. Their men and horses
must be fed. On being asked what sum would be
required for this, they replied that nothing less than
£40,000 per month would suffice.
On receiving this answer, the King, with the light
ness common to him, quietly passed it over and sent
word to the Scots Commissioners to meet him at
York, in preference to Ripon, as the latter was an un
healthy place.
But the Scots were too wary for him. They had no
notion of the most important preliminary being thus
glided over, and sent back Avord that provision for the
maintenance of their army Avas to precede the treaty.
They had already stayed their march, in obedience to
his Majesty's command, when they might have been
better provided and have maintained themselves with
out hurt to the English nation, simply by confining
their demands to the papists and prelates, with their
adherents, and all other professed enemies, who, having
really been the cause of these troubles, might most
justly be made to suffer for them. Such was the
financial policy of the Scots.
* Hardwicke, State Papers.
VOL. II. tr

90 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTAVORTH.
1640. And, as to going to York at all, they said they
could not conceal from themselves how dangerous that
would be. It would be to surrender themselves to
the army there commanded by the Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland, against whom, as the chief incendiary, they
intended to complain. He had, in the Parliament of
Ireland, proceeded against them as rebels and traitors,
and his commission was to subdue and destroy them,
and he desired by all means and upon all occasions,
the breaking up of the treaty of peace.*
To these objections the Scots' Commissioners ad
hered so firmly, that the King was forced to yield and
allow the treaty to be held at Ripon. There, a treaty
was at last signed by the Commissioners on both sides
for a cessation of arms till Parliament met, and the
King agreed to allow £850 a day for the Scotch army,
meanwhile ; the money to be levied on the northern
counties. On hearing of the Avrits for a Parliament,
the City of London accepted the security offered by
the Peers, and agreed to advance the £200,000 re
quired. Yet, so complete was the distrust of the
King's word, that on some delay occurring in the
writs for the Parliament, the . lenders at once drew
back, the remittances were delayed in like manner,
and only freely tendered when the summonses to the
members placed the matter beyond all doubt.
As the 3rd of November drew nigh, it was debated
among the Peers at York whether it would be Aviser
for Lord Strafford to take his seat in the House of
Lords, or remain at his post as Lieutenant-General of
the royal army in the north.
The King most earnestly desired his presence in
* Rushworth, 8vo, iii.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 291
Parliament, as he should have great need of his 1640.
services there, and placed the utmost confidence in
his ability and loyalty.
But the Earl himself, worn out with toil and disease,
shrank from new warfare and excitement. His friends
in London had warned him that a storm was gathering,
and that Laud and himself were already marked out for
condemnation. " The King can do no wrong," was still to be the
maxim, but it was a maxim fraught with terror for the
King's ministers, and this Lord Strafford clearly fore
saw. He was, also, too painfully aware of the hatred of
the Scots and their intention of charging upon him the
provocation of the late war, as well as the present.
And the old fire that once prompted him to seek out
and voluntarily face his foe was grown wan and feeble
now. He pleaded to the King that " he should not be able
to do him any service in Parliament, but should rather
be a means to hinder his affairs, in regard he foresaw,
that the great envy and ill-will of the Parliament, and
of the Scots would be bent against him.0
" Whereas, if he kept out of sight, he would not be
so much in their mind as he should be by showing
himself in Parliament. And if they should fall upon
him, he, being at a distance, whatsoever they should
conclude against him, he might the better avoid
and retire from any danger, having the liberty of being
out of their hands, and to go over to Ireland, or to
some other place, where he might be most serviceable
to his Majesty. But if he should put himself into their
power, by coming up to the Parliament, it was evident
* Hardwicke, State Papers, ii. 196. u %

292 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. that the House of Commons and the Scots, with all
~~ their party, especially being provoked by his coming
amongst them, would presently fall upon him and
prosecute his destruction." *
But the King over-ruled all these arguments, and
laid his commands on Lord Strafford to join the Par
liament, assuring him at the same time, " that as he
Avas King of England, he was able to secure him from
any danger, and that the Parliament should not touch
one hair of his head."
To this, the Earl at once submitted, adding "that
if there should fall out a difference between his Majesty
and his Parliament, concerning himself, that it would
be a great disturbance to his Majesty's affairs, and that
he had rather suffer himself than that the King's
affairs should in any measure suffer, by reason of his
particular." The King was quite ready to accept the sacrifice,
saying that " he could not want Lord Strafford's advice
in the great transactions which were like to be in this
Parliament." And thus the matter was settled. The King took
his departure for London in order to be present at the
opening, and Lord Strafford remained in the north
with the intention of following some time after.
But, previous to the departure of Charles, one man
before others was resolved to turn the present hour to
good use. This was the Earl of St. Alban's. Now
was the time to get back his lands without a long law
suit. If ever Strafford was to be had at disadvan
tage, it was now. Boldly, therefore, St. Alban's
* Whitelock's Memorials.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 293
appealed to the King, and, to use his own expression, 1640.
"Neither my resolution nor my memory failed mc"
to express what could be objected against such a
person, by one so much injured as I conceived myself
to be." And the debate had this conclusion : " I have
recovered all my tenures and chiefryes, that Avere so
much threatened to be taken from me, and the King
will make good his former grant, and the Lieutenant
did engage himself to obey it and to give direction for
the despatch of it in Ireland.
" Only it doth stick upon this point : he, under
pretence of service to the King, would have Athleaf, a
principal manor of mine in the county of Roscommon,
and give me land for it to the full value, in the county
of Galway. And the King (as I conceive), more out
of compassion to him in this conflict than any necessity
of his service, requires my promise of this before he
confirms his former order." *
This demand St. Alban's justly refused, plainly
seeing that if he admitted the King's right to compel
an exchange of possessions in one thing, he must do
so in others, and Charles, in no condition to struggle,
easily yielded the point. It showed how the tide had
turned. * Hardwicke, State Papers, ii. 205.

CHAPTER XH.

i640- It was on the 3rd of November, 1640, that that
great Parliament, whose very name is a synonyme for
the liberty of England, met. On that day, the Long
Parliament was opened by the King in person. But,
amid the brilliant assembly of Lords and Commons
that thronged around the King, to listen to his opening
speech, the real monarch of England, the man to whom
every earnest eye was turned in appeal, was by no
means the gorgeously robed occupant of the throne.
The true King of England at that hour was John
Pym, and it was fop: his utterances that the members
were so impatiently waiting.
The speech of Charles so nearly resembled that of
the previous April that it is not worth quoting, and
the usual string of flattery having been administered in
reply, the House proceeded to business.
The first week was consumed in receiving the
petitions for the removal of grievances that poured in
from all quarters, brought by troops of horsemen to
the door of the House of Commons. Among these
petitions were many from Ireland. These were
eagerly seized, rather as affording a valuable text,
than from any special desire to afford relief to the Irish.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 295
On the 6th of November, therefore, it was moved by 1640.
Pym : *
"That in regard the complaints of the King's
subjects in Ireland were many, who had undergone
great oppressions in that kingdom by mal-government
there, and come to this Parliament for relief, they
might be referred to a Committee of the whole House
for that purpose only, to be appointed."
After some debate, the question was resolved in the
affirmative, and the Committee appointed for next
day. Immediately, the friends of Lord Strafford sent post
haste to him to Yorkshire, to warn him of the danger
to be apprehended from this Committee, and advised
him to weigh well whether he should remain in safety
in the north or brave his foes in Parliament. If he
decided for the latter, they suggested that he might
turn the tables by being the first to impeach certain
members whom he was able to accuse of inviting the
Scots into England.
On receiving this intelligence, he resolved to go at
once to England and " abide the test of Parliament."
His friends in the north, more alarmed for him than
he for himself, anxiously protested against this step.
They told him that both the Scots and the Scoticizing
English had resolved on his destruction, and that he
would do wisely to remain at his post, protected by his
English army, who had begun to show some affection
for him, or retire to his Government in Ireland. It
might even be better still to go abroad for a while till
* Rushworth, folio, iv. 1.

296 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. the storm was blown over. It would be no confession
~ of guilt to flee from malicious foes, before whom inno
cence could avail nothing, and he might then live to
do his royal master better service abroad than in
Council at Whitehall.*
But he would not be persuaded. He believed that
he would produce good evidence against his enemies
of having invited the Scots, and thereby at one stroke
expose them, and divert the blow from his own head.
He, accordingly, took post-horses for the capital, and,
on the 10th of November, arrived in London. But, on
the very next day, Pym rose in his seat in the House,
and announcing that he had matters of the greatest
importance to reveal, he requested that all strangers
should be dismissed, the doors locked, and the keys
laid on the table. This having been done, he pro
ceeded to address the assembly.
Judging by the stern laws of abstract justice and
truth, by the same standard by which Lord Strafford
himself has been condemned, it is difficult not to re
gret many of Pym's expressions. That he firmly
believed Lord Strafford to be a most dangerous and
unscrupulous man, there is no doubt, any more than
that he considered his death necessary to the safety of
the country. But, that he believed in the eulogy he
passed on the King is impossible. It was enough to
state the real facts and the real perils as they appeared
to his own mind, without stooping to oratorical arts
to prejudice the minds of his hearers against the
object of his condemnation.
He began by lamenting the miserable state and
* Rushworth, fol., iv. 2.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 297
condition of the kingdom, and drew a powerful picture 1640.
of the misgovernment of late years, which, notwith- ~~
standing the words of Lord Clarendon, it was scarcely
possible to exaggerate. The laws of the land, he
said, were now no more considered, but subjected to
the arbitrary power of the Privy Council, which
governed the kingdom according to their will and
pleasure, and " these calamities were falling in ihe reign
of a pious and virtuous King, who loved his people
and was a great lover of justice."
It was certainly out of no respect for Charles that
Pym paid this compliment to him, but from hatred to
Lord Strafford, who could only be made a perfect scape
goat by this absolution of the King.
The speaker then said, they must inquire from
what fountain these waters of bitterness flowed ; what
persons they were who had so far insinuated them
selves into his royal affections, as to be able to pervert
his excellent judgment, to abuse his name, and wickedly
to apply his authority to countenance and support
their own corrupt designs. Though he doubted there
would be many found of this class, who had contri
buted their joint endeavours to bring this misery upon
the nation, yet he believed there was one more signal
in that administration than the rest, being a man of
great parts and contrivance, and of great industry to
bring what he designed to pass ; a man who in the
memory of many present had sate in that house an
earnest vindicator of the laws, and a most zealous
asserter and champion for the liberties ofthe people ; but
long since turned apostate from those good affections,
and according to the custom and nature of apostates,

298 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640 was become the greatest enemy to the liberties of his
 country, and the greatest promoter of tyranny that
any age had produced.
This man was the Earl of Strafford, Lord Lieu^
tenant of Ireland, and Lord President of the Council
established in York, for the northern parts of the
kingdom ; who had in both places, and in all other
provinces wherein his service had been used by the
King, raised ample monuments of his tyrannical nature ;
and if a short survey were taken of his actions and
behaviour, they would find him the principal author
and promoter of all those counsels which had exposed
the kingdom to so much ruin.
Pym then gave various instances of the haughti
ness of Strafford, both in his own acts and in the
advice he gave to others. He went still farther and
repeated some of the scandalous reports that were
circulated against the private character of Strafford,
reports which had not the shadow of foundation, which
Pym should have scorned to utter.*
He concluded with telling the Commons, " that they
would do well to consider how to provide a remedy pro-

* The slanders by which the private life of Lord Strafford were
assailed were precisely of the same value as those attached to the names
of some of the best and purest public personages of our own day.
There is not the shadow of proof to support them. It is lamentable,
that in the performance of what he firmly believed to be his duty,
Pym should have soiled his hands by the use of base and degrading
weapons, or rather tools. Even had the private life of Strafford been
faulty, it had nothing to do with his conduct in public, and it was an
unworthy act to attempt to prejudice his judges.
As if in retribution for this, one of the few stains on his otherwise
noble character, Pym, who was a Puritan, as austere in life as in name,
was himself afterwards charged, and with equal falseness, with a dis
honourable passion for the Countess of Carlisle, the very person

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 299
portionable to the disease, and to prevent the farther 1f{40-__
mischiefs they were to expect from the continuance of
this great man's power and credit with the King, and
his influence upon his counsels.* •
When Pym had ceased, the subject was caught up
by other members, and hours were consumed in " bitter
inveighing, and ripping up the course of the Earl of
Strafford's life before his coming to court, and his
actions after." Not a single friendly voice is recorded
as uttering one word in his defence, not an isolated
memory recalled a thought of the undoubted benefits
he had conferred on Ireland, no merciful excuse
suggested itself by the recollection of his tremendous
difficulties, or the obstacles presented by his miserable
health. The abrupt dissolution of the last Parliament had
left its members in a sullen and suppressed rage,
which now burst forth on one devoted head. The
wretched sophistry still maintained that " the King
can do no wrong," for the present, diverted the storm
from the head of the King to fall with multiplied force
on those of his greatest supporters.
To all earthly things there is a limit, and among
others to the patience of an oppressed people. The
whose name had been associated in evil report with that of Lord
Strafford. Lady Carlisle was one of the most intellectual and fascinating women
of her day. The delight with which the great men of her acquaintance
listened to her conversation, and, therefore, sought her society, had the
frequent effect in such casesof awakening the poisonous tongues of her
inferiors. But she has rendered herself immortal in English liistory by the
timely warning she gave to the five members of their intended arrest by
Charles I. * Clarendon, Hist. Rebel., vol. i.

300 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. servility of the judges in deciding in favour of
the King with regard to ship-money, had roused the
nation more than the tax itself. And very justly. The
English prided themselves on their obedience to the
law. That, all must uphold. The King himself owed
allegiance to it, and years of care and thought had
been expended in the endeavour to make it the shield
of liberty. But by the decision against Hampden, it
had been perverted to the service of tyranny to which
the nation must submit, or disobey the power for which
it felt such reverence. And, too, things would not stop
here. Men who could wrest the meaning of the law to
the defence of ship-money could interpret it to mean
anything, to support anything. To have enforced the
ship-money in the face of a legal decision against him,
would have been a safer step for Charles than to claim
it under such protection. There was something in
expressibly galling in the treachery of the Bench. And
in this harassing predicament, with anarchy on one
side and tyranny on the other, when every help was
needed to steer safely between these terrible alterna
tives, it Avas wildly exasperating to see one of the
clearest and most powerful intellects in the country
throwing all its weight into the wrong scale. The very
consciousness of all that he might have been to them,
of the difficulties from which he might have saved
them, had he remained their friend, embittered his
countrymen as much as the positive injuries he had
inflicted. It was a great misfortune, too, for Lord Strafford,
that his long residence in Ireland, and the circumstance
of her shores being the scene of his energies, he had

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 301
no witness in his own country of the redeeming 1640
qualities he possessed. The safety he had gained for ~~
St. George's Channel, it is true, was a great benefit to
the western coast. But this chiefly affected Ireland, '
and the number of pirates that still infested the
southern shores, and the pitiful tales that reached
home from English slaves abroad much more than
covered this. The wonderful improvement in the
Irish army was an object not of praise, but hatred and
jealousy, from the belief that this army was not for,
but against England. In short, when the rancour
against an individual has reached the height of that
against Lord Strafford at this moment, whether it be
well or ill founded, his virtues avail him nothing, and
are looked upon, if at all considered, merely as
obstacles 'in the way of justice that are to be swept
aside with contempt.
The time had so far been consumed less in debate
than in the utterance of the charges to which every
enemy had some contribution to make, when a message
arrived from the House of Lords requesting a con
ference with the Commons that afternoon, in the
Painted Chamber, at three o'clock, in order to decide
on various points connected with the Scots treaty.*
Two judges were the messengers.
But the Commons were not to be disturbed, and
accordingly an answer was returned by the same
envoys : " that at this time they were in agitation of
very weighty and important affairs, and therefore they
did doubt they should not be ready to give them a
meeting that afternoon, as the Lords desired. But as
* Rushworth, fol., iv. 3.

302 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. soon as they might, they would send an answer by
messengers of their own." *
This slight interruption over, the business of the
day was soon brought to a point by a unanimous reso
lution to impeach the Earl of Strafford of High Treason.
A suggestion was indeed offered by Lord Falkland, as
to whether it might not be better first to arrange the
charges against him systematically, and afterwards,
when all was ready, to send up their accusation to
the .Lords.f But Pym objected, bluntly declaring that
such a delay might probably blast all their hopes,
and put it out of their power to proceed farther
than they had done already. He warned them that
Lord Strafford's power and credit with the King,
and with all those who had most credit with the
King or Queen, were so great, that if he discovered
what was preparing against him, he would contrive
to procure a dissolution of Parliament, and so save
himself rather than^undergo its justice, or take some
other means, even at the hazard of the kingdom's
ruin, for his own preservation, if only he had timely
notice. But if they impeached him at once, the Lords would
be compelled to imprison him to await his trial, and
thus he would be kept both from counsel and from the
King. When once they had thus secured his person,
the whole process against him could be carried out
with the utmost despatch.
These arguments were at once decisive, and seven
members were then selected to (jjnfer with tb«*B«ers.
Their names' were as follows :
* Rushworth, folio, iv. 3.
t Clarendon, Hist. Rebel., i.

the life of
Mr. Pym.

thomas wentworth.
Sir John Clotworthy.
Sir Walter Earle.
Mr. Hampden.

303
1640.

Mr. Stroud.
Mr. St. John.
Lord Digby.

' The seven next proceeded to a committee room to
prepare their address, and having agreed on this, they
returned with it to the House.

CHAPTER XIII.

164°- It was on this same 11th of November, that the
Commons were so fiercely debating, Avithin locked
doors, on a subject charged Avith such momentous
interest for himself that Lord Strafford, wearied with
his long journey of the previous day, had remained in
doors all the forenoon, in order to recruit his exhausted
frame, before entering upon the new labours that he
believed awaited him. By three o'clock in the after
noon, he felt sufficiently revived to go to the House of
Lords, and see what Avas passing there.*
With rapid footsteps he advanced towards the door,
where he instantly called for admittance. It was
opened by James Maxwell, Keeper of the Black Rod,
on which Lord Strafford, his countenance darkened
with more than its usual gloom, advanced towards his
place. But before he could take his seat, a sudden
concourse of voices, whose tones of authority carried
the power to enforce in their accents, bade him quit
the House.f Bewildered with this unwonted reception,
he attempted to remonstrate. But in louder utterance
followed the stern command, bidding him be silent and

* Clarendon's Hist. Rebel., i. 245.
t Baillie's Letters and Journals, i. 217

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 305
obey. In company with Maxwell, he retired to an 1640.
ante-chamber, whence, after a short interval, he was ~
summoned to the presence of his peers. And not of
his peers alone. At the bar of the House stood Pym,
with three hundred of the Commons at his back, every
one of whom was a foe to Strafford, and pledged to
his destruction. Again the voice of command was
heard. Before the majesty of the people of England
Lord Strafford was ordered to kneel, and hear the
charge against him.
Then Pym, standing in front of all the train of
representatives, in a loud and clear voice, spoke as
follows : —
" My Lords,
" The knights, citizens, and burgesses now as
sembled in the Commons House of Parliament have
received information of divers traitorous designs and
practices of a great peer of this House, and by virtue
of a command from them, I do here, in the name of
all the Commons of England, impeach Thomas, Earl
of Strafford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, of High
Treason. And they have commanded me further to
desire your lordships that he may be sequestered from
the Parliament, and forthwith committed to prison.
They further command me to let you know that they
will, within a very few days, resort to your lordships,
with the particular articles and ground of this accusa
tion." *
A slight discussion then followed among the peers,
whether the earl should be imprisoned on a general
charge alone, before any specific act was named. It
* Journal of the House of Lords.

