1
THE
H I STORY
OF
€nglatto,
FROM
THE INVASION OF JULIUS CiESAR
TO
THE REVOLUTION IN 1688.
EMBELLISHED WITH
Cngratonp; on Copper ano Wood,
FROM ORIGINAL DESIGNS.
By DAVID HUME, Esq. VOLUME THE EIGHTH.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. WALLIS, 46, PATERNOSTER-ROW, Br T. DA WON, WmTEFRUKS.
. 1803.
CONTENTS
OP
VOLUME THE EIGHTH.
CHAP. LVIIL
CHARLES I.
Montrose's victories . . . The new model of the army. . . Battle of Naseby. . . . Surrender of Bristol. . . .The West conquered by Fairfax. . Defeat of Montrose. . Ecclesiastical affairs. . . . King goes to the Scots at Newark. . . .End of the war. . . .King delivered up by the Scots Page 1
CHAP. L1X.
Mutiny of the army. . . . The king seized by Joyce. . . . The army march against the parliament .... The
56425W
iv CONTENTS.
army subdue the parliament. .. .The king flies to the Isle of Wight. . . . Second civil war. . . . Invasion from Scotland. . . . The treaty of Newport. . . . The civil war and invasion repressed. . . . The king seized again by the army. ...The house purged. ... The king's trial. . . . and execution, . . . and character. . 54
CHAP. LX.
THE COMMONWEALTH.
State of England. ... of Scotland. ... of Ireland. . . . Le- vellers suppressed. .... Siege of Dublin raised. . . . Tredah stormed. . . Covenanters. . . . Montrose taken prisoner. . . . executed. . . . Covenanters. . . . Battle of Dunbar. ... of Worcester. . . . King's escape. . . . The commonwealth. . . . Dutch war. . . Dissolution of the parliament 152
CHAP. LXI.
Cromwel's birth and private life. . . , Barebone's parlia- ment. . . . Cromwel made protector. . . . Peace with
CONTENTS. v
Holland. ... A new parliament .... Insurrection of the royalists. . . . State of Europe. . . War with Spain » . . Jamaica conquered. . . . Success and death of ad- miral Blake. . . . Domestick administration of Crom- wel. . . . Humble petition and advice .... Dunkirk taken. . . . Sickness of the protector. . . . His death .... and character 241
CHAP. LXII.
Richard acknowledged protector. ... A parliament. . . . Cabal of Wallingford house. . . . Richard deposed. . . Long parliament or Rump restored. . . . Conspiracy of the royalists. . . . Insurrection. . . . suppressed. . . . Parliament expelled .... Committee of safety. . . . Foreign affairs. . . . General Monk. . . .Monk declares for the parliament. . . Parliament restored. . . . Monk enters London, declares for a free parliament. . . . Secluded members restored .... Long parliament dissolved .... New parliament . . . .The Restoration .... Manners and arts 338
vt CONTENTS.
CHAP. LXIII.
CHARLES II.
New ministry. . . . Act of indemnity. . . . Settlement of the revenue. . . . Trial and execution of the regicides .... Dissolution of the convention. . . . Parliament .... Prelacy restored. . . . Insurrection of the millen- arians. . , . Affairs of Scotland. . . . Conference at the Savoy. . . . Arguments for and against a comprehen- sion .... A new parliament .... Bishops' seats re- stored. . . Corporation act. . . . Act of uniformity. . . King's marriage. . . Trial of Vane. . . . and execution .... Presbyterian clergy ejected. . . . Dunkirk sold to the French .... Declaration of indulgence .... De- cline of Clarendon's credit 415
CHAP. LXIV.
A new session Rupture with Holland A new
session. . . . Victory of the English. . . . Rupture with France. . . . Rupture with Denmark. . . . New session .... 9ea-fight of four days. . . Victory of the English
CONTENTS. vii
.... Fire of London. . . . Advances towards peace. . . Disgrace at Chatham. . . . Peace of Breda. . . Claren- don's fall .... and banishment .... State of France .... Character of Lewis XIV. . . . Frencli invasion of the Low Countries. . . Negotiations. . .Triple league . . .Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. . . Affairs of Scotland and of Ireland 477
THE
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAPTER LVIII.
CHARLES I.
Montrose's Victories The new Model of the Army. . . . Battle
of Naseby .... Surrender of Bristol .... The West conquered by Fairfax .... Defeat of Montrose .... Ecclesiastical Affairs .... King goes to the Scots at Newark .... End of the War .... King delivered up by the Scots.
While the king's affairs declined in England some events happened in Scotland, which seemed to promise him a more prosperous issue of the quarrel.
MONTROSE'S VICTORIES.
Before the commencement of these civil disor- ders, the earl of Montrose, a young nobleman of a distinguished family, returning from his travels, had been introduced to the king, and had made an offer of his services; .but by the insinuations
VOL. VIII. b
2 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1645.
of the marquis, afterwards duke of Hamilton, who possessed much of Charles's confidence, he had not been received with that distinction to which he thought himself justly entitled3. Disgusted with this treatment, he had forwarded all the violence of the covenanters ; and, agreeably to the natural ardour of his genius, he had employed himself, during the first Scottish insurrection, with great zeal, as well as success, in levying and conducting their armies. Being commissioned by the Tables to wait upon the king, while the royal army lay at Berwic, he was so gained by the civilities and caresses of that monarch, that he thenceforth devoted himself entirely, though se- cretly, to his service, and entered into a close correspondence with him. In the second insur- rection, a great military command was entrusted to him by the covenanters ; and he was the first that passed the Tweed, at the head of their troops, in the invasion of England. He found means, however, soon after to convey a letter to the king : and by the infidelity of some about that prince ; Hamilton, as was suspected ; a copy of this letter was sent to Leven, the Scottish ge- neral. Being accused of treachery, and a cor- respondence with the enemy, Montrose openly avowed the letter, and asked the generals, if they dared to call their sovereign an enemy : and by this bold and magnanimous behaviour, he escaped
* Nalson, Iiitr. p. 63,
Commonwealth
Chap. LX. -p. 20.9.
This farmer Penderell with the assistance of his four brothers having disguised the king in a garb like their own, they led him into the neighbouring wood, put a bill into his hand, and pretended to employ themselves in cutting faggots. For a better concealment, he mounted upon an oak, where he sheltered himself among the leaves and branches for twenty-four hours. He saw several soldiers pass by. All of them were intent in search of the king ; and some expressed in his hearing, their earnest wishes of seizing him. This tree was afterwards denominated the Royal Oak; and for many years was regarded by the neighbourhood with great veneration.
1645. CHARLES I. 3
the danger of an immediate prosecution. As he was now fully known to be of the royal party, he no longer concealed his principles ; and he endea- voured to draw those who had entertained like sentiments, into a bond of association for his master's service. Though thrown into prison for this enterprise b, and detained some time, he was not discouraged ; but still continued, by his countenance and protection, to infuse spirit into the distressed royalists. Among other persons of distinction, who united themselves to him, was lord Napier of Merchiston, son of the famous inventor of the logarithms, the person to whom the title of great man is more justly due, than to any other whom his country ever produced.
There was in Scotland another party, who, professing equal attachment to the king's service, pretended only to differ with Montrose about the means of attaining the same end ; and of that party, duke Hamilton was the leader. This noble- man had cause to be extremely devoted to the king, not only by reason of the connexion of blood, which united him to the royal family ; but on account of the great confidence and favour with which he had ever been honoured by his master. Being accused by lord ftae$ not without
b It is not improper to take notice of a mistake committed by Clarendon, much to the disadvantage of this gallant nobleman j that he offered the king, when his majesty was in Scotland, to assassinate Argyle. All the time the king was in Scotland^ Montrose was confined to prison. Rush. vol. vi. p. 98O.