306 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. was decided in the affirmative, and the Lord Keeper,
- turning to Strafford, who received the announcement
still kneeling, thus addressed him : —
" My Lord of Strafford, — The whole House of Com
mons, in their own name, and in the name of the whole
Commons of England, have this day accused your
lordship to the lords of the higher House of Parliament
of High Treason. The articles they will in a few days
produce. In:, the meantime, they have desired of my
lords, and my lords have accordingly resolved that
your lordship shall be committed into safe custody to
the gentleman usher, and be sequestered from the
House, till your lordship shall clear yourself of the
accusations that shall be laid against you."
Then Lord Strafford arose, and, in charge of the
Usher of the Black Rod, quitted the chamber of the
peers. Arrived in the ante-room, Maxwell demanded
his sword, bidding him surrender it as a prisoner. The
earl at once unbuckled the sword — his badge of honour
and freedom — and placed it in the hands of the usher,
who, with a loud voice, called his man to carry my
Lord Lieutenant's sword.
The coach that had brought Lord Strafford from his
house was still waiting outside, and the illustrious
prisoner, not yet able to realise all the circumstances
of his present changed condition, called his coachman
to drive up ; but Maxwell interposed, and said, " Your
lordship is my prisoner, and you must enter my coach."
As they made their Avay to Maxwell's coach, the crowd,
attracted by the unusual excitement, demanded what
Avas the matter.
" A small matter, I warrant you," replied Strafford,
contemptuously.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 307
" Yes," Avas the reply, from some who knew more ; 1640.
" yes, indeed, High Treason is a small matter."*
Then the horses' heads turned, and before an hour
was over the Earl of Strafford was a prisoner in the
house of the usher.
His first act on his arrival was to write to his wife
as follows : —
" Sweet Heart.
" You have heard before this what hath befallen me
in this place, but be you confident that if fortune is to
be blamed, yet I will not, by God's help, be ashamed.
Your carriage upon this misfortune I should advise to
be calm, not seeming to be neglective of my trouble,
and yet so as there may appear no dejection in you.
Continue on the family as formerly, and make much of
your children.
" Tell Will, Nan, and Arabella I will write to them
by the next. In the meantime I shall pray for them
to God, that he may bless them, and for their sakes
deliver me out of the furious malice of my enemies,
which yet, I trust, through the goodness of God, shall
do me no hurt.
" God have us all in his blessed keeping.
" Your very loving Husband, " Strafford.""!"
He was soon after transferred to the Tower, where,
at first, his friends were freely permitted to visit him ;
* Baillie's Letters, vol. i., new edit., p. 273.
t Biographia Britannica, vol. vii. Art. Wentworth. x 2

308 THE LIFE OF THOMAS AVENTWORTH.
1640. Avhere also, according to custom, he was allowed at his
~ own expense to furnish his room as he pleased, and to
walk about the precincts of the fortress under guard.
But this lasted only a few days. His accusers,
perhaps fearing his escape, sent orders to Sir William
Balfour, Governor of tbe Tower, to restrain his liberty
to three rooms, and to allow none to visit him without
special license of Parliament.
Meanwhile, orders were issued to open all the ports
between England and Ireland which had been closed
on account of the Scottish war, and all who had any
grievance to complain of were to come forward and
state it.
A committee was also formed to receive all petitions,
complaints, &c, against Strafford, with power to de
mand any papers of any kind necessary for his trial.
And as Sir George Radcliffe was well known to have
been his right-hand man in Ireland, and as his testi
mony might tell powerfully in the Earl's favour, it was
decided to incapacitate him as a Avitness by sending for
and impeaching him also of the same crime. This has
been styled "a master-stroke of Pym." So it may
have been, in one sense ; but if, as asserted, it was
made to deprive Strafford of a just benefit of evidence,
not on account of Radcliffe's own guilt, it is not possible
to denounce it too strongly.
The invitation to bring in grievances was most
heartily accepted on all sides. Not only were real
wrongs brought forward, but every pretext that could
swell the charge, even the benefits conferred, were
now perverted and dressed up as injuries. The very
men Avho had succeeded in deceiving the prisoner by
their specious praise and affected gratitude but a few

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 309
months before, now threw off the mask in the most 1640.
shameless manner. Foremost in this was the Irish
Parliament. No sooner had this precious assembly —
the very same that had voted the subsidies and sent
the loyal address against the Scots — heard of the fall
of the Lord Lieutenant they had described as the
blessing of their country, than they hastened to draw
up a paper full of the most bitter complaints, in direct
contradiction of their former address. They declared
their trading was destroyed, their industry disheartened,
new and unlawful impositions were imposed, and cases
decided arbitrarily at the Council table, " where," said
these loyal Irish, " no writ of error can lie, and the
King loseth a fine upon the original writ thereby."
Certainly, to charge Strafford with neglect ofthe King's
fines was somewhat unexpected.
Then they complained of the monopoly of tobacco,
the destruction of the plantation of Londonderry, the
exorbitant power of the High Commission, the prohi
bition to leave Ireland without license, and that, not
withstanding the many subsidies given, the King was
still in debt ! *
This curious mixture was styled " The Irish Remon
strance," and placed in the hands of the committee of
evidence against Strafford.
A committee of the House of Lords was then
formed to answer to that in the Commons, both meeting
from time to time to consider the mass of matter that.
poured in.
The impeachment of Strafford was to be no isolated
act, but the first of a new series of measures resolved
* Rushworth, fol., vol. iv., p. 7, ed. 1720.

310 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1640. on by the Parliament indicative of an earnest resolve
to root out the present system of government, and all
who upheld it or were believed to have contributed to
it. When Strafford fell, there could be no hope for
lesser men. Before the year was out, Windebanke,
Finch, and Laud were accused of High Treason. The
two first fled, Windebanke to Calais and Finch to Hol
land. On the 18th of December, Laud was seized
and lodged in the Tower, under precisely the same
charge as his friend and fellow prisoner.
But though under the same roof, Laud and Strafford
were allowed no communication with each other, and
only permitted to taste the fresh air under guard, and
in company of Maxwell or the governor. About this
time, Lord Strafford wrote the folloAving letter to his
wife : —
" Sweet Heart,
" I never pitied you so much as I do now, for in the
death of that great person, the Deputy, you have lost
the principal friend you] had there, whilst we are
here riding out the storm as well as God and the
season shall give us leave. Yet I trust Lord Dillon *
will supply unto you, in part, that great loss, till it
please God to bring us together again. As to myself,
albeit all be done against me that art and malice can
devise, with all the rigour possible ; yet I am in great
inward quietness, and a strong belief God will deliver
me out of all these troubles. The more I look into
my case the more hope I have, and sure, if there be any
honour and justice left, my life will not be in danger ;
and for anything else, time, I trust, will salve any
* The son of Lord Dillon had married Strafford's sister.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 311
other hurt which can be done me. Therefore, hold up 1640.
your heart, look to the children and your house, let me
have your prayers, and at last, by God's good pleasure,
Ave shall have our deliverance, when we may as little
look for it as Ave did for this blow of misfortune, Avhich
I trust will make us better to God and man.
" Your loving Husband, " Strafford."
On the 9th of December, Sir George Radcliffe
arrived from Ireland, and was at once committed to
the same close imprisonment in the Gate House, and
orders given that all letters directed to him should be
opened by the committee for Strafford's trial.
But yet another and equally important friend of the
Lord Lieutenant would in all probability have been
added to the number of prisoners but for a strange and
most pathetic hindrance. This was Sir Christopher
Wandesforde, whom Strafford had appointed his Deputy
Lieutenant in Ireland during his absence.
But when Wandesforde heard of the calamity that
had befallen his dearly beloved friend and master, he
fainted. Unable to conquer his true and terrible fore
bodings, he sank beneath the agony of his despair and
died the day after.*
When the sad intelligence was conveyed to Strafford,
he could not restrain his tears — tears that must yet
have had a mournful sweetness mingled with their
grief at the thought of such fidelity.
* " So soon as the Deputie saw the articles of the Lower House, and
heard of the Lieutenant's taking to the barre, he s(w)ounded and. to
morrow died." — Baillib, i. 282.

312 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. '
1641. On the 30th of January, 1641, Lord Strafford was
_ summoned to the House of Lords to hear the articles
of his impeachment.
Under a guard of musqueteers he entered his barge,
and came along- the river from the Tower to West
minster. At the bar of the House he knelt, but was
told to rise and be seated during the reading of the
charge. At first it had been comprised in nine articles^
but since the first engrossment so many new accusa
tions had been made, that it had now reached the
number of twenty-eight articles, filling two hundred
sheets of paper, and taking three hours to read.
When the clerk had finished, the defendant asked
for a month to give his answer — surely not too long
a time for a matter so momentous, and not so long as
his accusers had required to make the charge. But
the request was promptly refused, and the present day
being Saturday, he was only allowed till the follow
ing Monday to prepare his reply.
But Monday found him prostrate under an attack
of the gout, which rendered it absolutely impossible
for him to go to Westminster, as ordered. The fol
lowing Wednesday fortnight was therefore appointed
instead for him to give his response, either in writing
or bv word of mouth.
During this time he again wrote to Lady Strafford,
as follows : —
" Sweet Heart,
" It is long since I writ unto you, for I am here in such
a trouble as gives me little or no respite. The charge is
now come in, and I am now able, I praise God,to tell you
that I conceive there is nothing capital ; and for the rest,

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTAVORTH. 313
I know, at the worst, his Majesty will pardon all, 1641.
without hurting my fortune ; and then we shall be
happy by God's grace. Therefore comfort yourself,
for I trust these clouds will aAvay, and that we shall
have fair weather afterwards. Farewell.
" Your loving Husband,
" Strafford."
While Strafford was preparing his replies, Parlia
ment rapidly proceeded on the path of reform. Peace
Avas made with Scotland on terms most gratifying to
the Scots; and if to cease the attempt at injustice
towards another, and make the best recompense that
remains for injustice already inflicted, be noble and
brave, then the English had no reason to be ashamed
of their concessions. They, not the Scots, had been
in the wrong, and when all books, libels, and pro
clamations against the Scots were ordered to be called
in and a recompense for losses incurred in the war
Avas voted to the amount of £300,000, and styled
"a fit proportion for a friendly assistance and relief
towards the losses and necessities of our brethren of
Scotland," and the Scots not only thanked the Par
liament for the money, but for calling them brethren ;
then hearty thanksgivings were offered in the churches.
And when, also, the bill passed both Houses, and was
ratified by the King, making it compulsory to summon
a Parliament never at longer intervals than every
three years, then were the people " exceeding joyful,"
lighting bonfires at night, and ringing the bells by
day in honour of this neAv barrier against despotism.
The Parliament seemed the very herald of hope to

314 .THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. all the oppressed. In their distant dungeons the
~ brave Puritan ministers heard of it, and succeeded in
forwarding their petitions.
Bastwick was the first to experience its power.
His sentence Avas declared illegal, his fine revoked;
he was set at liberty, and Laud, now by the most
tremendous reverse of fortune, a _ prisoner instead,
was ordered to make a recompense to Bastwick for
all the losses he had caused him, and the pains in
flicted by his wicked and. unjust trial.
Such was the work that Avas progressing outside the
Tower, whilst Lord Strafford was painfully preparing
his replies to the articles against him. By the 24th
of February they were ready, and sent in writing to
the House of Lords, where they were read aloud.
Reduced to their barest forms, the crimes brought
against Lord Strafford may be summed up under nine
heads. 1. Obtaining and using illegal authority in general
acts of government.
2. Uttering treasonable words.
3. Committing special acts of illegal tyranny against
individuals. 4. Making illegal pecuniary gains.
5. Showing illegal favour to the Roman Catholics.
, 6. Giving illegal counsel to the King.
7. Secretly trying to kindle war between Scotland
and England.
8. Raising an army in Ireland nominally to fight
the Scots, but secretly to crush the English, and enable
the King to rule without his Parliament, and subvert
the laws.
9. Neglect of his duty.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 315
How far the earl was guilty of these charges, the 1641.
reader of the preceding pages will be able to judge for ~
himself. For though the necessity of legal forms
compelled his accusers to embody their charge under
certain definite heads, it was really not for this or that
article that he was called to answer, but for his whole
political life, for his general influence and its results.
For good or evil he was a tremendous power in the
country, and how he had used that power was now to
be called in question. If ill, could this be proved to
such an extent as to be called High Treason ?
This object of the whole charge he at first failed to
realise when he examined the details, and spoke hope
fully of the result — as, indeed, looking at it from his
own point of view, he was justified in doing. For
nothing can be more manifest than the puerility of
many, the glaring injustice of some, and the vagueness
and looseness of others of the articles. Take, for in
stance, the words he was reported to have uttered,
and especially his speech about the Irish troops.* If
a man in his position, the governor of a kingdom and
commander-in-chief of an army, could not praise his
men for their loyalty in the highest terms without such
praise being inserted among a list of high treasonable
articles, then one of his very worst deeds, the imprison
ment of Mountnorris, became almost justified by so
stern a law. Again, who could dream of danger in the
expression, " a conquered nation," as applied to Ire
land ? Nothing but the desire of using it as a tool
of mischief against the speaker could have dwelt on
* That in March, 1640, he had declared " that his Majesty was so
well pleased with the army in Ireland, and the consequences thereof,
that his Majesty would certainly make the same a pattern for all his
, three kingdoms."— Article 17.

316 THE LIFE OF, THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. such a phrase for a moment. It was certainly out of
" no love to Ireland that it was caught up, as was shown
a little later by the accusation of leniency towards the
Roman Catholics of that kingdom. It will hardly be
admitted that the rights of Ireland were more recog
nised in 1641 than in the present day, yet one of the
most free-spoken and liberal-minded of modern writers,
the historian of Greece, curiously enough, is found to
utter the very same expression with regard to Ireland
that has told so hardly against Lord Strafford.*
On the 15th of March, Whitelock was sent up to
the House of Lords with this message : — " That the
House of Commons have considered the Earl of Straf
ford's answer, and do aver their charge of High Treason
against him, and that he is guilty in such manner and
form as he stands accused and impeached, and that this
House will be ready to prove their charge against him
at such convenient time as their lordships shall prefix."
The 22nd of March was then agreed on to open the
trial, exactly a Aveek hence. A slight alteration was,
at the same time, made in the committee for the ma
nagement of the trial, in order to introduce the Crown
lawyers, Maynard and Earle, and the committee was
now as follows : —
Lord Digby. Sir Walter Earle, Knt.
John Hampden, Esq. Jeffrey Palmer, Esq.
John Pym, Esq. John Maynard, Esq.
Oliver St. John, Esq. John Glyn, Esq.
* " Few ever laboured more strenuously to enforce an indulgent
course upon the Government on all matters bearing upon the sister
, kingdom than the member for London, in bygone days. Yet he would
own — not, however, Avithout a mournful tone and manner, in 1870 — that
' I have arrived at the conviction that it will never be possible to govern
Ireland otherwise than as a conquered country ! " — Personal Life of
George Grote, p. 313.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 317
It was decreed that no counsel should be allowed 1641.
the defendant in matters of fact, but in matters of law
he was to have that assistance, the Lords reserving to
themselves the power of deciding which were matters
of fact and which matters of law.*
Witnesses were allowed the prisoner, but the war
rants to summon them were only granted three days
before the trial. And that he might have full liberty
to defend himself, the King released him from his oath
of secrecy as a Privy Councillor.
Westminster Hall was appointed for the place of
trial, and orders were given to fit it up expressly for
the occasion, and worthily to contain all the most illus
trious representatives of the three kingdoms, f
* Rushworth, fol., iv., 34.
f The trial of Warren Hastings was a mere imitation of that of
Lord Strafford. The dresses of the time of George IIL, as well as the
insignificant figure of Hastings, must have rendered it something like a
caricature of its great prototype.

CHAPTER XIV.

1641. It was not later than seven o'clock in the morning
of the 22nd of March, when Lord Strafford left the
Tower to meet his trial in Westminster Hall. A
hundred soldiers, all armed with partisans, formed his
guard, who, in six barges, rowed by fifty pair of oars,
followed the earl up the river to Westminster. There
they landed, and with their illustrious prisoner marched
to the hall of justice.
Many a gorgeous, many a solemn scene had those
old walls witnessed, but never one more imposing than
the present.
At the north end, overhung by a lofty canopy, stood
the King's throne, and by its side, the chair of state of
the Prince of Wales. Before the throne, and seated
on the woolsacks, were the Lord Steward, the Lord
Keeper, the Judges, and all the great officers of Chan
cery in their scarlet robes, which were well contrasted
and thrown up into a burning light by the black gowns
of the clerks of the Parliament, who, with a dark line,
divided them from the centre, where, in flowing ves
tures of heavy crimson velvet, lined Avith ermine, and
barred on the right sleeve with the same to denote
their degrees of title, sate the Peers of the Realm.
Each side of the nobles rose a tier of seats, rank above

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 319
rank, eleven stages high, reaching almost to the roof. 1641.
These contained the stern accusers ofthe earl, the real"
power in the state — the mighty Commons of England.
East and west of the wall they sate, and between them,
immediately behind the peers, was the Committee for the
trial. Rarely, if ever, were seen together countenances
so different, and yet so remarkable as those of the mem
bers of this Committee. Among them the eye of the gazer
could not fail to rest on the very embodiment of high
intellect and immovable resolution in the face of Pym,
of deep earnestness and suppressed emotion in the
quivering and mournful features of Oliver St. John, of
that devoted love for England which sanctified pa
triotism into religion that was written on the serene
brow and rapt expression of Hampden.
Between the peers and the Committee was the bar
covered with green, and the latter, drawing aside, left
the centre space for the prisoner.
Besides those officially employed in the trial, were the
spectators, who filled every available space. These
included the King, of course, incognito, who, with the
royal family, occupied an apartment at the back of the
throne, whence, himself concealed by a screen, he could
see and hear all that passed. In reserved seats were
the foreign ambassadors, whose ready pens were to
disperse the account of the proceedings to all parts
of Europe. Noblemen and gentlemen, and not the
least noticeable of the multitude, the very flower of the
aristocratic ladies, thronged the seats with pens and
paper, prepared to take notes of the speeches.
" It was, daily," says an eye-witness, "the most
glorious assembly the isle could afford." *
* Baillie, i., 326.

320 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. Only one most important body was absent. That
" was of the bishops. To their high honour, they, with
one accord, declined to be present at a cause in which
they might be called upon to vote for the deliberate
and violent death of a fellow creature, but took ad
vantage of the provision in the canon law that released
them from attendance on a criminal matter. A
sad pity they had not always felt these scruples in
Star Chamber proceedings! By eight o'clock the
last preparations were completed, all the officers
in their places, and the prisoner was called to the
bar. Then, his guards doubled to the number of two
hundred of the train-bands, armed with muskets and
halberds, the Earl of Strafford entered the hall, and
with slow and stately step walked up to the bar, and
having saluted the House with lowly and solemn rever
ence, he arose from his knees, and standing at the bar
in silence, awaited the charge.
Never was the majesty of the mind more triumphant
in its power of outward expression than in Lord Straf
ford at this moment. Dressed in deep mourning, with
no other sign of his rank than his George, which he
Avore suspended by a gold chain, " his countenance
manly black," as Whitelock words it, and pale and
worn with sickness and suffering, his tall figure bowed
from the same cause, still in the august expression the
soul reigned supreme. Fallen from his high estate,
and with three kingdoms for his enemies, there was
not one of all that great assembly at that moment that
was not enchained by his personal presence, and felt
gazing on a true king of men.
A poet who was present exclaimed :

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 321
" On thy brow 1641.
Sate Terror throned with Wisdom. And, at once, 
Saturn and Hermes in thy countenance."*
The rejection of his answers had fully awakened
him to his real position ; and the mournful and solemn
dignity, that was his present most striking feature, was
simply the natural expression of a nature, that in its
worst faults could never stoop to disguise.
After a short involuntary pause, the Earl of Arundel
and Surrey, Lord High Steward of England, addressed
him as follows :
" Your lordship is called here this day, before the
Lords in Parliament, to answer to, and to be tried
upon the impeachment presented to them by the
Commons House of Parliament, in the name of them
selves and all the Commons of England. And that
their Lordships are resolved to hear both the accusation
and defence with all equity. And, therefore, think fit,
in the first place, that your lordship should hear the
impeachment of High Treason read."
As Lord Arundel finished, he probably noted the
intense weariness of sickness visible in Lord Strafford,
for at this moment, what had not been previously
provided for the prisoner, viz., a chair, was brought in
by the gentleman usher, and by command ofcthe Lords
the earl was allowed to be seated.
Then the whole charge, Avith the defendant's answers,
was delivered by Pym, as speaker of the Committee,
to the clerk of the House to read ; and this being done,
terminated the proceedings for the day.
It was on the second day that the trial commenced
in earnest. For then it was that Pym arose, and with
* Forster's British Statesmen, i.
VOL. II. T

322 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. eloquence unprecedented within those walls, — eloquence
noble, and yet with all its grandeur, miserable to follow,
because, launched against the life of a countryman, it
becomes painful in its very power over one so fallen
and so great — opened the case.
Pym then ran over the articles of the charge, with
the answers of the prisoner.
That the members of the Committee were perfectly
convinced ofthe guilt of Strafford as a traitor to the liber
ties of the country cannot be doubted. That his whole
array of talents would be used to destroy those liberties
they firmly believed. That nothing but his death could
relieve England from this fearful danger, and that,
therefore, it was their solemn duty to compass his
death, was as much an act of conscience with them as
to die themselves in behalf of their country, must he
fully granted. But, at the same time, we must be on
our guard, lest our admiration of their personal
characters, their spotless lives, their great abilities and
overpowering eloquence, blind us to that high standard
of justice, which is the right ofthe worst criminal who
ever stood at the bar. And judging them by this, the
very measure they applied to Lord Strafford, then it
is not possible to acquit the Committee of using unfair
means to obtain the condemnation of the prisoner.
As the trial lasted fifteen days, and occupies a thick
folio volume, it is, of course, impossible to give the full
details in the present account. They lie open in the
pages of Rushworth, to all Avho are willing to pay the
price of the thought and labour necessary to master
the daily items and form their opinion from the original
reports. Not content with insisting on the articles formally

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 323
delivered, and with all the power and privilege of special 1641.
pleaders against the prisoner, bringing forward every ~~
argument to prove and magnify his guilt, the members of
the Committee did not hesitate to advance the most
contemptible slanders forged by the lowest enemies of
Strafford, and which would bear neither investigation
nor proof. The real benefits that he had conferred on
Ireland were either denied or distorted into injuries ;
and he was painted as a monster incapable of a single
good deed or intention. The old miserable sophistry
that the King can do no wrong, afforded an ample
opportunity of loading Strafford with every crime of
the King, and if it was found impossible to deny the
introduction of any improvement, then this was at
once not only transferred to the credit of the King,,
but the real author was accused of robbing his Majesty
of the just praise due to him.
And the more deeply is this to be regretted, seeing
that the real crime of which the prisoner was accused,,
had been so sharply defined and passed by vote in the
House of Commons, viz. :
" That the Earl of Strafford had endeavoured to
subvert the ancient and fundamental laws of the
realm, and to introduce arbitrary and tyrannical go
vernment." To this, the accusers had to return at last,
having gained nothing by their unfortunate divergence
but sympathy for the prisoner, and a reaction in his
favour among the spectators of the trial, which made
his accusers tremble for his escape. And this, in their
eyes, was death to the freedom of the country.
But, also, it was the misfortune of Strafford, that
in addition to lack of scrupulous justice towards him
the Committee really believed him guilty of much, for
which he was not only not answerable, but had opposed.
T 2

324 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. For instance, the war with Scotland was laid far more
~~ to his charge than to that of Laud, who was really
the guilty party. But from nothing was Strafford more
free than from religious bigotry and persecution. The
war with Scotland was undertaken without his advice
and against his judgment. His error in that matter
was precisely of the same nature as nearly all his
other mistakes, viz., it sprang from his blind belief in
the duty of obedience to the King. He would never
have counselled the imposition of the Liturgy on the
Scots, but if the King insisted on it, then the Scots
were bound to obey. And if both sides held out, he
as a loyal subject was forced to support the King.
The mistake of the Commons lay in the firm belief
that he was the first cause and instigator of what in
very truth, he only submitted to as an obedient pro
fessor and consistent follower of the doctrine of the
Right Divine of Kings. That the King can do no
wrong was a reality to Strafford. And it is difficult to
see why he should be deemed criminal, for obeying
the King's orders in gathering troops, &c, for the
Scotch campaign, unless all other men who had
marched against the Scots were considered equally
guilty. Sir Henry Vane, the Earl of Northumberland,
Lord Conway, Willoughby, Wilmot, &c, had all been
active in the same cause, and nothing but illness had
saved Northumberland from being in the very place of
Strafford as commander against the Scots.
Yet amongst the articles most heavily dwelt upon
was that of his being an incendiary against the
Scots. At the same time that these unfair and distorted
charges were brought against him, some of his very
worst deeds, and those completely in defiance of law

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.

325

as Avell as justice, were passed over with very slight 1641.
notice. Such, for instance, as the imprisonment of the
jury of Galway, and the prohibition of the wool trade.
These remarks are offered with no view of defend
ing Strafford, or of reproaching the great men who
levelled his power with the dust. They are submitted
to show the necessity of a careful scrutiny of both
sides, before passing the too common judgment that
wholly condemns one and gives unmingled praise to
the other. For it was this negligence of the abstract
principles of justice that rendered the trial a failure
and its results a disappointment. By blaming him
Avhere he was not guilty, and leaving his worse deeds
almost unnoticed, the great lesson of retributive justice
in those minor details which affect the very humblest
being was lost.
That he had been willing to do his very best to
support the King in a despotic Government was abso
lutely true. That he had committed despotic acts of
the worst character was also true. These should have
been produced as facts, with their attendant proofs,,
and the law of the land, which he had violated, have
been opposed to its breach with the exhibition of its
decreed penalty.
A few extracts from the speech of Pym will illus
trate the meaning of these remarks. Five objects,
Lord Strafford declared he had endeavoured to attain.
iu his Government of Ireland. These were :
1. The maintenance of religion.
2. The honour of the King.
3. The increase of the revenue of the King.
4. The peace and honour and safety of the kingdom.
5. The quiet and peace of the people.

326 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. ' On these assertions, Pym now made the following
comments :
1. " For religion, my Lords, we shall prove that he
hath been diligent, indeed, to favour innovations, to
favour superstitions, to favour the encroachments and
usurpations of the clergy. But for religion it never
received any advantage by him, nay, a great deal of
hurt. 2. " For the honour of the King, my Lords, we say,
it is the honour of the King that he is the father of
his people. That he is the fountain of justice, and it
cannot stand with his honour and justice to have his
Government stained and polluted with tyranny and
oppression. 3. " For the increase of his revenue : it is true
there may be some increase of sums, but we say, there
is no addition of strength nor wealth, because in those
parts where it hath been increased, this earl hath taken
the greatest share to himself. And when he hath
spoiled and ravined on the people, he hath been con
tent to yield up some part to the King, that he might
with some security enjoy the rest.
4. " For the strength and honour and safety of the
kingdom : my Lords, in a time of peace he hath let in
upon us the calamities of war, weakness, shame, and
confusion. 5. " And for the quiet of subjects, he hath been an
incendiary, he hath armed us among ourselves, and
made us weak and naked to all the world besides.
" (He saith) by his means, many good and whole
some laws have been made since his Government in
Ireland. " Truly, my Lords, if we should consider the parti-

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.

327

culars of these laws, some of them will not be found 1641.
without great exception. But I shall make another ~
answer. Good laws, nay the best .laws, are no advan
tage Avhen will is set above law ; when the laws have
force to bind and restrain the subject, but no force to
relieve and comfort him.
" He says, he was a means of calling a Parliament
not long after he came to his government. My Lords,
Parliaments, without Parliamentary liberties, are but a
fair and plausible way into bondage. That Parliament
had not the liberties of a Parliament.
" (He saith) that he hath been a means to put off
monopolies, and other projects that would have been
grievous and burdensome to the subjects. If he had
hated the injustice of a monopoly, or the mischief of a
monopoly, he would have hated it in himself ; he himself
would have been no monopolist. Certainly, my Lords,
it was not the love of justice nor the common good
that moved him. And if he were moved by anything
else, he had his reward. It may be it was because he
would have no man gripe them in the kingdom but
himself. His own harvest crop would have been less
if he had had sharers. It may be it was because
monopolies hinder trade : he had the customs, and
the benefit of the customs Avould have been less. When
we know the particulars, we shall make a fit and
proper answer to them. But, in the meantime, we are
sure, whatsoever was the reason, it was not justice nor
love of truth that was the reason.
" (He saith) he had no other commission but what
his predecessors had, and that he hath executed that
commission with all moderation. For the commission
it was no virtue of his if it were a good commission.

328 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. I shall say nothing of that. But for his moderation,
" when you find so many imprisoned of the nobility ; so
many men, some adjudged to death, some executed
without law ; when you find so many public rapines on
the State, soldiers sent to make good his decrees, so
many whippings in defence of monopolies, so many
gentlemen that were jurors, because they would not
apply themselves to give verdicts on his side, to be
fined in the Star Chamber.
" Men of quality to be disgraced, set on the pillory,
and wearing papers and such things (as it will appear
through our evidence) can you think there was any
moderation ? And yet, truly, my Lords, I can believe,
that if you compare his courses with other parts of the
world ungoverned, he will be found beyond all in
tyranny and harshness ; but if you compare them Avith
his mind and disposition, perhaps there was modera
tion. Habits, we say, are more perfect than acts,
because they be nearest the principle of actions. The
habit of cruelty in himself (no doubt) is more perfect
than any act of cruelty he hath committed. But if
this be his moderation, I think all men will pray to be
delivered from it. And I may truly say that is verified
in him, ' The mercies of the wicked are cruel.' '
Now, while many of these observations, and espe
cially the principles therein contained, are wholly in
controvertible, there are surely mingled with them
others of which no impartial mind can approve, espe
cially with a life at stake on the question. Thus, in
the suppression of monopolies, the speaker first denies
the possibility of a good motive to the prisoner, and a
moment after admits this possibility, but denies all
merit because " he had his reward." Then he goes on

THE LTFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 3291
to suggest bad motives, following his guesses on the i64i.
matter with a free confession that he does not know _
the particulars, and ends by passing a Avholesale con
demnation on conduct which he avows he has not
investigated. So with regard to the commission of Strafford. The
first article of the charge accuses him of obtaining an
illegal commission. When he answers this directly with
the assertion of its being no ways greater than that
of his predecessors, Pym, instead of disproving the
answer, or withdraAving the charge, scornfully dismisses
it with the taunt of "no virtue of his if it Avere a good
commission." Strafford made no claim to a virtue in
it, but simply gave an answer to an accusation.
Again : the charge of setting men of quality in the
pillory, making them wear papers, and whipping men
in defence of monopolies, were merely idle slanders,
doubtless reported to Pym, but which he made no
attempts to prove, and which were as purely fictitious
as if applied to himself. They were not inserted in
the charge, the accused was wholly unprepared for
them ; and to prejudice the listeners by the very sug
gestion of deeds odious and revolting, and utterly
untrue, was unworthy of Pym, and great blemishes on
his conduct here — which should have been altogether
that of a noble foe incapable of using the petty stings
manufactured by the swarm of wretches Avho ever
burst forth to wound the fallen when they can do it
Avith safety to themselves.
No wonder that as such language fell on his ear,
Strafford at times lifted his hands and turned his eyes
upward in mute astonishment and appeal.
Far more to the point, and completely just, was the

330 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. denunciation of the theory so often brought forward,
~ that the revenue is any real test of the prosperity of
the nation. One of the great boasts of Strafford had
been that he had made Ireland self-supporting, instead
of being, as heretofore, a heavy burden and tax on
England. One of the means he employed for this
purpose, viz., the large increase of the customs, owing
to the safety from pirates he had ensured to the mer
chants, was altogether noble, and worthy of the highest
gratitude and praise. But this Pym left out, and
passed on to the measures it was hardly possible to
condemn too strongly, of the subsidies literally wrung
by fear from the Parliament, and in defiance of the
King's promise made in Lord Falkland's time, of the
enormous sums obtained under the Commission for
Defective Titles, by which men were enabled to secure
an illegal title by paying a large sum, and could lose
an inherited estate unless they chose to pay for having
tlieir right ratified. That he was guilty, that he used
this Commission merely as a tool to obtain money
for the King, is proved beyond a doubt by the fact
of his bringing the disputed lands before a jury,
accepting their decision when in the King's favour,
and fining and imprisoning them when against the
King. It is marvellous that with so tremendous a power in
their hands as this deed of Strafford afforded to his
enemies, they should for a moment have had recourse
to any engine beyond the simple truth to overthrow
him. Again : we have seen the steps that he took to reform
the ecclesiastical affairs of Ireland. Very probably he
honestly thought he had done his best. He restored

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.

ool

the churches to their intended uses, and swept away 1641.
the tradesmen who defiled the walls and precincts Avith
their traffic. He had forced the clergy to reside on
their benefices, and worked hard to put an end to the
detestable trade they carried on by selling their offices
and living on the proceeds. Without persecution, he had
endeavoured to bring the people to attend to public
worship, and, in short, as far as in him lay, to promote
all those observances which formed his sole idea of
religion. Under the commission of defective titles,
too, he had found that many estates now in the pos
session of private persons " belonged" to the Church,
and by "restorations" of this kind, or competitions
for retention, had largely added to the ecclesiastical
revenues. He must, therefore, have been strangely moved
when he heard himself accused of remissness as a true
son of the Church.
Let the condition of the whole Irish coast, and espe
cially of St. George's Channel, when Lord Strafford
first came to the Government, be remembered and
compared Avith its condition when he left it, and
few persons will not regret the following words of
Pym:
" I go to the 12th, and that is the great increase of
trade ; the increase of shipping one hundred to one.
Truly, my Lords, in a time of peace, and in a growing
kingdom, as that was, being formerly unhusbanded,
it is no wonder that when land increases in the
manurance, and people increase in number, both ship
ping and trade increase. But it is the advantage of
the time, not the advantage of his government. For
my Lords, his government has been destructive to

332 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. trade (! !). And that will manifestly appear by the
~ multitude of monopolies that he hath exercised in his
own person."
Then came a denial of Strafford's assertion that
justice had been administered in Ireland during his
rule without bribery or corruption ; and, lastly, a bitter
reproach that his object in advising the King to call
the last English Parliament had been to gain a sur
render of the liberties of the kingdom.
Strafford had ended his written defence Avith the
petition that he might not be charged with errors of
his understanding or judgment, being not bred up in
the law ; or with weakness, to which human nature is
subject. Seizing these words, Pym concluded his speech with
the answer : — " Truly it would be far from us to
charge him with any such mistakes. No, my Lords,
we shall charge him with nothing but what the law in
every man's breast condemns, the light of nature, the
light of common reason, the rules of common society.
And that will appear in all the articles which my
colleagues will offer to you."
Pym then sat down, and the first witnesses were
called. The same mixture of right and wrong, justice
and injustice, that had marked the speech of Pym, was
observable in the examination. Thus, to prove that
Strafford had tried to subvert the liberties of the Irish
Parliament, evidence AAras given that Sir George Rad
cliffe had threatened two members who had voted
against a measure supported by the Deputy, and when
in defence it was urged that in the last case Lord
Strafford was not even in Ireland at the time, Pym
promptly answered, " That the spirit of my Lord of

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 333
Strafford could move in Sir George Radcliffe where- i64i.
soever it was spoken."
In proof of the prisoner subverting the laws and of
corruption in government and justice in general, the
Remonstrances of both the Irish Houses of Parliament
were read.
Of these he had before heard nothing. We have
seen the flattering epistle these two precious bodies had
sent to the King, in which they specially declared their
satisfaction with the Lord Lieutenant's " ministrations,"
and his faithful performance of all his promises to their
entire satisfaction, expressed " with general acclama
tions, and signs of joy and contentment, even to the
throwing up of their hats and the lifting up of their
hands." When, therefore, Strafford now listened to their
present addresses to the English, his blood boiled, and
he was unable to contain his indignation at those
whose flatteries had lulled him into a false security only
to turn and rend him the moment he needed the aid
and support he surely merited, if their own words were
true. He burst into an exclamation that he was the
victim of a conspiracy. Not till his impeachment of
High Treason in England had the Irish unmasked them
selves. Faction and correspondence had followed on
his troubles. Natural enough as this was, of course it
could not be allowed, and he was in an instant called
to order for charging the English Commons with con
spiracy, and he immediately apologised, and explained
that he only meant certain special persons, not mem
bers of the English House.
Even yet the articles of the charge were not formally
reached, the present discussion being merely on the

334 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. statements made by Pym in his opening speech. And,
~ as in the preamble to his written answers, Lord Strafford
had made various general assertions with regard to his
own conduct, Pym brought various witnesses to con
firm his contradictions. New accusations thus cropped
up for which the prisoner was unprepared — such as
the Irish remonstrance — and Pym, anxious to reach
the main body of the charge, requested the prisoner
would on the spot answer all that had been previously
said. Then Strafford arose, and pointing out the
hardness of thus taking him unprepared, rapidly ran
over the speech of Pym, denying or explaining away,
till the Committee were driven back to the one great
charge containing all others.
" My Lord?' said Maynard, " my Lord of Strafford
answered to very many particulars, yet to that main
one he answered not. The main of our complaint is,
his alteration of the fundamental laws against will,
his introducing of new laws at his will and pleasure."
The twenty-eight articles, however, had to be for
mally gone through. As we have already noticed,
they may be reduced to nine charges, and of these the
third may be included in the first.
The question then amounts to this : — Was Lord
Strafford guilty of these, and if guilty, did his guilt
amount to High Treason ?
The first and third were not difficult of proof. The ,
man who imprisoned a jury for giving an adverse ver
dict, was guilty of using illegal authority, even without
going into the subject of Mountnorris and other cases.
This exercise of unbridled power both for good and evil
was the worst feature in the character of Strafford.
And yet his complaint that he was charged with the

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 33&
sole responsibility of deeds most fully shared by others 1641.
was true, and is constantly true in other cases besides his
own. Except in secret, it is hardly possible for one
man alone to be guilty of great crimes. There must
be others to support him, either by encouragement of
obedience or passiveness. And had not the Council
acted as it did, Strafford alone could not have convicted
Mountnorris. Still, as to the question ofthe defendant's
guilt, in the matter of illegal power there can be no
doubt. The 4th and 5th Avere ill founded, so far as making
it a special crime in him to farm the customs or hold
the monopoly of tobacco. That the system was bad
was one thing, but it had not been declared illegal,
and had been openly followed by some of the most
popular men, who never dreamed of High Treason by
such a means of wealth. It was to raise a revenue
for the King, not for himself, that Lord Strafford's
reprehensible measures were employed. And these
may be placed under the first and third heads.
The 7th and 9th were altogether Avithout foundation.
Strafford could not be blamed for the wretched state
of the English army and the entry of the Scots into
Newcastle, nor was the war with Scotland of his
causing. So well did he plead these truths in his defence,
that his accusers began to lose ground. The stately
courtesy of his manner, and the marvellous control that
he maintained over his impetuous temper, and this, too,
while every nerve was suffering, both from mental.
excitement and bodily torture, all told in his favour
with the spectators. His natural haste and irritability
were too well known for the wonderful victory he

336 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. had obtained over himself under such terrible dis
advantages, not to compel a just tribute of admiration,
and draw forth a feeling of sympathy which threatened
to defeat the end in view. The accusers became
alarmed. Their hearts were untouched. This w^,s
shown by their want of consideration for the state of
health of the prisoner. More than once he had nearly
broken down. Still, no notice was vouchsafed of his
condition, till, by the 26th of March, after a long
day's battle, he " declared his disability to endure the
toil, that he was ready to drop down, in respect of his
much sickness and weakness, and he desired their
Lordships to turn the case inwards and see if in their
own hearts there were not reason, that, being upon his
life, his honour, and his children, and all he had, he
should not be pressed further." Then the House
adjourned. The next day, the prisoner stood at the bar as usual,
and struggled on till the 9th of April, when, for the
first time, he failed to make his appearance. The
Lord Steward then informed the House that the Earl
of Strafford had been taken in the night with so violent
an attack of illness as precluded his going out of his
room that day.
This was not sufficient to satisfy the jealous Com
mons, and the Lieutenant of the Tower was summoned,
who stated, that at eleven the preceding night, the
Earl had been seized with a fit of his worst complaint,
and, at six in the morning, had been unable to move in
his bed. That he trusted to go to the Hall on the
morrow, but at present it was out of his power.
This even was not enough, and not till the earl's
physicians, and even his foot-boy had testified to the