4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1645.
some appearance of probability, of a conspiracy against the king ; Charles was so far from har- bouring suspicion against him, that the very first time Hamilton came to court, he received him into his bedchamber, and passed alone the night with him0. But such was the duke's unhappy fate or conduct, that he escaped not the imputation of treachery to his friend and sovereign ; and though he at last sacrificed his life in the king's service, his integrity and sincerity have not been thought by historians entirely free from blemish. Per- haps (and this is the more probable opinion) the subtilties and- refinements of his conduct and his temporising maxims, though accompanied with good intentions, have been the chief cause of a suspicion, which has never yet been either fully proved or refuted. As much as the bold and vivid spirit of Montrose prompted him to enter- prising measures, as much was the cautious tem- per of Hamilton inclined to such as were moder- ate and dilatory. While the former foretold that the Scottish covenanters were secretly forming an union with the English parliament, and incul- cated the necessity of preventing them by some vigorous undertaking; the latter still insisted, that every such attempt would precipitate them into measures, to which, otherwise, they were not, perhaps, inclined. After the Scottish con- vention was summoned without the kind's aiw
•»
Nalson, vol. ii. p. 683.
1615. CHARLES I. 5
thority, the former exclaimed, that their intentions were now visible, and that, if some unexpected blow were not struck, to dissipate them, they would arm the whole nation against the king ; the latter maintained the possibility of outvoting the disaffected party, and securing, by peaceful means, the allegiance of the kingdom*1. Unhap- pily for the royal cause, Hamilton's representa- tions met with more credit from the king and queen, than those of Montrose; and the coven- anters were allowed, without interruption, to pro- ceed in all their hostile measures. Montrose then hastened to Oxford; where his invectives against Hamilton's treachery, concurring with the general prepossession, and supported by the unfortunate event of his counsels, were entertained with uni- versal approbation. Influenced by the clamour of his party, more than his own suspicion^, Charles, as soon as Hamilton appeared, sent him prisoner to Pendennis castle in Corrfwal. His brother, Laneric, who was also put under con- finement, found means to make his escape, and to fly into Scotland.
The king's ears were now opened to Mon- trose's counsels, who proposed none but the boldest and most daring, agreeably to the desper- ate state of the royal cause in Scotland. Though the whole nation was subjected by the coven* anters, though great armies were kept on foot by
d Clarendon; vol. iii. p. 3S0, 381. Rush. vol. vi. p. Q8Q. Wish- art, cap. 2. '
(5 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1645.
them, and every place guarded by a vigilant ad- ministration ; he undertook, by his own credit, and that of the few friends who remained to the king, to raise such commotions, as would soon oblige the malcontents to recal those forces, which had so sensibly thrown the balance in fa-* vour of the parliament'. Not discouraged with the defeat at Marston-moor, which rendered it impossible for him to draw any succour from England; he was content to stipulate with the earl of Antrim, a nobleman of Ireland, for some supply of men from that country. And he him- self, changing his disguises, and passing through many dangers, arrived in Scotland ; where he lay concealed in the borders of the Highlands, and secretly prepared the minds of his partisans for attempting some great enterprise f.
No sooner were the Irish landed, though not exceeding eleven hundred foot, very ill armed, than Montrose declared himself, and entered upon that scene of action which has rendered his name so celebrated. About eight hundred of the men of Athole flocked to his standard. Five hundred men more, who had been levied by the coven- anters, were persuaded to embrace the royal cause : and with this combined force, he hastened to attack lord Elcho, who lay at Perth with an army of six thousand men, assembled upon the
e Wishart, cap. 3. f Clarendon, vol. v. p. ()18t Rush. vol. vi. p. 982. Wlshart, c, 4.
1645. CHARLES I. 7
first news of the Irish invasion. Montrose, in- ferior in number, totally unprovided with horse, ill supplied with arms and ammunition, had no- thing to depend on, but the courage, which he himself, by his own example, and the rapidity of his enterprises, should inspire into his raw sol- diers. Having received the fire of the enemy, which was answered chiefly by a volley of stones, he rushed amidst them with his sword drawn, threw them into confusion, pushed his advant- age, and obtained a complete victory, with the slaughter of two thousand of the covenanters8.
This victory, though it augmented the re- nown of Montrose, encreased not his power or numbers. The far greater part of the kingdom was extremely attached to the covenant ; and such as bore an affection to the royal cause, were terrified by the established authority of the oppo- site party. Dreading the superior power of Ar- gyle, who, having joined his vassals to a force levied by the public, was approaching with a con- siderable army ; Montrose hastened northwards, in order to rouse again the marquis of Huntley and the Gordons, who, having before hastily taken arms, had been instantly suppressed by the covenanters. He was joined on his march by the earl of Airly, with his two younger sons, sir Thomas and sir David Ogilvy: the eldest was, at that time, a prisoner with the enemy. He at-
lst of Sept. 164 1. Rush. vol. vi. p. 983. Wishart, cap. 5.
8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1(545.
tacked at Aberdeen the lord Burley, who com- manded a force of 2500 men. After a sharp combat, by his undaunted courage, which, in his situation, was true policy, and was also not unac- companied with military skill, he put the enemy to flight, and in the pursuit did great execution upon them \ '
But by this second advantage he obtained not the end which he expected. The envious nature of Huntley, jealous of Montrose's glory, ren- dered him averse to join an army, where he him-* self must be so much eclipsed by the superior merit of the general. Argyle, reinforced by the earl of Lothian, was behind him with a great army: the militia of the northern counties, Mur- ray, Ross, Caithness, to the number of five thou- sand men, opposed him in front, and guarded the banks of the Spey, a deep and rapid river. In order to elude these numerous armies, he turned aside into the hills, and saved his weak, but active troops, in Badenoch. After some inarches and counter-marches, Argyle came up with him at Faivy-castle. This nobleman's character, though celebrated for political courage and conduct, was very low for military prowess ; and after some skirmishes, in which he was worsted, he here allowed Montrose to escape him. By quick marches through these inaccessible mountains, that general freed himself from the superior forces of the covenanters.
b 11th of Sept. 1644. Hush. vol. vi. p. g83. Wishart, cap: 7.
1645. CHARLES I. Q
Such was the situation of Montrose, that very good or very ill fortune was equally destructive to him, and diminished his army. After every victory, his soldiers, greedy of spoil, hut deeming the smallest acquisition to be unexhausted riches, deserted in great numbers, and went home to secure the treasures which they had acquired. Tired too, and spent with hasr/y and long marches, in the depth of winter, through snowy mountains unprovided with every necessary, they fell off, and left their general almost alone with the Irish, •who, having no place to which they could retire, still adhered to him in every fortune.
With these, and some reinforcements of the Atholemen, and Macdonalds whom he had re- called, Montrose fell suddenly upon Argyle's country, and let loose upon it all the rage of war; carrying off the cattle, burning the houses, and putting the inhabitants to the sword. This se- verity, by which Montrose sullied his victories; was the result of private animosity against the chieftain, as much as of zeal for the public cause. Argyle, collecting three thousand men, marched in quest of the enemy, who had retired with their plunder; and he lay at Innerlochy, supposing himself still at a considerable distance from them. The earl of Seaforth, at the head of the garrison, of Inverness, who were veteran soldiers, joined to five thousand new-levied troops of the northern counties, pressed the royalists on the other side, and threatened them with inevitable destruction.
10 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1615.
By a quick and unexpected march, Montrose hastened to Innerlochy, and presented himself in order of battle before the surprised, but not af- frightened, covenanters. Argyle alone, seized with a panic, deserted his army, who still maintained their ground, and gave battle to the royalists. After a vigorous resistance they were defeated, and pursued with great slaughter1. And the power of the Campbels (that is Argyle's name) being thus broken ; the Highlanders, who were in general well affected to the royal cause, began to join Montrose's camp in great numbers. Sea- forth's army dispersed of itself, at the very terror of his name. And lord Gordon, eldest son of Huntley, having escaped from his uncle Argyle, who had hitherto detained him, now joined Mont- rose with no contemptible number of his follow- ers, attended by his brother, the earl of Aboine.
The council at Edinburgh, alarmed at Mont- rose's progress, began to think of a more regular plan of defence, against an enemy, whose re- peated victories had rendered him extremely formidable. They sent for Baillie, an officer of reputation, from England ; and joining him in command with Urrey, who had again enlisted himself among the king's enemies, they sent them to the field, with a considerable army, against the royalists. Montrose, with a detachment of eight hundred men, had attacked Dundee, a
'Rush. vol. vi. p. 985. Wishart, cap. 8.
1645. CHARLES I. 11
town extremely zealous for the covenant : and having carried it by assault, had delivered it up to be plundered by his soldiers ; when Baillie and Urrey, with their whole force, were unexpectedly upon himk. His conduct and presence of mind, in this emergence, appeared conspicuous. In- stantly he called off his soldiers from plunder, put them in order, secured his retreat by the most skilful measures ; and having marched sixty miles in the face of an enemy much superior, without stopping, or allowing his soldiers the least sleep or refreshment, he at last secured himself in the mountains.
Baillie and Urrey now divided their troops, in order the better to conduct the war against an enemy, who surprised them, as much by the ra- pidity of his marches, as by the boldness of his enterprises. Urrey, at the head of four thou- sand men, met him at Alderne, near Inverness ; and, encouraged by the superiority of number (for the covenanters were double the royalists), attacked him in the post which he had chosen. Montrose, having placed his right wing in strong ground, drew the best of his forces to the other, and left no main body between them ; a defect which he artfully concealed, by showing a few men through the trees and bushes, with which that ground was covered. That Urrey might have no leisure to perceive the stratagem, he in-
k Rush. vol. vii. p. 228. Wishart, cap. g.
12 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1645.
stantly led his left wing to the charge ; and mak- ing a furious impression upon the covenanters, drove them off the field, and gained a complete victory \ In tins .hattle, the valour of young Napier, son to the lord of that name, shone out with signal lustre.
Baillie now advanced, in order to revenge Urrey's discomfiture ; but, at Alford, he met, him- self, with a like fate m. Montrose, weak in ca- valry, here lined his troops of horse with infantry ; and after putting the enemy's horse to rout, fell with united force upon their foot, who were en- tirely cut in pieces, though with the loss of the gallant lord Cordon on the part of the royalists". And having thus prevailed in so many battles, which his vigour ever rendered as decisive as they were, successful, he summoned together all his friends and partisans, and prepared himself for marching into the southern provinces, in order to put a final period to the power of the covenant- ers, and dissipate the parliament, which, with great pomp and solemnity, they had summoned to meet at St. Johnstone's.
While the fire was thus kindled in the north of the island, it blazed out with no less fury in the south : the parliamentary and royal armies, as soon as the season would permit, prepared to take the field, in hopes of bringing their import- ant quarrel to a quick decision. The passing of
1 Rush. vol. vii. p. 229. Wishart, cap. 10. ,n 2d of July. n Rush. vol. vii. p. 229. Wishart, cap. 11.
16-15. CHARLES I. 13
the self-denying ordinance had been protracted by so many debates and intrigues, that the spring was far advanced before it received the sanction of both houses ; and it was thought dangerous by many to introduce, so near the time of action, such great innovations into the army. Had not the punctilious principles of Essex engaged him, amidst all the disgusts which he received, to pay implicit obedience to the parliament; this altera- tion had not been effected without some fatal accident : since, notwithstanding his prompt re- signation of the command, a mutiny was generally apprehended °. Fairfax, or more properly speak- ing, Cromwel, under his name, introduced, at last, the nexv model into the army, and threw the troops into a different shape. From the same men, new regiments and new companies were formed, different officers appointed, and the whole military force put into such hands, as the independents could rely on. Besides members of parliament who were excluded, many officers, un- willing to serve under the new generals, threw up their commissions; and unwarily facilitated the project of putting the army entirely into the hands of that faction.
Though the discipline of the former parlia- mentary army was not contemptible, a more ex-s act plan was introduced, and rigorously executed, by these new commanders. Valour indeed was
• Rush. vol. vii. p. 126, 127.
14 HISTORY OF ENGXAND. 1647.
very generally diffused over the one party as well as the other, during this period : discipline also was attained by the forces of the parliament : but the perfection of the military art in concerting the general plans of action, and the operations of the field, seems still, on both sides, to have been, in a great measure, wanting. Historians at least, perhaps from their own ignorance and inexperi- ence, have not remarked any thing but a head- long impetuous conduct ; each party hurrying to a battle, where valour and fortune chiefly deter- mined the success. The great ornament of his- tory, during these reigns, are the civil, not the military transactions.
NEW MODEL OF THE ARMY.
Nevitr surely was a more singular army assem- bled, than that which was now set on foot by the parliament. To the greater number of the regi- ments, chaplains were not appointed. The offi- cers assumed the spiritual duty, and united it with their military functions. During the inter- vals of action, they occupied themselves in ser- mons, prayers, exhortations ; and the same emu- lation, there, attended them, M'hich, in the field, is so necessary to support the honour of that pro- fession. Rapturous ecstacies supplied the place of study and reflection; and while the zealous devotees poured out their thoughts in unpreme-
1645. CHARLES I. 15
ditated harangues, they mistook that eloquence, which, to their own surprise, as well as that of others, flowed in upon them, for divine illumina- tions, and for illapses of the Holy Spirit. Wher- ever they were quartered, they excluded the mi- nister from his pulpit ; and, usurping his place, conveyed their sentiments to the audience, with all the authority which followed their power, their valour, and their military exploits, united to their appearing zeal and fervour. The private soldiers, seized with the same spirit, employed their va- cant hours in prayer, in perusing the Holy Scrip- tures, in ghostly conferences, where they com- pared the progress of their souls in grace, and mutually stimulated each other to farther ad- vances in the great work of their salvation. When they were marching to battle, the whole field re- sounded, as well with psalms and spiritual songs adapted to the occasion, as with the instruments of military music p ; and every man endeavoured to drown the sense of present danger, in the pro- spect of that crown of glory which was set before him. In so holy a cause, wounds were esteemed meritorious ; death, martyrdom, and the hurry and dangers of action, instead of banishing their pious visions, rather served to impress their minds more strongly with them.
The royalists were desirous of throwing a ri- dicule on this fanaticism of the parliamentary
'Dugdale, p. J*. Rush. vol. vi. p. 281.
16 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1645.
armies, without being sensible how much reason they had to apprehend its dangerous conse- quences. The forces assembled by the king at Ox- ford, in the west, and in other places, were equal, if not superior in number, to their adversaries ; but actuated by a very different spirit. That licence, which had been introduced by want of pay, had risen to a great height among them, and rendered them more formidable to their friends than to their enemies. Prince Rupert, negligent of the people, fond of the soldiery, had indulged the troops in unwarrantable liberties : Wilirot, a man of dissolute manners, had pro- moted the same spirit of disorder : and the licen- tious Goring, Gerrard, sir Richard Granville, now carried it to a great pitch of enormity. In the west especially, where Goring commanded, universal spoil and havoc were committed ; and the whole country* was laid waste by the rapine of the army. All distinction of parties being in a manner dropped ; the most devoted friends of the church and monarchy wished there for such suc- cess to the parliamentary forces, as might put an end to these oppressions. The country people, despoiled of their substance, flocked together in several places, armed with clubs and staves ; and though they professed an enmity to the soldiers of both parties, their hatred was in most places levelled chiefly against the royalists, from whom they had met with the worst treatment. Many thousands of these tumultuary peasants were as-
1645., CHARLES I. 17
seinbled in different parts of England ; who de- stroyed all such straggling- soldiers as they met with, and much infested the armies q.
The disposition of the forces on both sides was' as follows : part of the Scottish army w*as employ- ed in taking Pomfret, and other towns in York- shire : part of it besieged Carlisle, valiantly de- fended by sir Thomas Glenham. Chester, where Biron commanded, had long been blockaded by sir William Brereton ; and was reduced to great difficulties. The king, being joined by the princes Rupert and Maurice, lay at Oxford, with a considerable army, about 15,000 men. Fairfax and Cromwel were posted at Windsor, with the new-modelled army, about 22,000 men. Taun- ton, in the county of Somerset, defended by Blake, suffered a long siege from sir Richard Granville, who commanded an army of about 8000 men ; and though the defence had been obstinate, the garrison -was now reduced to the last extremity. Goring commanded, in the west, an army of nearly the same number r.