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 337
same, on oath, was the excuse accepted, and the Court 1641
sullenly retired with the parting notice that if the Earl _
were not well enough to appear to-morrow, they would
proceed in his absence.
The House of Lords then ordered a deputation of
their number to go to the Tower to inquire into the
present condition of the prisoner.
They found him in bed, sick, and worn, but he
promised to appear the next day — "even though he
should be carried by four men " to the Court* The
next day, hoAvever, found him sufficiently recovered to
attend as usual.
But this day occurred an event at the House of
Commons which has been praised as a marvellous
stroke of State by one side, and denounced as an un
worthy piece of trickery on the other. It has been
already said that, so far, Strafford had succeeded in
carrying with him the sympathy of a large portion of
the audience. Some of the charges he had so dis
proved that they were completely waived by the Com
mittee. Others he had denied, and though they were
still maintained, yet numbers concurred in his denial.
But the great point was that even those proved against
him did not amount to High Treason. And, unless he
could be convicted of High Treason, his life was safe.
And that in his life was contained the destruction of
English liberty the Committee did most firmly believe.
That life of Lord Strafford must be quenched. What
was to be done ? That the charge of his attempt to
bring in a despotic government and to subvert the laws
of the land was true must be fully granted. But that
* " Journal of the House of Lords, 1641, April 9."
VOL. II. Z

3:38 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. the means he had employed for that purpose did not
~~ amount to High Treason must be granted also. The
law that specified any one of his acts as such remained
to be made. And to condemn a man by an ex post
facto law is an outrage in the face of all human justice.
But this was noAv proposed to be done.
An old statute of the time of Edward IIL, declaring
" that the Parliament only hath power to express and
declare what is treason," was raked up, and, on the
strength of this, a bill was brought in attainting the
Earl of Strafford of High Treason.
This bill was read for the first time on the 10th of
April. On the same day, the doors of the House being
locked, it was notified that some new and most im
portant evidence was in the possession of Pym. All
members being ordered to keep their seats, Pym then
arose, and, supported by the son of Sir Harry Vane,
produced a paper containing a rough copy of notes of
a Privy Council, held on the 8th of the preceding May,
at which Strafford was present.
The following is a copy of the document which is, in
itself, so scanty and incoherent, that it might scarcely
be thought sufficient to form legal evidence. Plainly
enough it does not give the words of the parties them
selves, but rather signs by Avhich such words could be
recalled to the memory of the note taken.
Sir Henry Vane's Papers, the 5th of May, 1640.*
" L. L. Ireland (Strafford).
" No danger in undertaking the war, whether the
Scots are to be reduced or not.
* Nalson's Collections, ii., p. 208.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 339
" To reduce them by force, as the state of the king- i64i.
dom stands.
" If his Majesty had not declared himself so soon, he
would have declared himself for no war with Scotland.
They would have given him plentifully. The city to
be called immediately, and quickened to lend one hun
dred thousand pounds.
" The shipping money to put vigorously upon
collection; those two ways will furnish his Majesty
plentifully to go on with. Arms and war against Scot
land.
" The Manner ofthe War.
" Stopping of the trade of Scotland no prejudice to
the trade free with England for cattle.
" A defensive war totally against it.
" Offensive war into the kingdom. His opinion.
" Few months will make an end of the war ; do you:
invade them.
" L. Arch (Laud).
"If no more money then proposed, how then to
make an offensive war a difficulty.
" Whether to do nothing and let them alone, or to
go on with a vigorous war.
" L. L. Ireland.
" Go vigorously on, or let them alone. No defensive
war. Loss of honour or reputation. The quiet of
England will hold out long; you will languish as
between Saul and David.
" Go on with an offensive war as you first designed,
loosed and absolved from all rules of government. z 2

MO THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. " Being reduced to extreme necessity, everything is
to be done as power will admit, and that you are to do.
" They refused ; you are acquitted towards God and
man. You have an army in Ireland you may employ
here to reduce this kingdom.
" Confident as anything under heaven, Scotland will
not hold out five months. One summer well employed
will do it. Venture all I had I would carry it or
lose it.
" Whether a defensive war is impossible as an
offensive war ! Or whether to let them alone.
"L. Arch.
" Tried all ways and refused all ways. By the law
of God you should have subsistence, and ought to
have, and lawful to take it.
" L. Cott (Cottington).
" Leagues abroad they make and will, and therefore
the defence of this kingdom.
"The Lower House are weary both of King and
Church. " It always hath been just to raise monies by this
unavoidable necessity. Therefore, to be used, being
lawful. " L. L. Ireland.
" Commission of array to be public execution.
" They are to bring them to the borders.
" In reason of State you have power when they are
there to use them as the King's pay. If any of the
Lords can show a better, let them do it.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 341
" Town full of nobility, who will talk of it. He will i64i.
make them smart for it."
The manner in which these notes had been obtained
is not pleasant to contemplate.
It appeared that the elder Sir Henry Vane, being in
treaty for the marriage of his son with the daughter of
Sir Christopher Wray, was called on to produce the
title-deeds to his estates. But he, being in Kent, and
the deeds at Whitehall, with many State papers, he
gave the keys of his private cabinet to his son, telling
him to take out the deeds and forward them. This
order the young Sir Harry obeyed. But he did more.
In the same cabinet he discovered the paper of notes
of the Privy Council, endorsed, "Notes taken at the
Junto," and, without scruple, at once perused them.
But he did not stop here, which, for such a mirror of
chivalry and honour as he has been represented, might
be thought far enough. He immediately sought Pym,
and showed him the paper, " with great expressions of
a troubled mind, not knowing what way to steer him
self betwixt the discharge of his duty to the Common
wealth and his faithfulness to his father."
Pym soon quieted his scruples, and at once took a,
copy of the notes which he now produced to the House
of Commons as sure evidence of Strafford's treason.
A debate followed, and the new evidence was.
ordered to be laid before the House of Lords. Of
course, it came under the head of treasonable lan
guage.* Of the attempts to convict him of this, Lord Straf
ford had already bitterly complained. Not merely at
* Nalson's Collections, vol. ii., p. 103.

342 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. the Council Board or in Parliament, but in private and
social conversation had testimony against him been
sought. From the mouth of his own brother, at his
table, his house, his bed, in every place, it was sought
for something to convict him of that, he thanked God,
he was never guilty of. To use his own language on
the evil meaning attached to his mere conversational
talk : — " If words spoken to friends in familiar dis
course, spoken in one's chamber, spoken at one's
table, spoken in one's sick bed ; spoken, perhaps, to
gain better reason, to give himself more clear light
and judgment, by reasoning : if these things shall be
brought against a man as treason, this, under favour,
takes away the comfort of all human society. By
this means we shall be debarred of speaking (the prin
cipal joy and comfort of society) with Avise and good
men, to become wiser, and better our lives. If these
things be strained to take away life and honour, and
all that is desirable, it will be a silent world. A city
will become an hermitage, and sheep will be found
amongst a crowd or press of people, and no man will
dare to impart his solitary thoughts or opinion to his
friend and neighbour, but thereby be debarred from
consulting with wiser men than himself, whereby he
may understand the law wherewith he ought to be
governed." Nothing would be more unsatisfactory than the ex
amination of the Privy Councillors, in whose presence
the words referred to by the notes of Sir Harry Vane
were said to be uttered.
Not one of the council could remember the exact
words of Lord Strafford on that occasion, till Sir Harry
Vane, the writer of the notes, was called upon for his

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 343
testimony. He began by declaring his dislike of un- 1641.
truth, which was stronger than ever in the presence of-
such an assembly. As nearly as he could, he would
tell their lordships the truth in this matter. For the
time he could not particularly speak, but the words to
which he was to bear witness were spoken after the
last Parliament, and where the subject was offensive or
defensive war against the Scots. To the best of his
belief either these words, or words to that effect, were
spoken by the Lord Strafford : " Your Majesty having
tried all ways and being refused, and in case of this
extreme necessity, and for the safety of the kingdom,
you are acquitted before God and men. You have an
army in Ireland which you may employ here to reduce
this kingdom, or some words to this effect." Lord
Clare, the brother of Strafford's second wife, then
advanced the weighty question : Whether by the ex
pression " this kingdom," Lord Strafford had meant
the kingdom of England or Scotland?
To this Sir Henry prudently replied, "it was far
from him to interpret the words."
Then came the question, did Strafford vote for an
offensive or defensive war with Scotland ? To this
Vane answered, that while he himself had counselled
a defensive, Strafford was for an offensive, war. On
this last phrase there was a general agreement. And
yet nothing is plainer than that a nominally offensive
may in reality be a strictly defensive war. In nothing
is it more necessary to interpret by the spirit rather
than the letter.
Thus in the late war between France and Germany,
nothing could be more easy than by following the
letter to represent the Germans as the offenders. They

344 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. began the attack, they invaded the enemy's country,
constantly they were the first to open battle, and finally
dictated their oivn terms. The soil of Germany was
untouched, while France was a prey to sword and
flame. As invaders and conquerors the German armies
trampled on the plains of France, while in no other
guise than that of helpless prisoners did the French
appear in Germany.
And yet the French were the real aggressors. They
gave the challenge, and by their persistence rendered
the concessions of the Germans vain. It was simply
an act of good generalship, not provocative war, that
placed the Germans the first in the field.
And thus it was intended by Strafford. The Scots
had really commenced the war, and he plainly meant,
that as the war had really begun, if it was to be
carried on, it had better be done in a warlike and
vigorous manner, and victory was more likely to be
obtained by the English marching into Scotland than
by waiting for the Scots in England.
Of course the original cause of the war, and whether
the first beginners were justified in tlieir outbreak, is
altogether another matter. A similar question might
be raised with regard to the battle of Dunbar. Crom
well marched into Scotland and began the attack. Yet
it could not be called an offensive war* on his part.
However, it was determined that these notes of Sir
Harry Vane should do good service, and justify the
Bill of .Attainder. Before these Avords, so loosely re
ported, all the rest of the charge seemed set aside.
On these the accusers dwelt, and insisted that they
alone were fully sufficient to convict the utterer of
High Treason. Hitherto the charge was taken article

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 345
by article, no new one being entered upon till the pre- i64i.
vious one was disposed of. But now this order was ~~
put away. The accusers demanded and obtained the
poAver of taking all the rest in a mass, and dealing
with them as they pleased. To this the prisoner
vainly objected. If taken, as before, singly, he said
he could remember the circumstances and arguments
applicable to each, but all thrown together it was im
possible for him to do himself justice. But these
single arguments were precisely what the accusers
wished to avoid. Numbers taken separately looked
insignificant : massed together they exhibited a power
which was imposing. Their case was not legally
strong enough to bear dissection.
Strafford was, therefore, compelled to take them on
their own ground. He, at once, proceeded to deal with
the notes of Vane.
And, first, he pointed out the weakness of the evi
dence. Not one of the members of the Privy Council sup
ported the testimony of Sir Harry Vane. The Earl
of Northumberland, the Marquis of Hamilton, Bishop
Juxon, Lord Treasurer of England, and Lord Cotting-
ton, were all examined on oath, and all alike denied
the words as reported. But even if spoken, they rested
on a single testimony, and according to the laws of
England, even as late as the reign of Elizabeth and
the present King, no man could be convicted of High
Treason on the authority of a single witness.*
Then his words ought to be repeated in the sense in
which he uttered them. God forbid any man should
* E. 6; Car. 12.

346 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. be judged for words taken by pieces, here a word and
there a word, where the antecedents and consequents
are left out, for then treason might be fetched out of
every word a man speaks ; as, for example, if one asks
him, whether he will go to such a place? — he tells
him by way of answer, he will kill the King as soon.
The other swears he said he would kill the King. It
is very true, indeed, but if the other words be added,
it will then imply that he will be sure not to kill the
King, and therefore he will be sure not to go to the
place. So with the words he himself was said to have
uttered, " that the King having tried the affections of
his people, he was loose and absolved from all rules of
government," &c.
What he meant was : — In case of absolute necessity,
and upon a foreign invasion of an enemy, when all
ordinary means fail, then the King was justified in
using the only means in his power to disperse them.
Such reservations had preceded his words, showing he
meant the King must only use such power on a despe
rate emergency, and for the sole good of the Common
wealth, and if done for any other purpose than the
good of the people, it would be oppressive and in
jurious. Now there is no reason to doubt the sincerity of
Lord Strafford in these words. And yet they con
tained the rock on which his whole career had broken
itself. He was no vulgar tyrant of the Nero or Cali
gula species. He believed his measures were for the
people's good ; he thought that if the King saw the
people could be benefited by setting the laws at defi
ance, he was justified in thus acting the part of a
benevolent despot. Moreover, the King was to be the

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 347
judge of what was for the good of the nation. It was 1641.
against this principle that the English patriots were ~
resolved to wage war to the death. Their mistakes
consisted in the unfair means they used, and in con
founding the principle with those who professed it.
Consequently, they destroyed individuals, and allowed
the creed to survive, as it has done, down to our own
day. And the philanthropic preachers who still inculcate
in no mild or measured language the duty of the un
reasoning obedience of the multitude to the absolute
authority of the few best and Avisest are perhaps much
happier than they are aware of for not living in the
days of Pym and Cromwell, and the best and wisest of
the Puritan times. The next argument offered by Lord
Strafford was " that these words charged upon him were
not wantonly or unnecessarily spoken or whispered in
a corner, but they were spoken in full Council, where
he was, by the duty of his oath, obliged to speak
according to his heart and conscience in all things
concerning the King's service, so that if he had for
borne to speak what he conceived for the benefit and
advantage of the King and people (as he conceived
this to be), he had been perjured towards God Almighty,
and now it seemed by the speaking of them, he was
in danger to be a traitor. But if that necessity was
put upon him, he thanked God he had learned not to
stand in fear of him that can kill the body. If he
must be a traitor to man or peijured to God, he would
be faithful to his Creator, and whatsoever might befal
him from a popular rage or his own weakness, he
must leave it to God and their lordships' honour and
justice. He had simply offered his opinion according
to his heart and conscience. An opinion might make

348 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. an heretic, but he never heard before that opinion
could make a traitor.
" Let it once be admitted that a councillor delivering
his opinion under an oath of secresy and faithfulness,
at the council-table, candide et caste with others,
shall, upon his mistaking, or not knowing of the law,
be brought unto question, and every word that passeth
from him out of a sincere and noble intention, shall be
draAvn against him for the attaining and convicting
himself, his children, and posterity ; after this, the
speaker said, he did not know any wise and noble per
son of fortune that upon such perilous and unsafe
terms would adventure to be Councillor to the King.
" If their lordships, therefore, put these hard strains
and tortures upon those that were Councillors of State
to his Majesty, when they spoke nothing but according
to their hearts and consciences, it would disable them
from those great employments to which their birth and
thoughts did breed them, and make them more in
capable than any other inferior subjects."
These arguments cannot be defeated. The usual
ansAver to them is that Strafford had himself both at
the councils of York and Dublin repeatedly set them
at defiance. In the case of Mountnorris, especially, as
well as that of others, he had exercised this very
tyrrany over conversation and opinion that he now so
strongly condemned in his own case.
And this is true as the arguments themselves.
By a strange turn of fortune Strafford was suf
fering from the most bitter, if the most salutary, of all
punishments. He was learning by personal experience
the effects of the same injustice he had inflicted on
others. Still it Avas injustice, and therefore cannot be

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 31'^
quoted AArith approbation of those who inflicted it. 1641.
Retaliation is no part of the English law, and that law
alone was the standard by which Lord Strafford ought
to have been tried. It is quite true that it is a clear
part of the plan of Nature that men are to learn
through their errors to feel their way from wrong to
right, to know what obstacles exist simply by stumbling
against them. But this principle never can be ap
plied to human systems. The laws of Nature are
perfect from the beginning. Once understood, they
can always be obeyed. They are never created sud
denly, and for special occasions, and applying to all
alike, give all the same chance of benefit who learn
to obey. But human codes continually change, and
are affected by time, place, person, and circumstance.
And because a man has broken a law to another, to
punish him by breaking it towards himself, or by in
venting one to suit his previously-committed crime,
is about as great a contradiction of those natural
principles to which Pym appealed as for the earth to
change her course and the seasons to remain the
same.

CHAPTER XV.

1641. The 12th of April was appointed for the summing
' up of evidence on both sides.
Lord Strafford was first called upon to do his part,
and on his asking if any new matter would be alleged,,
he was told that if it arose, of course, it would be
brought forward. He then stated that he would con
fine his remarks to that already given, unless, in self-
defence, he should be called on for more.
He then addressed the court in a speech remarkable
alike for its close reasoning and pathetic eloquence.
Then, as before, he went over the articles that were
said to amount to High Treason in the general sense of
them, concluding his summary with these most rousing
and suggestive words : —
" My Lords, that those should now be treason
together that are not treason in any one part, and
accumulatively to come upon me in that kind, and
where one will not do it of itself, yet woven up with
others it shall do it. Under favour, my Lords, I do
not conceive that there is either statute law, or common
law, that hath declared this endeavouring to subvert
the fundamental laws to be High Treason.
" I say, neither statute law, nor common law,
written, that I could hear of, and I have been as dili-

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 351
gent to inquire of it as I could be. And your Lord- 1641.
ships will believe I had reason so to do. And sure it
is a very hard thing I should be here questioned for my
life and honour upon a law that is not extant, that
cannot be showed ! There is a rule that I have read
out of my Lord Coke, non apparentibus et non exist-
entibus eadem est ratio.
" Jesu ! my Lords, where hath this fire lain all this
while, so many hundred years together that no smoke
should appear till it burst out now to consume me and
my children ?
" Hard it is, and extreme hard, in my opinion, that a
punishment should precede the promulgation of a law :
that I should be punished by a law subsequent to the
act done.
" I most humbly beseech your Lordships take that
into consideration. For, certainly, it were better a
great deal to live under no law but the will of man,
and confine ourselves in human wisdom, as well as
we could, and to comply with that will, than to live
under the protection of a law, as we think, and then
a law should be made to punish us for a crime pre
cedent to the law. Then, I conceive, no man living
could be safe if that should be admitted.
" My Lords, it is hard in another respect, that
there should be no tokens set upon this offence
by which we may know it; no manner of token
given, no admonition by which we might be aware
of it. '
" If I pass down fhe Thames in a boat, and run
and split myself upon an anchor, if there be not a
buoy to give me warning, the party shall give me
damages, but if it be marked out then it is at my ovm

352 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. peril. Noav, my Lords, where is the mark set upon
~ this crime ? Where is the token by which I should
discover ? If it be not marked, if it lie under water
and not above, there is no human providence can pre
vent the destruction of a man presently and instantly.
Let us then lay aside all that is human wisdom ; let us
rely only upon divine revelation, for, certainly, nothing
else can preserve us, if you will condemn us before
you tell us where the fault is that we may avoid it.
" My Lords, may your Lordships be pleased to have
that regard to the peerage of England as never to
suffer yourselves to be put upon those moot points,
upon such constructions and interpretations and strict
ness of law, as these are when the law is not clear
nor known. If there must be a trial of wits, I do
most humbly beseech your Lordships to consider that
the subject may be of something else than of your lives
and of your honours.
" My Lords, we find that in the primitive time, on
the sound and plain doctrine of the blessed apostles,
they brought in their books of curious art and burnt
them. " My Lords, it will be likewise (as I humbly con
ceive), wisdom and providence in your Lordships for
yourselves and posterity, for the whole kingdom, to
cast from you into the fire those bloody and mysterious
volumes of constructive and arbitrary treasons, and to
betake yourselves to the plain letter of the statute that
tells you where the crime is, that so you may avoid it.
And let us not, my Lords, be ambitious to be more
learned in those killing arts than our forefathers were
before us.
" My Lords, it is now full two hundred and forty

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 353
years since any man ever Avas touched to this height, urn.
upon this crime, before myself. 
' We have lived, my Lords, happily to ourselves at
home, we have lived gloriously abroad to the world ;
let us be content with that which our fathers left us,'
and let us not awake those sleeping hours to our own
destruction by rattling up of a company of records
that have lain for so many ages by the wall, forgotten
or neglected.
" My Lords, there is this that troubles me extremely,
lest it should be my misfortune to all the rest (for my
other sins, not for my treasons) that my precedents
should be of that disadvantage (as this Avill be, I fear,
in the consequence of it) upon the Avhole kingdom.
" My Lords, I beseech you, therefore, that you will
be pleased seriously to consider it, and let my parti
cular care be so looked upon, as that, you do not,
through me, wound the interest of the CommonAvealth.
For howsoever those gentlemen at the bar say they
speak for the Commonwealth, and they believe so, yet,
in this particular, I believe 1 speak for the Common
wealth too. And that the inconveniences and miseries
that will follow upon this, will be such, as it will come,
within a few years, to that which is expressed in the
statute of Henry the Fourth, it will be of such a con
dition, that no man shall knoAV what to do or to say.
" Do not, my Lords, put greater difficulty upon the
ministers of State, than that with cheerfulness they
may serve the King and State. For if you will exa
mine them by every grain, or every little Aveight, it
will be so heavy, that the public affairs of the king
dom will be less Aveight, and no man Avill meddle Avith
them that hath Avisdom and honour and fortune to lose.