On opening the campaign, the king formed the project of relieving Chester; Fairfax, that of relieving Taunton. The king was first in motion. When he advanced to Draiton in Shropshire, Bi- ron met him, and brought intelligence, that his approach had raised the siege, and that the par-
q Rush. vol. vii. p. 52, 61, 62. Whitlocke, p. 130, 131, 133, 135. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 665.
r Rush. vol. vii. p. 18, 1Q, &c. VOL. VIII. C
IS HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1645,
liamentary army had withdrawn. Fairfax, hav- ing reached Salisbury in his road westward, re- ceived orders from the committee of both king- doms, appointed for the management of the Avar, to return and lay siege to Oxford, now exposed by the king's absence. He obeyed, after sending colonel Weldon to the west, with a detachment of 4000 men. On Weldon's approach, Granville, who imagined that Fairfax with his whole army was upon him, raised the siege, and allowed this pertinacious town, now half taken and half burn- ed, to receive relief: but the royalists, being re- inforced with 3000 horse under Goring, again advanced to Taunton, and shut up Weldon, with his small army, in that ruinous place 8.
The king, having effected his purpose with regard to Chester, returned southwards ; and, in his way, sat down before Leicester, a garrison of the parliament's. Having made a breach in the wall, he stormed the town on all sides ; and, after a furious assault, the soldiers entered sword in hand, and committed all those disorders to which their natural violence, especially when enflamed by resistance, is so much addicted1. A great booty was taken and distributed among them : fifteen hundred prisoners fell into the king's hands. This success, which struck a great terror into the parliamentary party, determined Fairfax to leave Oxford, which he was beginning to ap-
• Rush. vol. yii. p. 26. l Clarendon, vol. v. p. 652,
1645. CHARLES I. 19
proach ; and he marched towards the king, with an intention of offering him battle. The king was advancing towards Oxford, in order to raise the siege, which, he apprehended, was now begun; and both armies, ere they were aware, had ad- vanced within six miles of each- other. A council of war was called by the king, in order to deliberate concerning the measures which he should now pursue. On the one hand, it seemed more pru- dent to delay the combat ; because Gerrard, who lay in Wales with 3000 men, might be enabled, in a little time, to join the army ; and Goring, it was hoped, would soon be master of Taunton; and having put the west in full security, would then unite his forces to those of the king, and give them an incontestable superiority over the enemy. On the other hand, prince Rupert, whose boiling ardour still pushed him on to battle, excited the impatient humour of the nobility and gentry, of which the army was full ; and urged the many difficulties under which the royalists laboured, and from which nothing but a victory could re- lieve them : the resolution was taken to give battle to Fairfax ; and the royal army immediately advanced upon him.
BATTLE OF NASEBY.
At Naseby was fought, with forces nearly equal, this decisive and well-disputed action, between
20 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1645.
the king and parliament. The main body of the royalists was commanded by the king himself: the right wing by prince Rupert ; the left by sir Marmaduke Langdale. Fairfax, seconded by Skippon, placed himself in the main body of the opposite army: Cromwel in the right wing: Ire- ton, Cromwel's son-in-law, in the left. The charge was begun, with his usual celerity and usual success, by prince Rupert. Though Ire- ton made stout resistance, and even after he was run through the thigh with a pike, still main- tained the combat, till he was taken prisoner; yet was that whole wing broken, and pursued with precipitate fury by Rupert: he was even so inconsiderate as to lose time in summoning and attacking the artillery of the' eneniy, which had been left with a good guard of infantry. The king led on his main body, and displayed, in this action, all the conduct of a prudent gene- ral, and all the valour of a stout soldier a. Fairfax and Skippon encountered him, and well support- ed that reputation which they had acquired. Skippon, being dangerously wounded, was de- sired by Fairfax to leave the field ; but he de- clared that he would remain there as long as one man maintained his ground w. The infantry of the parliament was broken, and pressed upon by the king; till Fairfax, with great presence of mind, brought up the reserve, and renewed the
u Whitlocke, p. 146. * Hugh. vol. vii. p. 43, Whitlocke, p. 145,
3G45. CHARLES I. 21
combat. Meanwhile Cromwel, having led on his troops to the attack of Langdale, overbore the force of the royalists, and by his prudence im- proved that advantage which he had gained by his valour. Having pursued the enemy about a quarter of a mile, and detached some troops to prevent their rallying, he turned back upon the king's infantry, and threw them into the utmost confusion. One regiment alone preserved its order unbroken, though twice desperately assail- ed by Fairfax : and that general, excited by so steady a resistance, ordered Doyley, the captain of his life-guard, to give them a third charge in front, while he himself attacked them in rear. The regiment was broken. Fairfax, with his own hands, killed an ensign, and, having seized the colours, gave them to a soldier to keep for him. The soldier afterwards boasting that he had won this trophy, was reproved by Doyley, who had seen the action ; Let him retain that honour, said Fairfax, / have to-day acquired enough beside \
Prince Rupert, sensible too late of his error, left the fruitless attack on the enemy's artillery, and joined the king, whose infantry was now to- tally discomfited. Charles exhorted this body of cavalry not to despair, and cried aloud to them, one charge more, and zve recover the day?. But the disadvantages under which they laboured were too evident ; and they could by no means be in-
x Whitlocke, p. 145. * Rush. vol. vii. p. 44.
23 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1645.
duced to renew the combat. Charles was ob- liged to quit the field, and leave the victory to the enemy \ i The slain, on the side of the par- liament, exceeded those on the side of the king : they lost a thousand men ; he not above eight hundred. But Fairfax made 500 officers prisoners, and 4000 private men ; took all the king's artillery and ammunition; and totally dissipated his in- fantry : so that scarce any victory could be more complete than that which he obtained.
Among the other spoils was seized the king's cabinet, with the copies of his letters to the queen, which the parliament afterwards ordered to be published3. They chose, no doubt, such of them as they thought would reflect dishonour on him : yet, upon the whole, the letters are writ- ten with delicacy and tenderness, and give an advantageous idea both of the king's genius and morals. A mighty fondness, it is true, and at- tachment, he expresses to his consort, and often professes that he never would embrace any mea- sures which she disapproved : but such declara- tions of civility and confidence are not always to be taken in a full literal sense. And so legitimate an affection, avowed by the laws of God and man, may, perhaps, be excusable towards a woman of beauty and spirit, even though she was a papist b.
* Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 656, 657. Walker, p. 130, 131.
" Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 658. b Hearne has published the following extract from a manu- script work of sir Simon D'Ewes, who was no mean man in the
1645, CHARLES I. &3
The Athenians, having intercepted a letter written by their enemy, Philip of Macedon, to his wife, Olympia ; so far from being moved by a curiosity of prying into the secrets of that rela- tion, immediately sent the letter to the queen un- opened. Philip was not their sovereign; nor were they inflamed with that violent animosity against him, which attends all civil commotions.
After the battle, the king retreated with that body of horse which remained entire, first to Here- ford, then to Abergavenny ; and remained some time in Wales, from the vain hope of raising a body of infantry in those harassed and exhausted quarters. Fairfax, having first retaken Leicester, which was surrendered upon articles, began to deliberate concerning his future enterprises. A letter was brought him written by Goring to the king, and unfortunately entrusted to a spy of Fairfax's. Goring there informed the king, that in three weeks he hoped to be master of Taunton ; after which he would join his majesty with all the
parliamentary party. " On Thursday, the 30th and last day of f( this instant June 1625, I went to Whitehall, purposely to see M the queen, which I did fully all the time she sat at dinner. I ** perceiv'd her to be a most absolute delicate lady, after I had " exactly survey'd all the features of her face, much enliven'd " by her radiant and sparkling black eyes. Besides, her deport- " ment among her women was so sweet and humble, and her " speech and looks to her other servants so mild and gracious, w as I could not abstain from divers deep fetched sighs, to con- " sider, that she wanted the knowledge of the true religion." See preface to the Chronicle of Dunstable, p. 64,
24 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1645,
forces in the west; and entreated him, in the mean. while, to avoid coming to any general ac- tion. This letter, which, had it been safely de- livered, had probably prevented the battle of Naseby, served now to direct the operations of Fairfax0. After leaving a body of 3000 men to Pointz and Rossiter, with orders to. attend the king's motions, he marched immediately to the west, with a view of saving Taunton, and sup- pressing the only considerable force which now remained to the royalists.
In the beginning of the campaign, Charles, apprehensive of the event, had sent the prince of Wales, then fifteen years of age, to the west, with the title of general, and had given orders, if he were pressed by the enemy, that he should make his escape into a foreign country, and save one, part of the royal family from the violence of the parliament. . Prince Rupert had thrown him- self into Bristol, with an intention of defending that important city. Goring commanded the army before Taunton.
On Fairfax's approach, the siege of Taunton was raised ; and the royalists retired to Lamport, an open town in the county of Somerset. Fair- fax attacked them in that post, beat them from it, killed about 300 men, and took 1400 prison- ers'1. After this advantage, he sat down before I3ridgcwater, a town esteemed strong and of great
c Rush. vol. vii. p. 4g. d Ibid. vol. vii. p. 55.
16-15. CHARLES I. 25
consequence in that country. When he had en- tered the outer town by storm, Windham the governor, who had retired into the inner, imme- diately capitulated, and delivered up the place to Fairfax. The garrison, to the number of 2600 men, were made prisoners of war.
SURRENDER OF BRISTOL. September 11.
Fairfax, having next taken Bath and Sher- borne, resolved to lay siege to Bristol, and made great preparations for an enterprise, which, from the strength of tlie garrison, and the reputation of prince Rupert the governor, was deemed of the last importance. But, so precarious in most men is this quality of military courage ! a poorer defence was not made by any town during the whole war: and the general expectations were here extremely disappointed. No sooner had the parliamentary forces entered the lines by storm, than the prince capitulated, and surren- dered the city to Fairfax6. A few days before, he had written a letter to the king, in which he undertook to defend the place for four months, if no mutiny obliged him to surrender it. Charles, who was forming schemes, and collect- ing forces, for the relief of Bristol, was astonish- ed at so unexpected an event, which was little
e Rush. vol. vii. p. 83.
'26 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. ]645.
less fatal to his cause than the defeat at Naseby f. Full of indignation, he instantly recalled all prince Rupert's commissions, and sent him a pass to go beyond seag.
The king's affairs now went fast to ruin in all quarters. The Scots, having made themselves masters of Carlisle11, after an obstinate siege, marched southwards, and laid siege to Hereford ; but were obliged to raise it on the king's ap- proach : and this was the last glimpse of success which attended his arms. Having marched to the relief of Chester, which was anew besieged by the parliamentary forces under colonel Jones; Pointz attacked his rear, and forced him to give battle. While the fight was continued with great obstinacy, and victory seemed to incline to the royalists ; Jones fell upon them from the other side, and put them to rout with the loss of six hundred slain, and one thousand prisoners K The king, with the remains of his broken army, fled to Newark, and thence escaped to Oxford, where he shut himself up during the winter season.
The news which he received from every quar- ter, were no less fatal than those events which passed where he himself was present. Fairfax and Cromwel, after the surrender of Bristol, hav- ing divided their forces, the former marched west- wards, in order to complete the conquest of De-
1 Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 690. Walker, p. 137.
• Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 695. '• 28th of June.
j Rush, vol. vii. p 117.
1646. CHARLES I. 27
vonshire and Cornwal ; the latter attacked the king's garrisons which lay to the east of Bristol. The Devizes were surrendered to Cromwel ; Berkeley castle was taken by storm ; Winchester capitulated ; Basing-house was entered sword in hand : and all these middle counties of England were, in a little time, reduced to obedience under the parliament.
THE WEST CONQUERED BY FAIRFAX.
The same rapid and uninterrupted success at- tended Fairfax. The parliamentary forces, elated by past victories, governed by the most rigid discipline, met with no equal opposition from troops, dismayed by repeated defeats, and cor- rupted by licentious manners. After beating up the quarters of the royalists at Bovey-Tracey, Fairfax sat down before Dartmouth, and in a few days entered it by storm. Poudram-castle being taken by him, and Exeter blockaded on all sides ; Hopton, a man of merit, who now commanded the royalists, having advanced to the relief of that town with an army of eight thousand men, met with the parliamentary army at Torrington ; where he was defeated, all his foot dispersed, and he himself, with his horse, obliged to retire into Cornwal. Fairfax followed him, and vigorously pursued the victory. Having inclosed the royal- ists at Truro, he forced the whole army, consist-
28 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1646.
ing of five thousand men, chiefly cavalry, to sur- render upon terms. The soldiers, delivering up their horses and arms, were allowed to disband, and received twenty shillings a-piece, to carry them to their respective abodes. Such of the officers as desired it, had passes to retire beyond sea: the others, having promised never more to bear arms, payed compositions to the parliament k, and procured their pardon l. And thus Fairfax, after taking Exeter, which completed the con- quest of the west, marched with his victorious army to the centre of the kingdom, and fixed his camp at Newbury. The prince of Wales, in pur- suance of the king's orders, retired to Scilly; thence to Jersey ; whence he went to Paris ; where he joined the queen, who had fled thither from Exeter, at the time the earl of Essex con- ducted the parliamentary army to the west.
In the other parts of England, Hereford was taken by surprise : Chester surrendered : lord Digby, who had attempted, with 1200 horse, to break into Scotland and join Montrose, was de- feated at Sherburn, in Yorkshire, by colonel Cop- ley ; his whole force was dispersed ; and he him- self was obliged to fly, first to the Isle of Man, thence to Ireland. News too arrived that Mont-
k These compositions were different, according to the demerits of the person : but by a vote of the house they could not be under two years rent of the delinquent's estate. Journ. 11th of August 1048. Whitlocke, p. \6o.
1 Rush. vol. vii. p. 108.
1(346. CHARLES I. 29
rose himself, after some more successes, was at last routed ; and this only remaining hope of the royal party finally extinguished.
When Montrose descended into the southern counties, the covenanters, assembling their whole force, met him with a numerous army, and gave him battle, but without success, at Kilsythm. This was the most complete victory that Montrose ever obtained. The royalists put to the sword six thousand of their enemies, and left the coven- anters no remains of any army in Scotland. The whole kingdom was shaken with these repeated successes of Montrose ; and many noblemen, who secretly favoured the royal cause, now declared openly for it, when they saw a force able to sup- port them. The marquis of Douglas, the earls of Annandale and Hartfield, the lords Fleming, Seton, Maderty, Carnegy, with many others, flocked to the royal standard. Edinburgh opened its gates, and gave liberty to all the prisoners there detained by the covenanters. Among the rest was lord Ogilvy, son of Airly, whose family had contributed extremely to the" victory gained at Kilsyth11.
David Lesly was detached from the army in England, and marched to the relief of his dis- tressed party in Scotland. Montrose advanced still farther to the south, allured by vain hopes,
m 15 th August 1645. ■ Rush. vol. vU. p. 230, 231. Wishait, cap. 13.
30 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1646.
both of rousing to arms the earls of Hume, Tra- quaire, and Roxborough, who had promised to join him : and of obtaining from England some supply of cavalry, in which he was deficient. By the negligence of his scouts, Lesly, at Philip- haugh in the Forest, surprised his army, much diminished in numbers, from the desertion of the Highlanders, who had retired to the hills, accord- ing to custom, in order to secure their plunder. After a sharp conflict, where Montrose exerted great valour, his forces were routed by Lesly's cavalry0: and he himself was obliged to fly with his broken forces into the mountains ; where he again prepared himself for new battles and new enterprises p.