354 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. " My Lords, I have now troubled your Lordships a
~~ great deal longer than I should have done, were it not
for the interest of those pledges that a saint in heaven
left me. I Avould be loth, my lords " 
Here, overcome by the thought of the desolation of
his children, and the memory of their mother, as well
as too enfeebled by long speaking, in his present
condition of health, to control his emotion, he was
compelled to pause, and for a few moments was unable
I to control his tears. With a violent struggle he
recovered his voice, but feeling himself unable to
continue, he hastened to bring his speech to a close,
thus : —
" What I forfeit for myself it is nothing. But, I
confess, that my indiscretion should forfeit for them,
it wounds me very deeply.
" You will be pleased to pardon my infirmity : some
thing I should have said, but I see I shall not be able,
and therefore I will leave it.
" And now, my Lords, I thank God, I have been
by his good blessing towards me, taught, that the
afflictions of this present life are not to be compared
with that eternal weight of glory that shall be re
vealed hereafter.
" And so, my Lords, even so Avith all humility, and
Avith all tranquillity of mind, I do submit myself
clearly and freely unto your judgment ; and whether
that righteous judgment shall be to life or death.
" ' Te Deum laudamus, te Dominum confitemur.' "
The effect of this speech upon the audience was
great. But the accusers Avere relentless, and their
vigilance still more excited by the signs of softening.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 355
Their answer was given by Glyn, Pym, Maynard, 1641.
and St. John. The speech of Pym, contained as
before a mingling of the most masterly eloquence,
with a distortion both of the letter and the spirit of
truth. It concluded with these terrible words.
"The forfeitures inflicted by treason, by our laws, are
of life, honour, and estate, even all that can be for
feited. And this prisoner having committed so many
treasons, although he should pay all these forfeitures,
will be still a debtor to the Commonwealth. Nothing
can be more equal, than that he should perish by the
justice of that law AArhich he wrould have subverted.
Neither will this be a new way of blood. There are
marks enough to trace this law to the very original of
this kingdom. And, if it hath not been put in execu
tion, as he allegeth, these two hundred and forty years,
it was not for want of law, but that all that time hath
not bred a man bold enough to commit such crimes as
these. Which is a circumstance much aggravating
his offence, and making him no Avhit less liable to
punishment, because he is the only man that in so long
a time hath ventured upon such a treason as this."
It has been related * that, as Pym uttered these last
tremendous and appalling words, he suddenly and in
advertently turned his head and beheld the mournful
and mutely reproachful gaze of Strafford, fixed upon
him, as if in sad appeal against such merciless con
demnation. For a moment, the stern accuser was shaken, and
even his resolve quivered beneath the deeply thrilling
* Forster's British Statesmen, iii, p. 182. Also Howell's State
Trials, ii. a a 2

356 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. and questioning look of his former associate and fellow
~~ worker, still, his countryman and brother before God.
Better, a thousand times, have listened to the divine
impulse that murmured mercy in his soul. Better for
the sake of England, of liberty, of justice, of religion,
to have hearkened to that voice that so surely spoke
to him, which was no echo of weakness — such could
never for one instant find entrance in the heart of
Pym, but a whisper of the most celestial feeling, that
can move the soul of man, to which no man ever re
gretted giving heed.
But it was not to be. For a few minutes, Pym was
overcome by the surging tide, and a strange silence
held possession of the whole assembly. Pym bent his
head and feigned to search among his papers, while he
struggled to regain his self-possession. It speedily
obeyed his call. Once more, he raised his head and
Avith unbroken voice, concluded with these words : —
" It belongs to the charge of another, to make it
appear to your Lordships, that the crimes and offences
proved against the Earl of Strafford are High Treason,
by the laws and statutes of this realm, whose learning
and other abilities are much better for that service.
But, for the time and manner of performing this, we
are to resort to the direction of the House of Commons,
having in this, which is already done, despatched all
those instructions which we have received. And con
cerning further proceedings for clearing all questions
and objections in laAv, your Lordships will hear from
the House of Commons in convenient time."
Meanwhile, in the House of Commons, the debate
grew more exciting. The flimsy nature of much of
the evidence, the absolute falsity of some of the

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 357
charges, the logical arguments of the prisoner, — above 1641.
all, — the clear impossibility of bringing the charges ~
under the definition of High Treason, without perversion
and distortion of the existing statutes, had had their
effect on those minds, ever a small minority, who, in
judging a question, refuse to be carried away by any
thought of the consequences of their judgment, any
personal feeling towards the object, or any other con
sideration than the pure spirit of truth.
Still, though increasing in number, the calmer and
more independent minded of the members of the lower
House, were few, in comparison Avith those who were
rather carried away by the Avords and influence of
their great leaders, than by any decided conviction of
their own. On the 14th of April, the Bill of Attainder
was read a second time and passed.
The rapidity with which it was carried through the
first and second readings, augured ill for the prisoner.
The reservation, that it should not be used as a pre
cedent, seemed the only sign of consciousness of how
terrible a danger was involved in such a proceeding.
No tyranny more frightful can be conceived, than that
which leaves the actions of men undefined, and their1
penalties unknown or unsettled until after the deed is
clone. Better the vilest criminals that ever trod this
earth should escape untouched, than that such un
certainty in matters involving possible capital punish
ment, should ever be admitted into a code of law.
Happily, there Avas one man Avho saw this, who Avas
not carried away by the strong tide of passion, who
not only perceived the evil of the principle, but the
wrong to the prisoner himself. Every argument that
could be imagined has been brought forward to justify '

358 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
ie4L this Act of Attainder, and, again and again, the enor
mities of Strafford dwelt upon in the vain attempt.
To his immortal honour, Lord Digby saw through
the error, and refused to lend his name to its sanction
as a deed of right.
On the 21st of April, during the debate on the Bill,
and before the third reading, Lord Digby rose, and
most earnestly is the attention of the reader entreated,
to the great lessons conveyed in the following extracts
from his speech.
"Mr. Speaker,
" Truly, Sir, to deal plainly with you, that
ground of our accusation, that spur to our prosecution,
and that which should be the basis of my judgment,
of the Earl of Strafford as unto treason, is to my
understanding, quite vanished away.
" This it was, Mr. Speaker.
"His advising the King to employ the army of
Ireland to reduce England.
" This, I was assured, would be proved before I gave
my consent to his accusation. I was confirmed in the
same belief during the prosecution, and fortified in it
most of all since Sir Harry Vane's preparatory ex
amination, by the assurances which that worthy
member, Mr. Pym, gave me, that his testimony would
be made convincing by some notes of what passed at
that Junto concurrent with it. Which I ever under
standing to be of some other councillor, you see now,
prove but a copy of the same Secretary's notes, dis
covered and produced in the manner you have heard.
And those, disjointed fragments of the venomous part
of discourses. No results, no conclusions of counsels,

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 359
which are the only things that Secretaries should re- i64i.
gister, there being no use at all of the other, but to ~~
accuse and bring men into danger.
" But, Sir, this is not that which overthroAvs the
evidence Avith me concerning the army of Ireland, nor
yet that all the rest of the Junto, upon their oaths,
remember nothing of it.
" But, Sir, this which I shall tell you is that Avhich
works with me, under favour, to an utter overthroAv of
his evidence, as unto that of the army of Ireland.
Before, whilst I was a prosecutor, and under tie of
secresy, I might not discover any weakness of the cause
which now, as a judge, I must.
" Mr. Secretary was examined thrice upon oath at
the preparatory Committee.
" The first time, he was questioned to all the inter
rogatories, and to that part of the seventh which con
cerns the army of Ireland.
" He said positively in these words : ' I cannot charge
him with that' But for the rest, he desired time to
recollect himself, which was granted him.
" Some days after, he was examined a second time,
and then deposes these words concerning the King's
being absolved from all rules of government, and so
forth, very clearly. But, being prest to that part
concerning the Irish army, he said again : ' I can say
nothing to that.'
" Here we thought we had done with him, till divers
weeks after, my Lord of Northumberland, and all
others of the Junto, denying to have heard anything
concerning those words.
"Of reducing England by the Irish army, it was
thought fit to examine the Secretary once more. And

360 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. then he deposes these words to have been said by the
Earl of Strafford to his Majesty :
" ' You have an army in Ireland, which you may
employ here to reduce (or some words to that sense)
this kingdom.'
" Mr. Speaker, these are circumstances which, I con
fess with my conscience, thrust quite out of doors that
grand article of our charge concerning his desperate
advice to the King, of employing the Irish army here.
"Let not this, I beseech you, be driven to an aspersion
upon Mr. Secretary, as if he should have sworn other
wise than he knew or believed. He is too worthy to
do that. Only let thus much be inferred from it.
That he, who twice upon oath, with time of recol
lection, could not remember anything of such a
business, might well, a third time, mis-remember
somewhat in this business. The difference of one
letter, here for there, or that for this, quite alters the
case. The latter, also, being more probable, since it
is confessed of all hands, that the debate then was
concerning a war with Scotland, and you may re
member, that, at the bar, he once said to ' employ
these.' " And thus, Mr. Speaker, I have faithfully given you
an account what it is that hath blunted the edge of the
hatchet or bill with me towards my Lord of Strafford.
"This was that whereupon I accused him with a
free heart, prosecuted him with earnestness, and had
it, to my understanding, been proved, should have
condemned him Avith innocence. Whereas, now, L
cannot satisfy my conscience to do it.
" I profess, I can have no notion of anybody's
intent io subvert the laAvs treasonably, or by force..

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTAV0RTH. 361
And this design of force not appearing, all his other i64i.
Avicked practices cannot amount so high with me.
" I find a more easy and more natural spring from
whence to derive all his other ^crimes than from an
intent to bring in tyranny, and to make his oavu pos
terity, as well as us, slaves, as from revenge, from
pride, from avarice, and insolence of nature.
" But, had this Irish army been proved, it would
have diffused a complexion of treason over all. It
would have been a withe, indeed, to bind all those
other scattered and lesser branches, as it were, into a
faggot of treason.
" I do not say but the rest may represent him a man
as worthy to die, but perhaps worthier than many
a traitor. I do not say but they may justly direct us
to enact that they shall be treason for the future.
" But God keep me from giving judgment of death
on any man, and of ruin to his innocent posterity upon,
a law made a posteriori. Let the mark be set on the
door where the plague is, and then let him that will
enter die.
" I know, Mr. Speaker, there is in Parliament a
double power of life and death by bill, a judicial power,
and a legislative. The measure of the one is what is
legally just; of the other, what is prudentially and
politically fit for the good and preservation of the
whole. " But these two, under favour, are not to be con-.
founded in judgment. We must not piece upon want
of legality with matter of convenience, not the de-
failance of prudential fitness Avith a pretence of legal
justice. " To condemn my Lord of Strafford judicially, as

362 THE LIFE OF THOMAS AVENTWORTH.
1641. for treason, my conscience is not assured that the
matter will bear it.
" And to do it by the legislative power, my reason,
consultively, cannot agree to that, since I am persuaded
neither the Lords nor the King will pass the bill, and,
consequently, that our passing it will be a cause of
great divisions and combustions in the State.
" And, therefore, my humble advice is : That, laying
aside this Bill of Attainder, we may think of another
saving only life, such as may secure the State from my
Lord of Strafford, without endangering, as much by
division concerning his punishment, as he hath en
dangered it by his practices.
" If this may not be hearkened unto, let me conclude,
in saying, that unto you all which I have thoroughly
inculcated to mine own conscience upon this occasion.
Let every man lay his hand upon his heart and sadly
consider what we are going to do with a breath, —
either justice or murder. Justice on the one side, or
murder, heightened and aggravated to its supremest
extent. He that commits murder with the sword of
justice heightens that crime to ihe utmost.
" The danger being so great and the case so doubt
ful that I see the best lawyers in diametrical oppo
sition concerning it ; let every man wipe his heart as
he doth his eyes when he would judge of a nice and
subtle object. The eye, if it be pretincted with any
colour, is vitiated in its discerning. Let us take heed
of a blood-shotten eye in judgment.
" Let every man purge his heart clear of all passions
(I know this great and wise body-politic can have
none, but I speak to individuals, from the weakness
which I find in myself), away with all personal

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 368
animosities, away with all flatteries to the people, in i64i.
being the sharper against him because he is odious to ~
them ; away with all fears, lest by the sparing his
blood they may be incensed ; away with all such con
siderations as that it is not fit for a Parliament that
one accused by it of treason should escape with life.
" Let not former vehemence of any be against him,
nor fear from thence that he cannot be safe while that
man lives, be an ingredient in the sentence of any one
of it. " Of all these corruptions of judgment, Mr. Speaker,
I do, before God, discharge myself to the uttermost of
my power.
" And do with a clear conscience wash my hands of
this man's blood, by this solemn protestation, that my
vote goes not to the taking ofthe Earl of Strafford s life."
If anything in the shape of reasoning could have
changed the minds of the Commons, it must have been
this. But their minds had been made up from the
beginning, and before the trial, which was really only
to them a compulsory form to be gone through, rather
to ratify, than to obtain judgment. It is quite impos
sible, even when, as in the present case, all the first
motives and grounds of action are good and imper
sonal, to make the death or destruction of another an
object to be pursued with all the energy which the
belief in such necessity requires, and yet to remain
unmoA'ed by personal feelings. The lofty course in
voked by Lord Digby had become unattainable to men
who had worked for one end with such burning zeal as
Pym and St. John, and Maynard, and those whom they
represented. Up to a certain point, impartiality may

364 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. be preserved, but, after that, comes not only the need
of punishment for the accused, but of justification for
the steps already taken against him. It is quite pos
sible to chastise another and yet to love him. But
then it must be for his own good that the chastisement
is inflicted. But when the culprit himself is ignored,
or only regarded as a fit object of retribution, every
blow is nerved by hatred, and all the more when the
inflicter is not by nature cruel and morose, but, as
Pym, indifferent in nothing, sacrificing himself as>
readily as the smallest trifle in a cause at heart. His
cause was indeed holy, the liberty and prosperity of
his country. Of that, he believed Lord Strafford was
the most potent enemy, and not only did he desire his
death as a needful deliverance, but he hated him with
all the intensity of his soul, because he believed him an
enemy. And that this personal hatred powerfully in
fluenced him in the trial is as clear as daylight. It
could not be otherwise. When he saAv the condition
of his beloAred England miserable at home, despised
abroad, when he thought of the fair promise blighted
of early days, of Eliot dead in the very prime of life,
the victim of that tyranny which had robbed the people
of their dearest rights, and then beguiled from them
the champion of their hopes, when he thought of all
that Strafford might have been, and what he had been
dn the struggle, there need be no mystery in the relent
less bitterness manifested even by so good and great a
man. For Pym was a man, not a god, and, as such,
needs the same allowance for his faults and errors that
is due also to Strafford. He was unjust to Strafford,
both through his hatred and from his being greatly
mistaken in very much concerning him. Iiis hatred

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 365
had alloAved him to listen far too eagerly and credu- 1641.
lously to the falsest tales, to attribute wrong motives, ~
and to close his ears to any good report. There is no
need for far inferior beings to do the same in the
present case.
In a passionate struggle, where incalculable interests
hang on the balance, it is never to be wondered at that
the combatants are carried by the excitement of their
feelings far out of the realms of justice, of accuracy,
and even of common humanity. But in history, pre
cisely as in existing causes carried on by living actors,
it is the most solemn duty of the spectator who watches
both sides, himself free from the blinding clouds of the
storm, to examine with religious impartiality into the
facts and causes of errors which have led to such
mournful consequences. It is not for him to erect
himself into a flatterer of one side, a slanderer of the
other, and wholly destitute of the excuse of the mis
takes that really misled the original parties, or the
burning sense of wrong that destroyed their powers of
equity, to repeat with complacence the very falsehoods
he is bound to expose. And justice must condemn the
spirit in which the words of Lord Digby were received.
If any proof were needed of the fact that passion and
hatred, and not the high principles that alone ought to
reign supreme in the highest tribunal of the kingdom,
now governed the trial of Strafford, it is to be found in
the treatment of Lord Digby. He certainly had a perfect
right to express his opinion quite as freely as Pym.
He was no friend of Lord Strafford, and had even been
a foremost member of the committee for his trial. He
had been as strongly prejudiced against him, as fully
convinced that he had committed High Treason, and

366 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. deserved death, as his colleagues. But he was open
~ to reason, and not ashamed to acknowledge himself in
error. He could have no possible motive but the very
highest for changing his opinion beneath the force of
evidence. And the more unpopular the prisoner, the
mightier the force against him, the more honour was
it to Digby that he refused to be borne along by the
torrent himself, refused to see others swept away
without a clear, unhesitating protest in the cause of
right. His speech is the redeeming point in the trial ;
that is to say, that it is the only one in which all
personalities are laid aside, and the desire to do right
is made the ruling object. Yet " exceptions were taken
by divers members," he was angrily called to account
for many portions, and some time after, the whole
speech having been printed like those of the other
members, was declared " to contain matters untrue
and scandalous in reference to the proceedings of the
committees both of the Lords and Commons, and to
the evidence of the witnesses produced in the case of
the Earl of Strafford. Also that publishing the same
after offence taken, and a vote passed for the Bill of
Attainder, was scandalous to the proceedings of the
House." Printer and publisher of the speech were
also declared delinquents. The speech itself was
ordered to be publicly burnt by the common hangman
in Palace Yard, in Westminster, in Cheapside, and
Smithfield, and the King was petitioned to confer no
honour or employment on Lord Digby in future, who
by this speech had deserved so ill of the Parliament.
It is difficult for the accusers of Strafford to find among
his deeds anything more arbitrary than this. The
very alleged cause of offence, the publication of the

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 367
speech, after the Act of Attainder was passed, was in 1641.
itself necessary to clear Lord Digby's name from par
ticipation in that act. It is another proof of the
unfitness of human beings, no matter how high their
character, to be judges in any matter in Avhich their
passions are engaged, or to which they are individually
a partisan. Of course, the Bill of Attainder was passed on the
third reading. On the very day of Lord Digby's
speech it was carried by 204 against 59. It was then
ordered to be immediately engrossed, and sent up to
the Lords by Pym, who was commanded to signify
how much it concerned the Commonwealth to have
this matter expedited, as also that the Commons Avould
be ready to justify the legality of it in a free con
ference when required by their lordships.
All this time, the King had not shoAvn himself
indifferent. At the trial, he had daily attended incog
nito in the private apartment prepared for him, and
manifested so much interest as with his own hands to
break down the screen that concealed him from the
assembled multitude, who, though well aware of his
presence, were so much more absorbed by that of the
prisoner, that royalty in open daylight, and in loyal
England, almost literally went for nothing.
But two days after the Bill of Attainder had passed
the third reading, he gave a proof of his care for his
devoted friend and servant by sending to him the fol
lowing letter, the most creditable performance existing
from his hand. Certainly, the lonely prisoner needed
such a solace. Mercy was the undoubted prerogative
of the King. Without any breach of the law, he could,
even after the sentence of death was passed, interpose