The covenanters used the victory with rigour. Their prisoners, sir Robert Spotiswood, secretary of state, and son to the late primate, sir Philip Nisbet, sir William Rollo, colonel Nathaniel Gor- don, Andrew Guthry, son of the bishop of Mur- ray, William Murray, son of the earl of Tullibar- dine, were condemned and executed. The sole crime imputed to the secretary, was his delivering to Montrose the king's commission to be captain- general of Scotland. Lord Ogilvy, who was again taken prisoner, would have undergone the same fate, had not his sister found means to procure his escape, by changing clothes with him. For this instance of courage and dexterity, she met
• 13th of Sept. 1045. p Rush. vol. vii. p. 231.
1046. CHARLES I. 31
with harsh usage. The clergy solicited the par- liament, that more royalists might be executed; but could not obtain their request*1.
After all these repeated disasters, which every where befel the royal party, there remained only one body of troops, on which fortune could exer- cise her rigour. Lord Astley, with a small army of 3000 men, chiefly cavalry, marching to Ox- ford, in order to join the king, was met at Stowe, by colonel Morgan, and entirely defeated ; him- self being taken prisoner. u You have done " your work," said Astley to the parliamentary officers; " and may now go to play, unless you " chuse to fall out among yourselves'."
The condition of the king, during this whole winter, was to the last degree disastrous and me- lancholy. As the dread of ills is commonly more oppressive than their real presence, perhaps in no period of his life was he more justly the object of compassion. His vigour of mind, which, though it sometimes failed him in acting, never deserted him in his sufferings, was what alone supported him ; and he was determined, as he wrote to lord
q Guthry's Memoirs. Rush. vol. vii. p. 232. r Rush. vol. vii. p. 141. It was the same Astley who, before he charged at the battle of Edgehill, made this short prayer, O Lord I thou knottiest how busy I must be this day. If I forget thee, do not thou forget me. And with that rose up, and cry'd March on, boys ! Warwick, p. 229. There was certainly much longer prayers said in the parliamentary army) but I doubt if there were so good a one.
32 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. UU6.
Digby, if he could not live as a king, to die like a gentleman ; nor should any of his friends, he said, ever have reason to blush for the prince whom they had so unfortunately served*. The murmurs of discontented officers, on the one hand, harassed their unhappy sovereign; while they over-rated those services and sufferings which, they now saw, must for ever go unre- warded1. The affectionate duty, on the other hand,, of his more generous friends, who re- spected his misfortunes and his virtues, as much as his dignity, wrung his heart with a new sorrow; when he reflected, that such disinterested attach- ment would so soon be exposed to the rigour of his implacable enemies. Repeated attempts, which he made for a peaceful and equitable ac- commodation with the parliament, served to no purpose but to convince them, that the victory was entirely in their hands. They deigned not to make the least reply to several of his messages, in which he desired a passport for commissioners u. At last, after reproaching him with the blood spilt during the, war, they told him, that they were preparing bills for him ; and his passing them would be the best pledge of his inclination to- wards peace : in other words, he must yield at discretion*. He desired a personal treaty, and offered to come to London, upon receiving a safe
•Carte's Ormond, vol. iii. No. 433.
• ' Walker, p. 147. • I Rush.- vol. vii. p. 215, &c.
* Rush. vol. vii. p. 21 7. 220. Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 744.
1646. CHARLES I. 33
conduct for himself and his attendants : they absolutely refused him admittance, and issued orders for the guarding, that is, the seizing of his person, in case he should attempt to visit them 7. A new incident, which happened in Ireland, served to inflame the minds of men, and to in- crease those calumnies with which his enemies had so much loaded him, and which he ever regarded as the most grievous part of his mis- fortunes.
After the cessation with the Irish rebels, the king was desirous of concluding a final peace with them, and obtaining their assistance in England : and he gave authority to Ormond, lord lieutenant, to promise them an abrogation of all the penal laws enacted against catholics; together with the suspension of Poining's statute, with regard to some particular bills, which should be agreed on. Lord Herbert, created earl of Glamorgan (though his patent had not yet passed the seals), having occasion for his private affairs to go to Ireland, the king considered, that this nobleman, being a catholic, and allied to the best Irish families, might be of service : he also foresaw, that farther concessions Avith regard to religion might proba- bly be demanded by the bigoted Irish ; and that, as these concessions, however necessary, would give great scandal to the protestant zealots in his three kingdoms, it would be requisite both to
y Rush. vol. vii. p. 249. Clarendon vol. iv. p. 741. VOL. VIII. IX
34 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. J646.
conceal them during some time, and to preserve Ormond's character, by giving private orders to Glamorgan to conclude and sign these articles. But as Jie had a better opinion of Glamorgan's zeal and affection for his service, than of his capa- city, he enjoined him to communicate all his mea- sures to Ormond ; and though the final conclu- sion of the treaty must be executed only in Gla- morgan's own name, he was required to be di- rected, in the steps towards it, by the opinion of the lord lieutenant. Glamorgan, bigoted to his religion, and passionate for the king's service, but guided in these pursuits by no manner of judg- ment or discretion, secretly, of himself, without any communication with Ormond, concluded a peace with the council of Kilkenny, and agreed, in the king's name, that the Irish should enjoy all the churches of which they had ever been in possession since the commencement of their in- surrection; on condition that they should assist the king in England with a body of ten thousand men. This transaction was discovered by acci- dent. The titular archbishop of Tuam being killed by a sally of the garrison of Sligo, the articles of the treaty were found among his baggage, and were immediately published every-where, and co- pies of them sent over to the English parliament2. The lord lieutenant and lord Digby, foreseeing the clamour which would be raised against the
* Rush, vol* vii. p. 239.
1646. CHARLES I. 35
king, committed Glamorgan to prison, charged him with treason for his temerity, and maintain- ed, that he had acted altogether without any au- thority from his master. The English parliament however neglected not so favourable an opportu- nity of reviving the old clamour with regard to the king's favour of popery, and accused him of delivering over, in a manner, the whole kingdom of Ireland to that hated sect. The king told them, " That the earl of Glamorgan having " made an offer to raise forces in the kingdom of " Ireland, and to conduct them into England 9 for his majesty's service, had a commission for " that purpose, and to that purpose only, and M that he had no commission at all to treat of '■' any thing else, without the privity and di- " rection of the lord lieutenant, much less to* " capitulate any thing concerning religion, or " any property belonging either to church or " laity8." Though this declaration seems agree- able to truth, it gave no satisfaction to the parlia- ment ; and some historians, even at present, when the antient bigotry is somewhat abated, are de- sirous of representing this very innocent trans- action, in which the king was engaged by the most violent necessity, as a stain on the memory of that unfortunate prince *.
Having lost all hope of prevailing over the
* Birch, p. 119. * See note [B] vol. X. .
2
36 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1646.
rigour of the parliament, either by arms or by treaty, the only resource which remained to the kinsr, was derived from the intestine dissensions, which ran very high among his enemies. Presby- terians and independents, even before their victory was fully completed, fell into contests about the division of the spoil, and their religious as well as civil disputes agitated the whole kingdom.
ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS.
The parliament, though they had early abolished episcopal authority, had not, during so long a time, substituted any other spiritual government in its place ; and their committees of religion had hitherto assumed the whole ecclesiastical jurisdic- tion : but they now established, by an ordinance, the presbyterian model in all its forms of congre- gational, classical, provincial, and national assem- blies. All the inhabitants of each parish were ordered to meet and chuse elders, on whom, to- gether with the minister, was bestowed the entire direction of all spiritual concerns within the con- gregation. A number of neighbouring parishes, commonly between twelve and twenty, formed a classis; and the court, which governed this divi- sion, was composed of all the ministers, together with two, three, or four elders chosen from each parish. The provincial assembly retained an in- spection over several neighbouring classes, and
1646. CHARLES f. 3?
was composed entirely of clergymen : the na- tional assembly was constituted in the same man- ner; and its authority extended over the whole kingdom. It is probable, that the tyranny exer- cised by the Scottish clergy had given warning not to allow laymen a place in the provincial or national assemblies; lest the nobility and more considerable gentry, soliciting a seat in these great ecclesiastical courts, should bestow a consi- deration upon them, and render them, in the eyes of the multitude, a rival to the parliament. In the inferior courts, the mixture of the laity might serve rather to temper the usual zeal of the clergy5.