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. and save the life of the worst criminal in his kingdom.
~ And no human being could doubt that such a power
would be eagerly asserted and maintained in the
present case. Still, this written assurance must have
carried comfort and certain hope to the prisoner.
" The King to ihe Earl of Strafford.
" Strafford,
" The misfortune that is fallen upon you by the
strange mistaking and conjuncture of these times being
such that I must lay by the thought of employing you
hereafter in my affairs ; yet I cannot satisfy myself
in honour or conscience Avithout assuring you (now in
the midst of your troubles) that upon the word of a
King, you shall not suffer in life, honour, or fortune.
This is but justice, and therefore a very mean reward
from a master to so faithful and able a servant as you
have showed yourself to be. Yet, it is as much as I
conceive the present times will permit, though none
shall hinder me from being,
" Your constant faithful Friend,
" Charles R.
" Whitehall, April 23, 1641."
Since the passing of the Bill of Attainder, the rage
of the populace against Strafford had increased. They
literally thirsted for his blood. It was not those who
had really suffered by him, such as the landholders of
Ireland, who had lost by the commission for disputed
titles, &c, who Avere the most clamorous. Outside
the Houses of Parliament his enemies Avere chiefly the

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 369
unthinking multitude, who always hunt down a fallen i64i.
minister, and whose fury was about as explicable and "
as well-founded as that of a pack of hounds in full cry>
one bark being merely the echo of another. A petition
was got up, signed by twenty thousand Londoners,
recounting various grievances, and containing the fol
lowing sentence : —
" Besides all which, from what strong and secret
opposition the petitioners know not, they have not
received what so much time and pains might give them
cause to hope, but still incendiaries of the kingdoms
and other notorious offenders remain unpunished. The
affairs of the Church, notwithstanding many petitions
concerning it, and long debate about it, remain un
settled ; the Papists still armed, the laws against them
not executed, some of the most active of them still at
Court ; priests and Jesuits not yet banished, the Irish
popish army not yet disbanded, courts of justice not
yet reformed, and the Earl of Strafford, who, as noAV
appears, hath counselled the plundering of this city,
and putting it to fine and ransom, and said, ' it would
never be well till some of the aldermen Avere hanged
up,' because they would not yield to illegal levies of
monies, had so drawn out and spent this time in his
business, to the very great charge of the whole king
dom, and his endeavours to obtain yet more, all which
makes us fear there may be practices now in hand to
hinder the birth of your great endeavours, and that
we lie under some more dangerous plot than we can
discover. " And (the petitioners) do humbly pray that their
said grievances may be redressed, the causes of their
fears removed, justice executed upon the said Earl,

370 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. and other incendiaries and offenders, the rather in
regard, till then, the petitioners humbly conceive neither
religion, nor their lives, liberties, nor estates, can be
secured." This petition was presented on the 24th of April,
and on the 28th, Hyde, afterwards Earl of Clarendon,
was sent up to the House of Lords to say that informa
tion had been received of a design of Strafford to
escape, that he had ships at sea under his command,
and that his guards were weak. The Commons, there-r
fore, begged that he might be closely kept prisoner,
and his guard strengthened.
Surely, never before were three nations in such
terror of one helpless prisoner ! Things must indeed
be very far wrong in a government that can render
any individual, whatever his talents and position, such
an object of dread to a whole people !
On the 29th of April, Oliver St. John ,rose before
the Lords, as the legal delegate of the Commons, to
justify the Bill of Attainder. Nearly thirty folio pages
are required for his speech. But a very few extracts
will show how monstrous was the distortion of the
simplest words from their original meaning in order to
wrest them to the destruction of Strafford. No stronger
argument against the Bill of Attainder can be brought
than the fact that such perversion was required to
support it.
After relating various cases of treason in different
reigns, Lord Strafford was declared guilty of treason
by compassing the King's death (!), by such an argument
as this : —
" It appears," said St. John, " that it is a com
passing the King's death by words, to endeavour to

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 371
draw the people's hearts from the King, to set discord 1641.
between the King and them, whereby the people "
should leave the King, should rise up against him to
the death and destruction ofthe King."
As examples, he brought up various cases during the
wars of the Roses, in which the reigning king's title
had been denied by individuals of the opposite party ;
and, as if the cases were exactly parallel, Strafford
was declared to have tried to disaffect the King and
people by his counsels. " And," said St. John, " to
counsel a King not to love his people is very un
natural. It goes higher (still) to hate them, to malice
them in his heart, the highest expressions of malice to
destroy them by war. These coals, they were cast
upon his Majesty, they were blown, they could not
kindle in that breast."
He then quoted the words ascribed to Strafford in
the articles, and said —
" We shall leave it to your Lordships' judgments
whether these words, counsels, and actions would not
have been a sufficient evidence to have proved an
indictment drawn up against him, as those before-
mentioned and others are, that they were spoken and
done to the intent to draw the King's heart from the
people, and the affections of the people from the King,
that they might leave the King and afterwards rise
up against him, to the destruction of the King. If
so, here is a compassing of the King's death
within the words of the statute of the 25th year of
Edward IIL, and that warranted by many former
judgments." After a lengthy disquisition, illustrated in this man
ner, the speaker boldly asserted that, after all, a legal

B B 2

372 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. sanction was not needed in the condemnation of Lord
Strafford. " It hath often been inculcated," he said, " that law
makers should imitate the supreme lawgiver, who
commonly warns before he strikes. The law was pro
mulgated before the judgment of death for gathering
the sticks. No law, no transgression.
" My Lords, to this rule of law is frustra legis
auxilium invocat, qui in legem committit, from the lex
talionis. He that would not have had others to have
a law, why should he have any himself? Why should
not that be done to him that himself would have done
to others?
" It is true we give law to hares and deers, because
they be beasts of chase. It was never accounted
either cruelty or foul play to knock foxes and wolves
on the head, as they can be found, because these be
beasts of prey. The warrener sets traps for polecats
and other vermin, for preservation of the warren.
" Further, my Lords, most dangerous diseases, if
not taken in time, they kill. Errors in great things, as
war and marriage, they allow no time for repentance.
It would have been too late to make a law when there
had been no law."
What hope for any prisoner, even had he been per
fect in his innocence, when such sentiments as these
were allowed to pass unchallenged, uncriticised, while
the wise and most temperate reasoning of Lord Digby
was treated as we have seen !
By mute gestures, Strafford gave expression to an
indignant protest against such language as this, and
though he must have known it to be in vain, as it is
expressed, " that he might not seem wanting to him-

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 37.3
self," * he petitioned that he might be heard in defence 1641.
against the Bill of Attainder. His request was refused.
Still, he had one strong hope. He had the promise of
the King that he should lose neither in life, honour,
nor estate. Even if he lost his titles and estates,
life, ever more precious as it becomes endangered, was
safe. The law itself sanctioned the King in sparing
that ; and the unpopularity Charles had so long braved
for his own purposes, might well be borne to save the
life of his friend. Not yet would the young children
of the house of WentAvorth be left orphans. A few
years, indeed, and this must be their fate. But a few
years would bring them to maturity. The son, to
whom Strafford had always taught that his proudest
and most worthy duty was to guard and cherish his
weaker sisters, would be a man able and rejoicing to
protect the rest.
That time arrived, Lord Strafford might gladly cast
off " this rag of mortality worn out with numerous
infirmities, which," as he had told the Lords, " if they
tore into shreds, there was no great loss." And none,
fettered as he was by ever-recurring attacks of bodily
torment, but must often wearily long for the final
peace. His affections, not his ambitions, it was that now
bound him to the earth.
The next day, the King went unexpectedly in per
son to the House of Lords, and having sent for the
Commons, he thus addressed them : — ¦
* Nalson's Collections, vol. ii., p. 186.

374 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
i641- " My Lords and Gentlemen,
" I had not any intention to speak of this busi
ness which causes me to come here to-day, which is
the great impeachment of the Earl of Strafford. But
now it comes to pass, that of necessity I must have
part in that judgment.
"lam sure you all know that I have been present
at the hearing of this great business from the one end
to the other. That which I have to declare unto you
is shortly this.
" That in my conscience I cannot condemn him of
High Treason. It is not fit for me to argue the busi
ness. I am sure you will not expect it. A positive
doctrine best comes out of the mouth of a prince. Yet
I must tell you three great truths, which I am sure
nobody can know so well as myself.
"1. That I never had any intention of bringing
over the Irish army into England, nor ever was advised
by any body so to do.
"2. There never was any debate before me, neither
in public council, nor at private committee, of the dis
loyalty and disaffection of my English subjects, nor
ever had I any suspicion of them.
" 3. I was never counselled by any to alter the least
of any of the laws of England, much less to alter all
the laws. Nay, I must tell you this, I think nobody
durst be ever so impudent (as) to move me in it. For
if they had I should have put a mark upon them, and
made them such an example that all posterity should
know my intentions by it. For my intention was ever
to govern according to the law, and no otherwise.
" I desire to be rightly understood. I told you in
my conscience I cannot condemn him of High Treason.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 375
Yet, I cannot say I can clear him of misdemeanour. 1641.
Therefore, I hope that you may find a way for to satisfy
justice and your own fears, and not to press upon my
conscience. My Lords, I hope you know what a tender
thing conscience is. Yet, I must declare unto you,
that to satisfy my people, I would do great matters.
But in this of conscience, no fear, no respect whatso
ever, shall make me go against it. Certainly, I have
not so ill deserved of the Parliament, at this time, that
they should press me in this tender point, and there
fore I cannot expect that you will go about it.
" Nay, I must confess, for matters of misdemeanour,
I am so clear in that, that though I will not chalk out
the way, yet let me tell you, that I do think my Lord of
Strafford is not fit hereafter to serve me or the com
monwealth in any place of trust ; no, not so much as
to be a high constable. Therefore, I leave it to you,
my Lords, to find some such way as to bring me out
of this great straight, and keep yourselves and the
kingdom from such inconveniences. Certainly, he
that thinks him guilty of High Treason in his con
science, may condemn him of misdemeanour."
Surely, this speech of the King was manly and to
his credit. That he did not speak more strongly in
behalf of his friend, and went even so far as to acknow
ledge him guilty of misdemeanour, may have been the
most friendly act, as it was evidently done, not to go
against Strafford, but to avoid provoking the jealousy
of the Commons. As the King had said in his letter,
it was as much as the present time would permit.
But the words of Charles had become a mere mockery
in the eyes of the people. Not only had he so often
deceived them that were every word he now spoke

376 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. reasonable in itself, it would have turned to ashes as
coming from him, but here even he could not refrain
from palpable and useless lying. Were the memories of
the Commons dead that he could tell them boldly " his
intention was ever to govern according to law and no
otherwise ? " But so it is. An habitual liar soon
arrives at the point in which sin becomes disease, and
he Avill tell falsehoods when they are not only useless
but positively injurious to himself. But even with this
unfortunate slip in it, we must look on this speech of
Charles as coming from his better self.
But had it been perfect in wisdom and in truth, it
would have had no better effect. The only result of
any attempt to soften the Commons was to enrage
them the more. When the King had finished, they
returned to their own House, and with long cries of
"Adjourn! Adjourn!" refused to discuss his pro
posals. " All that the King got by this free declara
tion of himself in favour of the earl," says a contem
porary, " was to lose much of the affections of the
people, whether he should pass the Bill or deny it.
For if he passed it, then it was to be imputed to the
necessity of his affairs, not his inclinations to the good
of his subjects ; and if he denied it, then it must have
been esteemed a denial of justice to his people."
Strafford himself, too well comprehended the spirit
that was now abroad, and heard of the King's speech,
which had been made without his concurrence, with
the darkest forebodings. He felt truly that nothing
could save him but the refusal of the King to pass the
Bill of Attainder, or in the exercise of his regal pre
rogative to grant a pardon.
The King's speech was made on Saturday, and on

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 377
the following Monday a band of about six thousand of 1641.
the London roughs assembled in Palace Yard, and _
posting themselves at all the entrances to the Houses
of Parliament, assailed the Lords as they entered, with
loud shouts of " Justice ! Execution ! " When the
coach of Lord Arundel arrived, some of the mob
stepped up to the windows and told him insolently that
justice they had already : execution they desired and
would have it.
Arundel replied that they should have justice if they
would have patience. They answered, no, they had
aheady had too much patience, longer they would not
stay, and before he parted from them they Avould have
a promise of execution. He told them he was going
to the House for that purpose, and that he would en
deavour to content them.
On this some ofthem cried: "We will take his
word for once," and then with great difficulty he made
his way to the House.
The Lords sat till noon, when most of them returned
home by water to avoid the crowd. But when the
Lord Chamberlain and the Earl of Bristol, less pru
dent, came out to their coaches, they were instantly
surrounded by ruffians, who especially clamoured at
Lord Bristol, crying, " For you my Lord of Bristol,
we know you are an apostate from the cause of Christ,
and our mortal enemy. We do not, therefore, crave
justice from you, but shall shortly crave justice upon
you, and your false son, the Lord Digby."
Besides this, they obtained a list of the members
who had voted against the Bill of Attainder in the
Commons, and placarded it in Old Palace Yard, with
the title attached of " Enemies of Justice and Straf-

378 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. fordians," with the menace " that these and all other
~ enemies of the commonwealth shall perish with
Strafford." A petition was also sent up to the Lords, saying,
that the people had just heard that the Tower was to
receive a hundred new men who were not, accord
ing to custom, drawn from the Tower Hamlets,
and that the captain being a confident of the Earl of
Strafford, their fears for the safety of the King and
country were greatly increased, and also lest some
plan should be formed for the escape of the Earl of
Strafford. They, therefore, prayed that the matter
might be investigated, and also that speedy execution
of justice might be done upon the Earl of Strafford.
On receiving this, the Lords sent six of their
number to the Tower to make inquiries, and found
that the King had sent orders to Sir William Balfour
to receive an additional garrison, chosen by him in
order to defend the Tower if need be against the in
creasing rabble. The Lords then ordered Balfour to
receive no new men except by their orders, and to
refuse the King's garrison if it should come. They
then informed the Commons of this, and at the same
time told them that the passing of the Bill of Attainder
was really hindered by the mob, who prevented them
from freely debating the subject. On this, the Commons
contrived to disperse the mob, and having appointed a
committee to inquire into what seemed to them the
suspicious appearance of the King's order to place new
men in the Tower, a plot was reported, involving the
King himself, for obtaining possession of the Tower.
Balfour also said that Strafford had endeavoured to
bribe him to let him escape, promising him the King's

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTAVORTH. 379
pardon and £22,000, besides a good match for his son. 1641.
This plot was denied, both by the King and others,
and the King at once withdrew his order for the new
men, whom he said he had only desired on account of
the disturbed state of the city. There would have
been no great harm, nor anything unjustifiable, if Straf
ford had tried to save his life and the King to help
him. But notwithstanding the words of Balfour, there
are two strong arguments in favour of the truth of the
denial. 1. Why did not Balfour at once inform the Parlia
ment of these'atternpts to tamper with him ? Why leave
it for a mob to give the first information ?
2. On the very day that Lord Strafford is said to
have proposed this matter to Balfour, he wrote his
famous letter to the King.
After all the assurances of Charles, it was impos
sible for Strafford to believe that he would desert him.
But as ever since the day he had undertaken to serve
the King, he had fulfilled his pledge to the very letter,
so noAv, at this dark and dangerous hour, he would still
be true. He knew the manner in which the King was
beset, and that having tied himself by a promise, he
could not comply wit;h the demands of the furious men
who clamoured for blood — even if he would. If he
would? Did Strafford ponder on that possibility?
Could his idolized friend and master wish to break the
bond by which he had bound himself to preserve the
man who had sacrificed all for him ? No. That could
never be. To him, in prison and alone, it had been
well indeed to send the letter as a reminder of what a
rock he had to lean on through all things. But in a
lofty friendship what need of written words ? As the

380 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. real life of man is not in the body which is seen and
— felt, but in the impalpable and viewless spirit, so a
noble friendship builds itself not on written pledges
and spoken promises, but on that invisible attraction
that draws great souls together each by its own divine
impulse, watching ever over the welfare and happiness
of the other without one thought or calculation of cost
or profit or sacrifice to itself. And as to buying safety
or prosperity by the misfortunes of another, as to
escaping from present difficulty or danger by the
desertion of a friend — the bare suggestion was an
outrage. Yet, in the present terrific condition of the
country, who could say what might happen ? Kings
had tasted a violent death before now, and from within
the huge walls of his prison Strafford could hear the
shouts and uproar of the infuriated rioters who, unre
strained, wandered from east to west of the city and
round the palace of the King. The resolution of the
earl was taken — one worthy of so great a mind, so
passionate a heart. He would free the King from the
formal promise, release him from the chain of words,
and trust to himself alone. Should the struggle be
come so desperate that one life must be sacrificed to
save the other, then Strafford placed his in the King's
hand. But that anything less than the steel at his
own heart should allow Charles to accept the gift, no
soul with one spark of nobility could believe. Some
men, even then, would emulate Strafford in the strife,
and be themselves the victim. Still, under any cir
cumstances, Strafford was right. The love that hung
on a promise alone was not for a soul like his. Amid
the weariness of imprisonment or exile, still he would
have the solace of the King's faith — faith proved by

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 381
the greatest of all tests, the test of perfect freedom. imi-
And thus he wrote to Charles.

Lord Strafford to the King.
" May it please your sacred Majesty.
" It hath been my greatest grief in all these troubles
to be taken as a person which should endeavour to
represent and set things amiss between your Majesty
and your people, and to give counsels tending to the
disquiet of the three kingdoms.
" Most true it is (that this mine own private con
dition considered) it had been a great madness (since
through your gracious favour I was so provided) as not
to expect in any kind to mend my fortune or please my
mind more than by resting where your bounteous hands
had placed me.
" Nay, it is most mightily mistaken, for unto your
Majesty it is well knoAvn my poor and humble advices
concluded still in this, that your Majesty and your
people could never, never, be happy till there were a
right understanding betwixt you and them,. and that no
other means were left to effect and settle this happi
ness, but by the council and assent of your Parliament,
or to prevent the growing evils of this State, but by
entirely putting yourself in this last resort, upon the
loyalty and good affections of your English subjects.
" Yet such is my misfortune, that this truth findeth
little credit ; yea, the contrary seemeth generally to be
believed, and myself reputed as one who endeavoured
to make a separation between you and your people.
Under a heavier censure than this I am persuaded no
gentleman can suffer.

382 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. " Now, I understand the minds of men are more and
~~ more incensed against me, notwithstanding your Ma
jesty hath declared, that in your princely opinion I am
not guilty of treason, and that you are not satisfied in
your conscience to pass the Bill.
" This bringeth me in a very great streight. There is
before me the ruin of my children and family, hitherto
untouched, in all the branches of it, with any foul
crime. Here are before me the many ills which may
befal your sacred person and the whole kingdom,
should yourself and Parliament part less satisfied one
with the other than is necessary for the preservation
both of King and people. Here are before me the
things most valued, most feared by mortal men, Life
or Death.
" To say, Sir, that there hath not been a strife in me,
Avere to make me less man than, God knoweth, my in
firmities make me ; and to call a destruction upon my
self and young children (where the intentions of my
heart at least have been innocent of the great offence)
may be believed, will find no easy consent from flesh
and blood.
" But, with much sadness, I am come to a resolution
of that which I take to be best becoming me, and to
look upon it as that which is most principal in itself,
which, doubtless, is the prosperity of your sacred per
son, and the commonwealth, things infinitely before any
private man's interest.
" And therefore, in few words, as I put myself
wholly upon the honour and justice of my peers, so
clearly as to wish your Majesty might please to have
spared that declaration of yours on Saturday last, and
entirely to have left me to their lordships, so now, to

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 383
set your Majesty's conscience at liberty, I do most i64i.
humbly beseech your Majesty, for preATention of evils, —
which may happen by your refusal, — to pass this Bill,
and by this means to remove (praised be to God) I
cannot say this accursed (but I confess, this unfortunate)
thing forth of the way towards that blessed agreement,
which God, I trust, shall ever establish between you
and your subjects. Sir, my consent shall more acquit
you herein to God than all the world can do besides.
To a willing man there is no injury done, and, as by
God's grace I forgive all the world, with a calmness
and meekness of infinite contentment to my dislodging
soul, so, Sir, to you I can give the life of this world
with all the cheerfulness imaginable in the just acknow
ledgment of your exceeding favours ; and only beg
that in your goodness, you would vouchsafe to cast your
gracious regard upon my poor son and his three sisters,
less or more, and no otherwise than as their (in present)
unfortunate father may hereafter appear more or less
guilty of this death.
" God long preserve your Majesty.
" Your Majesty's most faithful and humble
Subject and Servant,
, " Strafford.
" Tower, May 4, 1641."
Had the Lords followed their own opinions and
wishes they would have rejected the Bill of Attainder.
But this they dared not do. Still, in order to escape
the responsibility of the act, they applied to the judges
for their opinion on its legality. The judges would at

384 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. this moment no more have dared to decide against it
than to have challenged' the Commons to combat. As
a matter of course, the Lord Chief Justice of the
King's Bench, in his own name and that of his col
leagues, delivered it as their unanimous opinion : " that
upon all that which their lordships have voted to be
proved, the Earl of Strafford doth deserve to undergo
the pains and forfeitures of High Treason." *
As an opinion in law, this decision is about as valu
able as' that, also of the judges, which decided against
Hampden in the case of ship-money. But times had
changed since then.
Nothing now remained to delay the Lords, and on
Saturday, the 8th of May, they passed the Bill of
Attainder by a majority of seven, twenty-six voting
for it against nineteen who opposed it.
Alone between Strafford and the block stood the
King. Was it possible that he could hesitate as to
his duty in this matter ? For matters of temper, of
money, of power, again and again, he had braved all
opposition. He had repeatedly set aside the law, —
declaring himself accountable to God alone. Only a
few days ago, to the assembled Parliament, he had
solemnly pronounced Lord Strafford not guilty of High
Treason. He had dwelt on the tenderness of con
science, told them that this was a case of conscience,
and that, as such, no respect whatever should make
him go against him.
Besides, there was his word to Strafford himself.
That the magnanimity of the noble prisoner had un
bound him from every tie, except that of the conscience
on which he so impressively dwelt, did in no shadow
* Nalson, ii., p. 192.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 385
of a degree alter his position. His promise was the 1641.
mere messenger of honour, and the return of the
messenger left the honour the same. His position was
not altered. The desperate alternative of death or
surrender had not arrived. The consequences of faith
and valour were such as a man of very moderate
courage might have braved. But Charles hesitated.
He told the Lords he would give his answer on
Monday. All Sunday was spent by this miserable
creature in debating, whether or no he should with his
own hand seal the death of his dearest and most
devoted friend, whose very sins had been committed
with the mistaken view of serving him, who had been
true through all things, true even in the dark valley of
the shadow of death !
He applied to various advisers and sent for the
Lord Chamberlain, for the judges and the bishops.
They were too much afraid of the mob to utter a word
for the earl. The Lord Chamberlain told the King,
that if he denied the people, it would be construed that
he loved his enemies and hated his friends, and that if
he did not speak comfortably to his people, they would
desert him, which would be worse than all the evils
that had befallen him in his life. Then he showed
him how he might ease his conscience by casting all
the responsibility on the judges. Taking up the Bible,
this precious adviser opened it at the 19th of 2 Chron
icles, and read from the 5th to the 8th verse to his
royal client.
" And he set judges in the land throughout all the
fenced cities of Judah, city by city.
" And said to the judges : take heed what ye do,

386 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord who is with
you in the judgment.
"Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon
you ; take heed and do it : for there is no iniquity with
the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking
of gifts."
The Lord was with the judges in their judgment,
and so the King was bound to follow it. No wonder
that Charles needed the opinions of the bishops on
counsel so blasphemous. But the bishops told him,
that though he ought to judge by his own conscience
in matters of fact, yet he ought to yield to the judges
in matter of law. And so he must submit to the
decision of the judges in the question of High Treason.
So judges, bishops, and chamberlain all agreed.
But there was one noble exception, one brave man
among them to redeem the honour of human nature.
This was William Juxon, Bishop of London and Lord
Treasurer of England. He, and he alone, told the
King to obey his conscience only in this matter, and
that whatsoever might be the consequences, he should
be ruled by what was right. No wonder that in his
own dying hour, it was to the brave and good Bishop
Juxon that Charles turned for spiritual aid !
Too late, speaking of the rest, the King said : " they
persuaded me to choose rather what was safe than
what seemed just ; preferring the outward peace of
my kingdoms with men, before that inward exactness
of conscience before God."
But what had he to do with persuasions of other
men in such a matter, except that he wanted the ex
cuse of the adATice of others to do what was too surely
prompted by his own weak and wretched heart ? There

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 387
is but one end to hesitation in such matters. The i64i.
man who does not start back with inborn horror and
shame at the bare thought of treachery and desertion,
in the hour of danger, to a friend or a cause, needs no
tempter to urge him down the path of dishonour.
And so it proved with Charles.
On the appointed Monday, the usher of the Black
Rod came to the House of Lords, to tell them that
the King had consented to pass the Bill of Attainder.
Notwithstanding the great pressure of public opinion
and all that had been done to ensure the earl's death,
that the King would pass the Bill was not believed.
That he should do it without a deadly battle, without
striking a blow, or maintaining even an attitude of
resistance, overwhelmed all men with astonishment.
Even the usher who brought the intelligence to the
Lords was so bewildered, that he forgot his Black
Rod and appeared without his insignia of office.
It was at first intended that the King should come
in person to the House of Lords, to give his assent to
the Bill. But that he should avoid this was not
wonderful. He therefore granted a commission for
giving his assent. As he signed the paper, that was
to consign the earl to the scaffold, the tears gathered
in his eyes, and he declared that Lord Strafford's con
dition was happier than his own. It was true, indeed.
Then the Bill of Attainder, with the name of
Charles affixed, was carried to the House of Lords,
and the Commissioners seated between the throne and
the Woolsack waited the arrival of the Commons, who
were summoned to hear their victory. When they
had arrived with the Speaker, the clerk of the Parlia
ment kneeling, presented the commission, to which

C 0 2

388 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. was attached the Bill of Attainder. The clerk of the
Crown read the Bill, and the clerk of the Parliament
pronounced the royal assent.
And thus was completed the last act of the trial.
But it was not in human nature even now to re
nounce a faint hope. Denzil Holies was one of the
most zealous and popular members of the House of
Commons. He had consistently opposed the encroach
ments of the King, and among the party represented
by Pym and Hampden, &c, he held a prominent place.
But as he was not only the friend, but the brother-in-
law of Lord Strafford, being the brother of the Lady
Arabella, the earl's second wife, the propriety had been
recognised of his taking no part in the trial, and when
ever that question came on, he left the House. For
him the King now sent, and asked him if nothmg
could be done to save the life of his brother-in-law.
Holles told him that he had perfect legal power to
grant the Earl a reprieve and save him that way, but
he proposed a plan that he thought would be still
better. This was, for Strafford to send him a petition
for a short reprieve in order to arrange his affairs
before death. This petition Charles was to take in
person to the House of Lords, and laying it before
them propose to commute the sentence to banishment.
Meanwhile, Holles would not lose a moment in exerting
his utmost influence in Parliament to persuade the
members to consent.
This plan was then agreed on, and Holies hurried
eagerly to his task. There seemed a prospect of
success. His political position gave him a great
advantage, while his friendship with Strafford afforded
him authority to speak. He assured the members that

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 389
if Strafford were spared, he would follow a different 1641.
course for the future. His eyes had been opened and ~
he Avould become of infinite value to the Common
wealth. He would feel grateful for their mercy and
well repay it. And as a faithful servant, he would be
of far more use, than as an example of vengeance in
so many doubtful points of law.
The words of Holles rapidly made impression, and
the opinion of his contemporaries is, that he would
have succeeded and the Earl been saved, had the King
remained steadfast to his part of the plan. But it was
a very frequent practice with Charles to ask advice, to
form a project, and promise to follow a certain course.
Then, while the other parties were acting upon this
and incurring the responsibilities involved in it,
suddenly, without their knowledge, to strike into a
totally different path, and thus bring failure and dis
appointment in place of success. In such an awful
crisis as the present, it might have been supposed that
even the most unstable resolution would have been firm,.
It seems incredible that the King could turn aside.
Yet so it was.
While Holies with trembling eagerness and newly
awakened hope was pleading and persuading, pro
mising and convincing those whose sense of victory
was also likely to render them more favourable, the
Queen, with her usual ill-timed and mischievous inter
ference, came to represent the danger to the King.
Little did she care for Strafford, whose only distin
guishing characteristic in her eyes, had been his finely
formed white hands. What !— was it to be borne that
she and her children should be put in any risk, for the
sake of a man who was nothing at all in her eyes !

a

390 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH
1641. With petulant tears she had recourse to that most
common weapon of women who, in other respects can
prove themselves very selfish mothers indeed — her
children. Like thousands of worldly beings, who
would never dream of sacrificing their oaati vanities,
or selfish tempers and propensities to the real good of
their offspring, she clamorously urged her husband
to renounce the highest and most solemn duties to
this excuse. She soon conquered. Instead of sending
to Strafford to prepare his petition for him to take to
the Parliament, the King, setting entirely aside the
plan on which Holles was so hopefully engaged, and
without even letting him know of his changed mind,
wrote to the House of Lords.
In the first part of the epistle, he tried to satisfy
the voice of that conscience of which he had talked
so piously, and which through all refused to sleep in
silence. But by the unutterably shameful termination
and the still more cold and cowardly postscript, he
•deliberately renounced the cause* of Strafford, and
with his own hand blotted out the last faint signal of
hope. The young Prince of Wales, in person, brought the
letter to the House of Lords. Those who kneAv the
plan of Holies, and were waiting the arrival of the
King with the petition, prepared to second his pro
mised proposal, gave up their last trust as they listened
to the following words :—

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 391
Tlie King to the House of Peers*  -"—
" My Lords,
" I did yesterday satisfy the justice ofthe king
dom, by passing the Bill of Attainder against the Earl
of Strafford. But mercy being as inherent, as insepar
able to a King as justice, I desire at this time, in some
measure, to shew that likewise, by suffering that un
fortunate man to fulfil the natural course of his life in
a close imprisonment. Yet so, if ever he make the
least offer to escape, or offer directly or indirectly to
meddle in any sort of public business, especially with
me, either by message or letter, it shall cost him his
life, without further process. This, if it may be done
without the discontentment of my people, will be an
unspeakable contentment to me. To which end, as in
the first place, I by this letter, do earnestly desire your
approbation, and to endear it more, have chosen him
to carry it, that of all your house is most dear to me.
So I desire, that by a conference, you will endeavour
to give the House of Commons contentment, assuring
you that the exercise of mercy is no more pleasing to
me than to see both Houses of Parliament consent, for
my sake, that I should moderate the severity of the
law in so important a case.
" I will not say that your complying with me in this
my intended mercy, shall make me more willing, but
certainly 'twill make me more cheerful, in granting
your just grievances.
" But, if no less than his hfe can satisfy my people,
I must say, Fiat Justitia.
* Nalson's Collections, vol. i., p. 197.

392 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. " Thus again recommending the consideration of my
intention to you, I rest
" Your unalterable and affectionate friend,
" Charles R.
" Whitehall, May 11, 1641.
" If he must die, it were charity to reprieve him till
Saturday." Twice this letter was read before the Lords. It
simply confirmed the surrender, and showed the pro
moters of the Bill how completely they had won. An
answer was at once returned to the King " that neither
of the two intentions expressed in the letter could
with duty in them, or without danger to himself, his
dearest consort the Queen, and all the young princes
their children, possibly be advised."
Henrietta Maria must have been contented indeed,
especially when the King, in reply to this message,
said : —
" What I intended by the letter was with an if—
if it might be done without discontentment of my
people : if that cannot be, I say again, the same I
writ : fiatjustitia. My other intention proceeding out
of charity for a few days' respite, was upon certain
information that his estate was so distracted, that it
necessarily required some few days for settlement
thereof." To this the twelve lords, who had waited on his
Majesty with the answer to his letter, replied with an
intimation on a subject on which he had not troubled
himself.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 393
From the enemies of Strafford came the first sym- 1641.
pathy with his agonising anxieties for his children.
They told the King, " that their purpose was to be
suitors to his Majesty for favour to be shewed to the
Earl of Strafford's innocent children, and if himself
had made any provision for them the same might
hold." This was of course pleasing to his Majesty,
and with mutual courtesies the King and Lords sepa
rated. A better comment on the conduct of Charles cannot
be given than in the language of the first of modern
biographers. Who will not endorse his words ?
"It is a sorry office to plant the foot on a worm so
crushed and writhing as the wTretched King, who
signed the letter, for it was one of the few crimes of
which he was in the event thoroughly sensible, and
friend has for once co-operated with foe in the steady
application to it of the branding iron. There is, in
truth, hardly any way of relieving ' the damned spot '
of its intensity of hue, even by distributing the con
centrated infamy over other portions of Charles's cha
racter. " The reader who has gone through the preceding
details of Strafford's life can surely not suggest any.
For when we have convinced ourselves that this ' un
thankful King' never really loved Strafford; that in
his refusals to award those increased honours, for which
his minister was a petitioner on the avowed ground of
the royal interest, may be discerned the petty triumph*
of one who dares not dispense with the services thrust
upon him, but revenges himself by withholding their
well-earned reward ; still does the blackness accumu
late to baffle our efforts. The paltry tears he is said

394 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. to have shed only burn that blackness in. If his after-
~~ conduct, indeed, had been different, ¦ he might have
availed himself of one excuse — but that the man, who,
in a few short months, proved that he could make so
resolute a stand somewhere, should have judged this
event no occasion for attempting it, is either a crown
ing infamy or an infinite consolation, according as we
may judge wickedness or weakness to have preponder
ated in the constitution of Charles I." *
It is true. The relationship of blood is independent
of the will, and the discords and alienations that often
there take place may be the unavoidable consequence
of unsympathetic temperaments struggling in a com
pulsory tie. But friendship, resting as it does on free
election, draAving in the soul of another by the volun
teered promises of a mutual choice, is a religion in
itself whose claims are so solemn, whose duties so holy
and so clear to every one of us, that all human nature
rises in indignant protest against the profane breaker
of its sacred laws. And thus it is that nothing in the
whole life of Charles, not his broken promises to his
Parliaments — his cruelties to the Puritan ministers —
his plunder of his people — the blood poured out like
Avater in the civil wars — have together made such an
impression on the whole civilised Avorld as his conduct
to Lord Strafford. It stands alone in its infamy.
Nothing can lighten it, nothing soften it. Time itself
has been powerless to bid it fade from the memory,
and down the ages to come the same true instinct of
mankind, will sink the more common and less memor
able sins of the tyrant King, beneath the ineffaceable
and blasting shame of the perjured Friend.
* Forster's British Statesmen, vol. i., p. 403.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 395
When the King had put his hand to the last form i64i.
of the law, the officers of the Parliament proceeded
to the ToAver to bear the intelligence to the prisoner.
As Charles had never replied to his letter, or informed
him of the part he had acted, Strafford was taken by
surprise, and when told to prepare for death, he asked
if the King had really passed the Bill of Attainder.
When they told him that it was true indeed, that it
was the King's own hand that decided his death, a
pang of mortal agony, such as needs a soul intense as
his OAvn to comprehend, thrilled through all his frame.
As if to hold down the tide of wild emotion that came
surging upward, he pressed his right hand upon his
heart, and from his lips burst forth the cry of tortured
love and confidence betrayed : —
" Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of
men, for in them there is no salvation."
Death was a very light matter now.
No record remains of any intercourse either by word
or letter between Strafford and the King after this —
not even the trace of a farewell.
Another day only was left, the 12th of May being
appointed for the execution of the sentence. Those
days were employed by the Earl in his cares for his
children. The promise of the Parliament to ameliorate that
part of the doom of High Treason which confiscates
every possession, and would have stripped the young
Wentworths of all, was kindly conveyed to their father,
and was now the greatest earthly consolation that
could be afforded him, and of his few remaining hours
he snatched time to write the following letter of thanks
to the Lords : —

396 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. The Earl of Strafford to the House of Peers*
" Seeing it is the good will and pleasure of God
your petitioner is now shortly to pay that duty which
we all owe to our frail nature ; he shall in all Christian
patience and charity .conform and submit himself to
your justice in a comfortable assurance of the great
hope laid up for us in the mercy and merits of our
Saviour, blessed for ever. Only he humbly craves to
return your Lordships most humble thanks for your
noble compassion towards those innocent children,
whom now, with his last blessing, he must commit to
the care of Almighty God, beseeching your Lordships
to finish his pious intentions towards them, and de
siring that the reward thereof may be fulfilled in you
by him that is able to give, above all, that we are able
to ask or think, wherein I trust the Honourable House
of Commons will afford their Christian assistance. And
so beseeching your Lordships charitably to forgive all
his omissions and infirmities, he doth verily, heartily,
and truly recommend your Lordships to the mercies of
our Heavenly Father, and that for His goodness He
may perfect you in every good work. Amen."
Sir George Radcliffe was appointed by the dying
Earl his executor, and the guardian of his children.
In Radcliffe he could entirely trust. Through life none
had loved him more. Strafford's affection Radcliffe, to
his last hour, declared to have been " a treasure which
no earthly thing would countervail ; he was such a
friend as never man within the compass of my know
ledge had : so excellent a friend, and so much mine."
Wandesforde had felt the same. He could not love
Strafford more than Radcliffe did, but his bodily frame
* Nalson's Collections, vol. ii., p. 196.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 397
was less able to bear the blow, and, as we have seen, 1641.
he sank beneath the prospect of hid loss.
Whatever were the faults of Lord Strafford, and in
this record of him no attempt has been made to conceal
or disguise them, there must has been much that was
very glorious in his nature to kindle in others such a
life-long, such a deathless affection. Perhaps, a part of it
was that the love of Strafford himself was not of the ex
acting, jealous kind that watches for payment, and plays
the part of a tyrant even over its object. No. Where-
ever his heart reigned, all his imperiousness vanished
like a tale that is told. That haughty and overpowering
pride, which elsewhere was his curse, seemed a thing
heard of, not seen. Whom he loved he longed to
bless. " He never," said Radcliffe, "had anything in
his possession or power which he thought too dear for
his friends. He was never weary to take pains for
them, or to employ the utmost of his abilities in their
service. No fear, trouble, or expence deterred him
from speaking or doing anything which the occasions
of his friends required. He was never forgetful, nor
needed to be solicited to do or procure any courtesy
which he thought useful for or desired by his friends.
In his hands their interests were safer than in their
own. " God knows," adds Radcliffe, bitterly, "whether he
was repaid again with the like kindness and fidelity."
By Radcliffe— yes. He well merited the trust
bestowed, and proved a parent to the children confided
to his care. He did not leave his friend to quit the
world of earth Avithout a fond farewell. " Dear
George," as Lord Strafford called him, now wrote the
following letter : —

398 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. Sir George Badcliffe to the Earl of Strafford.
" God's arm is not shortened, nor his compassion
straightened, but He knows what is good for us, and
out of His infinite mercy makes all things work for the
best to them that love him. Happy are we, if our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, work for us
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
" I am most confident that you have (and still do)
diligently examined your conscience and whole hfe
past ; and by true repentance and lively faith made
your peace with God in the blood of Christ Jesus.
Having judged yourself, you shall not be judged ; and
yet chastened of the Lord, that you may not be con
demned with the world. God makes you conformable
to our blessed Saviour in sufferings ; you have followed
him in many of the same steps ; you shall doubtless be
glorified with him.
" I shall account it no loss if I do now shortly attend
your blessed soul into the state of rest and happiness.
But whatsoever small remainder of time God shall
vouchsafe me in this world, my purpose is to employ it
chiefly in the service of your children, the only means I
have to testify my sense and acknowledgment of that
great debt of duty and thankfulness to your memory,
which I must be ever paying, but can never discharge.
" I most humbly beg your charity to my wife, your
blessing to my son, your pardon to myself for all my
negligences, ignorances, and infirmities.
" The Father of all mercies and God of all consola
tion be your peace and everlasting comfort."
This letter put to rest the last fears of Strafford for
his children. He had the satisfaction .of knowing that

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 399
the grinding pangs of poverty, at least, would not be i64i
theirs. His wife had always treated them as her own. ~
Motherless, therefore, he would not consider them.
And though he had no reason whatever to doubt that
their numerous relations would also be kind to them,
still the feeling that Radcliffe lived was better than all
beside. Then Lord Strafford wrote the following most beau
tiful and touching letter of advice to his son, reserving
his last words for his good and faithful Radcliffe : —
The Earl of Strafford to his only son, William*
"My dearest Will,
" These are the last lines that you are to receive
from a father that tenderly loves you. I Avish there
were a greater leisure to impart my mind unto you,
hut our merciful God will supply all things by his
grace, and guide and protect you in all your ways.
To whose infinite goodness I bequeath you ; and there
fore be not discouraged, but serve him, and trust in
him, and he will preserve and prosper you in all
things. " Be sure you give all respect to my wife, that hath"
ever had a great love unto you, and therefore will be ¦
well becoming you. Never be a wanting in your love
and care to your sisters, but let them ever be most
dear unto you. For this will give others cause to
esteem and respect you for it, and is a duty that you
owe them in the memory of your excellent mother and
myself. Therefore your care and affection to them
* Strafford Papers, ii., 416.