But though the presbyterians, by the esta- blishment of parity among the ecclesiastics, were so far gratified, they were denied satisfaction in several other points, on which they were extremely intent. The assembly of divines had voted pres- bytery to be of divine right. The parliament refused their assent to that decision0. Selden, Whitlocke, and other political reasoners, assisted by the independents, had prevailed in this import- ant deliberation. They thought, that, had the bigoted religionists been able to get their hea- venly charter recognised, the presbyters would soon become more dangerous to the magistrate than had ever been the prelatical clergy. These
b Rush. vol. vii. p. 224. * Whitlocke, p. 106. Rush. vol. vii. p; 260, 26l.
38 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 161(5.
latter, while they claimed to themselves a divine right, admitted of a like origin to civil authority : the former, challenging to their own order a ce- lestial pedigree, derived the legislative power from a source no more dignified than the volun- tary association of the people.
Under colour of keeping the sacraments from profanation, the clergy of all christian sects had assumed, what they call the power of the keys, or' the right of fulminating excommunication. The example of Scotland was a sufficient lesson for the parliament to use precaution in guarding against so severe a tyranny. They determined, by a general ordinance, all the cases in which excommunication could be used. They allowed of appeals. to parliament from all ecclesiastical courts. And they appointed commissioners in every province to judge of such cases as fell not within their general ordinance41. So much civil authority, intermixed with the ecclesiastical, gave disgust to all the zealots.
But nothing was attended with more universal scandal than the propensity of many in the parlia- ment towards a toleration of the protestant secta- ries. The presbyterians exclaimed, that this in- dulgence made the church of Christ resemble Noah's ark, and rendered it a receptacle for all unclean beasts. They insisted, that the least of Christ's truths was superior to all political consi-
* Ru6h. vol. vii. p. 210.
1646. CHARLES I. 39
derations*. They maintained the eternal obliga- tion imposed by the covenant to extirpate heresy and schism. And they menaced all their oppon- ents with the same rigid persecution, under which they themselves had groaned, when held in sub- jection by the hierarchy.
So great prudence and reserve, in such ma- terial points, does great honour to the parliament; and proves, that, notwithstanding the pre valency of bigotry and fanaticism, there were many mem- bers who had more enlarged views, and paid re- gard to the civil interests of society. These men, uniting themselves to the enthusiasts, whose ge- nius is naturally averse to clerical usurpations, exercised so jealous an authority over the assem- bly of divines, that they allowed them nothing but the liberty of tendering advice, and would not entrust them even with the power of electing their own chairman or his substitute, or of sup- plying the vacancies of their own members.
While these disputes were canvassed by theo- logians, who engaged in their spiritual contests every order of the state ; the king, though he en- tertained hopes of reaping advantage from those divisions, was much at a loss which side it would be most for his interest to comply with. The presbyterians were, by their principles, the least averse to regal authority ; but were rigidly bent on the extirpation of prelacy : The independents
e Rush. vol. vii. p. 308.
40 HISTOTIY OF ENGLAND. iG-lG.
were resolute to lay the foundation of a republican government; but as they pretended not to erect themselves into a national church, it might be hoped, that, if gratified with a toleration, they would admit the re-establishment of the hierar- chy. So great attachment had the king to epis- copal jurisdiction, that he was ever inclined to put it in balance even with his own power and kingly office.
But whatever advantage he might hope to reap from the divisions in the parliamentary party, he was apprehensive, lest it should come too late to save him from the destruction with which he was instantly threatened. Fairfax was approaching with a powerful and victorious army, and was taking the proper measures for laying siesje to Oxford, which must infallibly fall into his hands. To be taken captive, and led in tri- umph by his insolent enemies, was what Charles justly abhorred; and every insult, if not violence, was to be dreaded from that enthusiastic soldiery, who hated his person and despised his dignity. In this desperate extremity, he embraced a mea- sure which, in any other situation, might lie under the imputation of imprudence and indiscretion.
THE KING GOES TO THE SCOTCH CAMP AT NEWARK.
Montreville, the French minister, interested for the king more by the natural sentiments of
1646. CHARLES I. 41
humanity, than any instructions from his court, which seemed rather to favour the parliament, had solicited the Scottish generals and commis- sioners, to give protection to their distressed so- vereign ; and having received many general pro- fessions and promises, he had always transmitted these, perhaps with some exaggeration, to the king. From his suggestions, Charles began to entertain thoughts of leaving Oxford, and flying to the Scottish army, which at that time lay be- fore Newark f. He considered that the Scottish nation had been fully gratified in all their de- mands ; and having already, in their own coun- try, annihilated both episcopacy and regal au- thority, had no farther concessions to exact from him. In all disputes which had passed about settling the terms of peace, the Scots, he heard, had still adhered to the milder side, and had endeavoured to soften the rigour of the English parliament. Great disgusts also, on other ac- counts, had taken place between the nations ; and the Scots found that, in proportion as their assist- ance became less necessary, less value was put upon them. The progress of the independents gave them great alarm ; and they were scandal- ised to hear their beloved covenant spoken of, every day, with less regard and reverence. The refusal of a divine right to presbytery, and the
f Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 750. vol. v. p. 16.
42 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1646.
infringing of ecclesiastical discipline from poli- tical considerations, were, to them, the subject of much offence : and the king hoped, that in their present disposition, the sight of their native prince, flying to them in this extremity of dis- tress, would rouse every spark of generosity in their bosom, and procure him their favour and protection.
That he might the better conceal his inten- tions, oTders were given at every gate in Oxford, for allowing three persons to pass : and in the night the king, accompanied by none but Dr. Hudson and Mr. Ashburnham, went out at that gate which leads to London. He rode before a portmanteau, and called himself Ashburnham 's servant. He passed through Henley, St. Albans, and came so near to London as Harrow on the Hill. He once entertained thoughts of entering into that city, and of throwing himself on the mercy of the parliament. But at last, after pass- ing through many cross roads, he arrived at the Scottish camp before Newark*. The parliament, hearing of his escape from Oxford, issued rigor- ous orders, and threatened with instant death whoever should harbour or conceal himh.
The Scottish generals and commissioners affect- ed great surprise on the appearance of the king: and though they payed him all the exterior respect
1 Rush. vol. vii. p. 267. h Whitlocke, p. 209.
1646. CHARLES I. 43
due to his dignity, they instantly set a guard upon him, under colour of protection, and made him in reality a prisoner. They informed the English parliament of this unexpected incident, and assured them that they had entered into no private treaty with the king. They applied to him for orders to Bellasis, governor of Newark, to surrender that town, now reduced to extremi- ty ; and the orders were instantly obeyed. And hearing that the parliament laid claim to the en- tire disposal of the king's person, and that the English army was making some motions towards them ; they thought proper to retire northwards, and to fix their camp at Newcastle'.
This measure was very grateful to the king; and he began to entertain hopes of protection from the Scots. He was particularly attentive to the behaviour of their preachers, on whom all de- pended. It was the mode of that age to make the pulpit the scene of news ; and on every great event, the whole scripture was ransacked by the clergy for passages applicable to the present occa- sion. The first minister who preached before the king, chose these words for his text : " And be- " hold all the men of Israel carne to the king, " and said unto him, Why have our brethren, the " men of Judah, stolen thee away, and have " brought the king and his household, and all " David's men with him, over Jordan? And all
1 Rush. vol. vii. p. 271- Clarendon, vol. v. p. 23,
44 HISTORY OF ENGLANp. 1643.
" the men of Judali answered the men of Israel, " Because the king is near of kin to us; where- " fore then be ye angry for this matter? Have M we eaten at all of the king's cost; or hath he " given us any gift ? And the men of Israel an- " swered the men of Judah, and said, We have " ten parts in the king, and we have also more " right in David than ye : why then did ye de- " spise us, that our advice should not be first "had, in bringing back our king: and the " words of the men of Judah were fiercer than " the words of the men of Israeli " But the king found, that the happiness chiefly of the al- lusion had tempted the preacher to employ this text, and that the covenanting zealots were no- wise pacified towards him. Another preacher, after reproaching him to his face with his misgo- vernment, ordered this psalm to be sung :
Why dost thou, tyrant, boast thyself, Thy wicked deeds to praise ?