400 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. must be the very same that you are to have of your-
self. And the like regard must you have to your
youngest sister; for, indeed, you owe it her also, both
for her father and mother's sake. Sweet Will, be
careful to take the advice of those friends, which are
by me desired to advise you for your education. Serve
God diligently, morning and evening, and recommend
yourself unto him, and have him before your eyes in
all your ways.
" With patience, hear the instructions of those friends
I leave with you, and diligently follow their counsel.
For till you come by time to have experience in the
world, it will be far more . safe to trust to their judg
ments than your own.
" Lose not the time of your youth, but gather those
seeds of virtue and knowledge, which may be of use to
yourself and comfort to your friends for the rest of
your life. And that this may be the better effected,
attend thereunto with patience, and be sure to correct
and refrain yourself from anger.
" Suffer not sorrow to cast you doAvn, but with
cheerfulness and good courage go on the race you
have to run, in all sobriety and truth. Be sure with
an hallowed care to have respect to all the command
ments of God, and give not yourself to neglect them in
the least things, lest by degrees you come to forget
them in the greatest. • For the heart of man is deceitful
above all things. And in all your duties and devotions
towards God, rather perform them joyfully than pen
sively ; for God loves a cheerful giver.
" For your religion, let it be directed according to
that which shall be taught by those which are in God's
Church, the proper teachers ; therefore, rather than that

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 401
you ever either fancy one to yourself or be led by men 1641.
that are singular in their own opinions, and delight to ~
go ways of their own finding out. For you will cer
tainly find soberness and truth in the one, and much
unsteadiness and vanity in the other. The King, I
trust, will deal graciously with you, restore you those
honours and that fortune which a distempered time
hath deprived you of, together with the life of your
father, which I rather advise might be a new gift and
creation from himself than by any other means, to the
end you may pay the thanks to him without having
obligation to any other.
" Be sure to avoid as much as you can to inquire
after those that have been sharp in their judgments
towards me, and I charge you never to suffer thought
of revenge to enter your heart ; but be careful to be
informed who were my friends in this prosecution, and
to them apply yourself to make them your friends also,
and on such you may rely, and bestow much of your
conversation among them.
" And God Almighty of his infinite goodness, bless
you and your children's children ; and his same good
ness bless your sisters in like manner, perfect you in
every good work, and give you right understanding in
all things. Amen. " Your most loving Father,
" T. Wentworth.
"Tower, this 11th of May, 1641."
One most deep and galling pain was still reserved
for Strafford. To these his latest hours he was pur-
VOL. II.

402 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. sued by the voice of one of his worst deeds. In the
"~ amount of work that he was obliged to crowd in the
few hours that were allowed him between the passing
of the sentence and its execution, he may well be
pardoned for forgetting many an act of reparation he
might have wished to make. But one he was not
allowed to pass over. On his last day he received a
letter from the injured Mountnorris. It was Avritten
in a deeply feeling strain, and while recounting the
wrongs that had been inflicted upon him, Mountnorris
besought Strafford not to leave the world without
giving a testimony of his (Mountnorris') innocence.
He implored pardon for thus disturbing the last hours
of a dying man, and declared that nothing but the
condition of his children, nearly ruined by the penalties
imposed on himself, and which he had never merited,
should have alloAved him to speak at such an hour.
He assured Lord Strafford of his complete forgiveness,
and thus concluded :
" I do upon the knees of my heart, beseech my God,
not to lay these wrongs to your charge, but to receive
your soul into his glorious presence, where all tears
shall be wiped from your eyes.
" Amen. Amen, sweet Jesus, which shall be the
incessant prayer of
" Your Lordship's Brother in Christ Jesus,
" Francis Mountnorris."*
No account has come down to us of Strafford's reply,
or whether he even received the letter. The proba-
* Clarendon State Papers, vol. ii.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 403
bility is that it never reached him, as the letter itself is 1641.
the only evidence of its having been written, and it was ~
not found among Strafford's papers.
And now the spring day drew towards its close. In
another part of the Tower, Laud awaited his trial.
How strange was the destiny that in life and death had
linked together beings so opposite ! Laud was quite
an old man now, while Strafford was in the very prime
of his manhood. Yet but a few short months separated
them from the same untimely doom. Strafford now
asked the Lieutenant of the Tower if he might not
once more see his old friend and exchange a feAv
parting words.
"Not without an order from the Parliament," was
the reply.
" Mr. Lieutenant," said Strafford, " you shall hear
what passeth between us. It is not a time for me to
plot treason, or for him to plot heresy."
The Lieutenant told him he might petition Par
liament for that favour.
"No," said Strafford, with a flash of his native
pride, " I have gotten my despatch from them, and will
trouble them no more. I am now petitioning a higher
court, where neither partiality can be expected nor
error feared." He then turned round to the Arch
bishop of Armagh, who was with him, and said : " But,
my Lord, what I would have spoken to his Grace of
Canterbury is this : You shall desire the Archbishop
to lend me his prayers this night, and to give me his
blessing when I go abroad to-morrow, and to be in his
window, that, by my last farewell, I may give him
thanks for this and all his former favours."
At once, Armagh left the room to carry the message
B » 2

402 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. of Strafford to the poor old Archbishop. He soon
~ returned with the answer of Laud. " That, in con
science, he was bound to do the first, and in duty and
obligation to do the last, but that he feared his weak
ness and passion would scarce lend him eyes to behold
his last departure." "Alas ! Life's little space forbids,
My friend, our lengthened wish to greet.
Soon night will press thy weary lids,
And shades thy fleeting spirit meet."
Lord Strafford did not forget his servants. The
exceedingly short time allowed him rendered it im
possible for him to Avrite to all he wished. But he
still thought of others, and, fearing lest Guildford
Slingsby, his private secretary might be in some danger,
he hurriedly wrote a few lines, telling him to leave the
country awhile, and " though never so innocent," to
remain abroad till his own fate was forgotten.
" I am lost," wrote the Earl, " my body is theirs,
but my soul is God's.
" God direct and prosper you in all your ways, and
remember there was a person, whom you were content
to call Master, that did very much value and esteem
you, and carried to his death a great stock of his affec
tion for you, as for all your services, so for this your
care towards me all this time of my trial and affliction.
And, however it be my misfortune to be decried at
present, yet in more equal time, my friends, I trust,
shall not be ashamed to mention their love to the
children, for their father's sake."
But one duty now remained, — to answer the letter
of Radcliffe. Once more, Lord Strafford took his pen
in hand, and with these Avords to that faithful friendj
he closed his work on earth : —

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 405
The Earl of Strafford to Sir George Badcliffe. 1641.
" Dear George,
" Many thanks I give you for the great comfort you
give me in this letter. All your desires are freely
granted ; and God deliver you out of this wicked
world according to the innocence that is in you. My
brother George will come to you and show you such
things as, in this short time, I could think of. Imper
fect they are, and therefore T wholly submit all to be
ordered, as shall amongst you be thought most meet.
And if the debts cannot otherwise be discharged, the
lands in Kildare may be sold.
The King saith, he will give all my estate to my
son, sends me word so by my Lord Primate. God's
goodness be ever amongst us all, this being the last I
shall write. And so blessed Jesus receive my soul !
" I leave it to your care that are trusted, that if you
find the estate will bear it, to raise the portions of my
daughters according as was intended by my will."
(No signature.)

CHAPTER XVI.

1641.

" 'Tis the morn, but dim and dark,
Whither flies the silent lark ?
Whither shrinks the clouded sun,
Is the day, indeed, begun 1
Nature's eye is melancholy
O'er the city." Byron.
Long before the daAvn gave the first sad signal of the
approach of day the capital was awake. It was not
merely the lowest and most brutal ofthe populace who
streamed from every part towards the east. Men of
refined character, high education and position, formed
a part of the multitude assembled to glut their hungry
gaze with the spectacle of death. Among those await
ing the sight, was John Evelyn, the high-bred gentle
man and suave scholar, friend and pupil of Jeremy
Taylor. The previous excitement of so many weeks had
worked the populace to a dangerous pitch, rendering
necessary every precaution to control the spirit abroad
that day. All peaceful occupations were suspended.
The train-bands were under arms, and with the irregular
clamour of the crowd, mingled at intervals the roll of
drums and the clatter of the troops of cavalry who
patrolled the streets. Without, all was tumult, while
steadily the living tide kept surging towards the east.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 407
But there were other scenes that morning. 1641.
Westward of the city, now becoming fast deserted, ~
so early had the egress commenced, was a house
shrouded from the daylight, and hiding within its
walls a group whose wild despairs no earthly power
could soften.
Few seem to have thought of Lady Strafford and
her children that morning. None mention them. Yet,
we need no record of history, no document stamped
with authority, to tell us what their condition must
have been. And never ought such deeds as that of
this 12th of May, no matter how just we may think
them, to be dwelt upon without a thought of their
saddest accompaniments.
In a room in the Tower overlooking the path to
Tower Hill, sat the aged and trembling Laud. He
was thinking of his last night's promise and trying to
nerve himself for its fulfilment. And as we have not
spared the poor old man our harshest condemnation
for his past cruelties and follies, we can well afford our
just sympathy and respect in this sad hour, when the
highest feelings of his nature were called forth. The
greatest man in the Long Parliament might have, at
this time, regarded the Archbishop of Canterbury with
reverence. All his own miseries, his wordly degrada
tion, his ruined fortune, the long imprisonment he had
endured, the prospect of what was to come, — all these
were forgotten in the present grief. For Laud, also,
loved Strafford, loved him to the end. Again, amidst
all his faults, let us acknowledge with due honour this
noble virtue of faithfulness in Laud. In his character,
too, we find a light shining out of the darkness.

408 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
164] And in the palace of Whitehall ? Who cannot see
— the chief figure there, pacing restlessly the gorgeous
apartments, now looking from the casement upon the
river that comes rolling from the prison walls, as if to
bear a message to him from the Tower, now shrinking
back as his eye falls on the unwonted swarm of boats
and barges ? If involuntarily in his confusion he turns
to the opposite side of his palace, — with louder out
cries and by a denser crowd, he is still reminded of
what they go to witness.
0 that the day were at an end ! Perhaps, after
all, fate may have been kind. Some means of escape
may have been found. After all, the Parliament may
have relented. They could do it so well. He had
certainly done his best to persuade them. Why would
they force him to sign the Bill? For he was compelled
to sign it. All must acknoAvledge that. No one could
blame him. Even Strafford himself had released him.
If any should ever doubt that — there was Strafford's
own letter to prove it. And then he had a duty to
his wife and children. They were always the first
claim on any man. Besides, the country demanded
the sacrifice. What miseries other Kings had brought
on England by refusing to surrender their favourites.
Think of Edward the Second and Piers Gaveston for
instance. What more could he have done ? Even the
judges and the bishops had told him he must yield.
Only Juxon said " No." If only he had listened to
Juxon ! But he must silence that thought. For it
was too late — too late.
Long before the hour appointed, every conceivable
space within view of Tower Hill was seized and
occupied. Not less than a hundred thousand persons

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 409
of all ranks were gathered together in one vast and i64i.
swaying sea of human life. As' the Lieutenant of ~
the Tower beheld the immense concourse, and re
membered the riots of the last weeks, he feared lest
even the soldiers should prove powerless against the
multitude, and counselled the Earl to take his coach
from the Tower to the scaffold, lest he should be torn
in pieces by the way.
But Strafford with calm and smiling scorn,
replied : —
" No, Master Lieutenant, I dare look death in the
face and, I hope, the people too. Have you a care
that I do not escape, and I care not how I die, whether
by the hand of the executioner, or the madness and
fury of the people. If that may give them better
content, it is all one to me."
And now the hour had come for Lord Strafford to
leave the Tower. As he drew near the window of
Laud's prison, he raised his eyes anxiously. The
Archbishop was not to be seen, and with an expres
sion of disappointment and astonishment, the Earl
was passing on, when Laud, whose emotion alone had
been the cause of his momentary delay, appeared.
Then Strafford boAving his head reverently, almost
to the earth, supplicated :
" My Lord, your prayers and your blessing."
The Archbishop raised his hands in the form of
benediction and vainly strove to speak.
Mio-hty is the power of affection. Wonderful the
beauty of its holiness ! It dilated the soul of Laud,
and from the hitherto apparently fit object of cold
ridicule and pitiful contempt, it transformed him into
a bein°- o-brified with such poetry as could transfix the

JD O*

410 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. imagination of a great artist, and live for ever on the
canvass of Paul De-la-Roche.
Again, the old man struggled with the intensity of
his feelings and in vain. Strafford understood him,
but he could not stay. Perhaps it was better — with
what was awaiting him ; he must not be unmanned.
Once more, he bowed his head and saying : —
" Farewell, my Lord, God protect your innocence,"
moved on — while Laud fell senseless into the arms of
his attendants.
And now they arrived in full view of that ferocious
and tremendous multitude, that had so awakened the
apprehension of the Lieutenant of the Tower. But
whither had vanished all their rage ?
As Lord Strafford appeared, dressed in the same
deep mourning that he had worn since his misfortunes,
divested of all outward sign of his rank and office,
except his George, a deep silence fell on all the crowd.
The native dignity of his form and face he could not
lay aside. Now that to it was added the deep solemnity
of the shadoAv of death that overhung him, and the
expression of high command which was the necessary
result of the terrible resolution he had brought to bear
upon his feelings (for he had to rule the pains of the
body as Avell as of the mind), all these blent together
gave him the air not of a prisoner approaching the
scaffold, but of a general marching to victory. Not a
single word of insult Avas heard, nor sign of ribaldry
from all that vast assemblage. The enormous masses
of all that Avas lowest and most brutal in London were
subdued and still. With grave courtesy, the earl raised
his hat, and saluted, with the grace of a native gentle
man, the people on either side.

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 411
At the scaffold, waiting to sustain him and receive i64i.
his farewell, were his favourite brother, Sir George
Wentworth, the Earl of Cleveland, his brother-in-law
(brother of his first wife) ; the Archbishop of Armagh,
" a minister," probably his domestic chaplain, and
others of his friends.
When he had ascended the scaffold, he at once
began to take leave of his friends, when his brother
George burst into uncontrollable and excessive weep
ing. Then Lord Strafford leaving the rest, at once
went to him, saying tenderly : " Brother, what do you
see in me to deserve these tears ? Doth any indecent
fear betray in me a guilt, or my innocent boldness any
atheism? Never did I throw off my clothes with
greater freedom and content than in this preparation
to my grave. That stock," pointing to the block, " must
be my pillow ; there shall I rest from all my labours.
No thought of envy, no dreams of treason, jealousies
or cares for the King, the State, or myself, shall inter
rupt this easy sleep. Therefore, brother, with me, pity
those who, beside their intention, have made me happy.
Rejoice in my innocence."
He next addressed the people, protesting his inno
cence of High Treason, and his stedfast adherence to
the Protestant faith.
Now came the long farewell to all his friends ; each,
in turn, clasping his hand before joining with him in
the last petition to heaven. Then all knelt, and with
manly simplicity they gave their reverent testimony to
that inspired instinct deep in the human soul, which in
all generations has led man in his last hour to one
eternal refuge.

412 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. When the little group had together repeated the
" Lord's prayer, they arose, and Strafford called to him
his brother George. Though the eldest, and head of
the family, and not sparing his time or his money for
the advantage of his brother and sisters, Lord Strafford
had never abused his superior position towards them,
never in return for his boundless generosity, exacted
servility or inspired the weaker members with fear.
To part Avith this dearly beloved elder brother was too
much for poor George. Though a strong man ap
proaching the age of forty, he sobbed like a child.
When Lord Strafford had succeeding in calming him,
he said : —
" Brother, we must part. Remember me to my
sister and to my wife, and carry my blessing to my
son, and charge him from me that he fear God and
continue an obedient son of the Church of England,
and that he approve himself a faithful subject to the
King, and tell him that he should not have any private
grudge or revenge towards any concerning me. And
bid him beware to meddle not Avith church livings, for
that will prove a moth and canker to him in his estate.
And wish him to content himself to be a servant to his
country, as a justice of peace in his county, not aiming
at higher preferments.
" Carry my blessing also to my daughter Ann, and to
Arabella. Charge them to fear and serve God, and he
will bless them ; not forgetting my little infant, that
knows neither good nor evil, and cannot speak for
itself. God speak for it, and bless it.
" I have nigh done. One stroke will make my wife
husbandless, my dear children fatherless, and my poor
, servants masterless, and separate me from my dear

THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH. 413
brother and all my friends. But let God be to them i64i.
all in all." 
Then, still with a view to the feelings of George, as
he began to disrobe, he said : —
" I thank God I am no more afraid of death, nor
daunted with any discouragements arising from any
fears, but do as cheerfully put off my doublet at this
time as ever I did when I went to bed."
Not seeing the executioner, he said : —
" Where is the man that shall do this last office?
Call him to me."
The man came and asked his forgiveness. Lord
Strafford told him he freely forgave him and all the
world. Once more the Archbishop of Armagh and the
chaplain joined with him in prayer ; then rising, he
whispered a few words to the chaplain, who clasped
both his upraised hands between his own, as if in
faithful assurance of the fulfilment of a last request.
The Lord Strafford knelt, and in a few minutes himself
gave the signal of death.
A moment ! — • — and life's fitful fever was over for
him. Nothing could touch him further.
His remains were spared the indignities too often
in that ferocious age inflicted on the body of one who
had suffered death for High Treason. As a rule, the
beheaded corpse of a peer of the realm was exempt
from further insult.
The body of Lord Strafford was not deprived of the
funeral honours due to his rank. It was first embalmed
and then carried to Yorkshire, where it rests with those
of his ancestors, in the church of Wentworth- Wood-
house. The Earl left a widow and four children ; William,

414 THE LIFE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH.
1641. who eventually succeeded to his title ; Ann, Arabella,
_ and Margaret, the last a baby at the time of his death.
She alone, of the four, never married, but lived with
her widowed mother in close retirement in Yorkshire.
The Parliament fulfilled the promise made concern
ing these children. Soon after their father's death his
estates were all restored to them, and in the reign of
Charles II. the attainder was blotted out and the
family restored in blood.

THE END.

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