The king stood up, and called for that psalm which begins with these words,
Have mercy, Lord, on me, I pray ; For men would me devour :
The good-natured audience, in pity to fallen ma-
1 2 Sam. chap. xix. 41, 42, and 43 verses. See Clarendon, vol. v. p. 23, 24.
164ft. CHARLES I. 45
jesty, showed for once greater deference to the king than to the minister, and sung the psalm which the former had called fork.
Charles had very little reason to be pleased with his situation. He not only found himself a prisoner very strictly guarded: all his friends were kept at a distance ; and no intercourse, either by letters or conversation, was allowed him, with any one on whom he could depend, or who was su- spected of any attachment towards him. The Scottish generals would enter into no confidence with him ; and still treated him with distant cere- mony and feigned respect. And every proposal, which they made him, tended farther to his abase- ment and to his ruin1.
They required him to issue orders to Oxford, and all his other garrisons, commanding their sur- render to the parliament : and the king, sensible that their resistance was to very little purpose, willingly complied. The terms given to most of them were honourable; and Fairfax, as far as it lay in his power, was very exact in observing them. Far from allowing violence, he would not even permit insults or triumph over the unfortunate royalists ; and by his generous humanity, so cruel a civil war was ended, in appearance very calmly, between the parties.
Ormond having received the like orders, deli- vered Dublin, and other forts, into the hands of
► Whitlocke, p. 234. ' Clarendon, vol. v. p. 30.
43 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1646.
the parliamentary officers. Montrose also, after having experienced still more variety of good and had fortune, threw down his arms, and retired out of the kingdom.
The marquis of Worcester, a man past eighty- four, was the last in England that submitted to the authority of the parliament. He defended Raglan castle to extremity ; and opened not its gates till the middle of August. Four years, a few days excepted, were now elapsed, since the king first erected his standard at Nottingham"1. So long had the British nations, by civil and reli- gious quarrels, been occupied in shedding their own blood, and laying waste their native country.
The parliament and the Scots laid their pro- posals before the king. They were such as a captive, entirely at mercy, could expect from the most inexorable victor : yet were they little worse than what were insisted on before the battle of Naseby. The power of the sword, instead of ten, which the king now offered, was demanded for twenty years, together with a right to levy whatever money the parliament should think pro- per for the support of their armies. The other conditions were, in the main, the same M'ith those which had formerly been offered to the kingn.
Charles said, that proposals which introduced such important innovations in the constitution, demanded time for deliberation : the commission-
"■ Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 293. ■ Ibid. p. 309.
164(5. » CHARLES I, 47
ers replied, that he must give his answer in ten days0. He desired to reason about the meaning and import of some terms : they informed him, that they had no power of debate ; and peremp- torily required his consent or refusal. He re- quested a personal treaty with the parliament: they threatened, that, if he delayed compliance, the parliament would, by their own authority, settle the nation.
What the parliament was most intent upon, was not their treaty with the king, to whom they pakl little regard ; but that with the Scots. Two important points remained to be settled with that nation ; their delivery of the king, and the esti- mation of their arrears.
The Scots might pretend, that as Charles was king of Scotland as well as of England, they were entitled to an equal vote in the disposal of his person : and that, in such a case, where the titles are equal, and the subject indivisible, the prefer- ence was due to the present possessor. The Eng- lish maintained, that the king being in England, was comprehended within the jurisdiction of that kingdom, and could not be disposed of by any foreign nation. A delicate question this, and what surely could not be decided by precedent ; since such a situation is not, any where, to be found in history p.
As the Scots concurred with the English, in
9 Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 310. p Ibid. vol. vii. p. 339.
/J8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1616.
imposing such severe conditions on the king, that, notwithstanding: his unfortunate situation, he still refused to accept of them ; it is certain that they did not desire his freedom : nor could they ever intend to join lenity and rigour together, in so inconsistent a manner. Before the settlement of terms, the administration must be possessed en- tirely by the parliaments of both kingdoms ; and how incompatible that scheme with the liberty of the king, is easily imagined. To carry him a pri- soner into Scotland, where few forces could be supported to guard him, was a measure so full of inconvenience and danger, that, even if the Eng- lish had consented to it, must have appeared to the Scots themselves altogether uneligible : and how could such a plan be supported in opposition to England, possessed of such numerous and vic- torious armies, which were, at that time, at least seemed to be, in entire union with the parliament? The only expedient, it is obvious, which the Scots could embrace, if they scrupled wholly to abandon the king, was immediately to return, fully and cordially, to their allegiance; and, uniting them- selves with the royalists in both kingdoms, endea- vour, by force of arms, to reduce the English par- liament to more moderate conditions : but be- sides that this measure was full of extreme ha- zard ; what was it but instantly to combine with their old enemies against their old friends ; and, in a fit of romantic generosity, overturn what, with so much expence of blood and treasure, they
1646. CHARLES I. 49
had, during the course of so many years, heen so carefully erecting?
But, though all these reflections occurred to the Scottish commissioners, they resolved to pro- long the dispute, and to keep the king as a pledge for those arrears which they claimed from Eng- land, and which they were not likely, in the pre- sent disposition of that nation, to obtain by any other expedient. The sum, by their account, amounted to near two millions : for they had re- ceived little regular pay since they had entered England. And though the contributions which they had levied, as well as the price of their living at free quarters, must be deducted ; yet still the sum which they insisted on was very considerable. After many discussions, it was, at last, agreed, that, in lieu of all demands, they should accept of 400,000 pounds, one half to be paid instantly, another in two subsequent payments 1.
Great pains were taken by the Scots (and the English complied with their pretended delicacy) to make this estimation and payment of arrears appear a quite different transaction from that for the delivery of the king's person : but common sense requires, that they should be regarded as one and the same. The English, it is evident, had they not been previously assured of receiving the king, would never have parted with so con- siderable a sum ; and, while they weakened them-
q Rush worth, vol. vii. p. 326. Pari. Hist. vol. xv. p. 236. VOL, VIII. E
50
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1646.
selves, by the same measure have strengthened a people, with whom they must afterwards have so material an interest to discuss.
Thus the Scottish nation underwent, and still undergo (for such grievous- stains are not easily wiped off"), the reproach of selling their king, and betraying their prince for money. In vain did they maintain, that this money was, on ac- count of former services, undoubtedly their due; that in their present situation, no other measure, without the utmost indiscretion, or even their apparent ruin, could be embraced ; and that, though they delivered their king into the hands of his open enemies, they were themselves as much his open enemies as those to whom they surren- dered him, and their common hatred against him had long united the two parties in strict alliance with each other. They were still answered, that they made use of this scandalous expedient for obtaining their wages ; and that, after taking arms, without any provocation, against their so- vereign, who had ever loved and cherished them, they had deservedly fallen into a situation, from which they could not extricate themselves, with- out either infamy or imprudence.
The infamy of this bargain had such an in- fluence on the Scottish parliament, that they once voted, that the king should be protected, and his liberty insisted on. But the general assembly interposed, and pronounced, that, as he had re- fused to take the covenant, which was pressed on
J647. CHARLES I. 51
him, it became not the godly to concern them- selves about his fortunes. After this declaration, it behoved the parliament to retract their vote r.
Intelligence concerning the final resolution of the Scottish nation to surrender him, was brought to the king ; and he happened, at that very time, to be playing at chess s. Such command of tem- per did he possess^ that he continued his game without interruption ; and none of the by- stand* ers could perceive, that the letter, which he per- used, had brought him news of any consequence. The English commissioners, who, some days after, came to take him under their custody, were admitted to kiss his hands ; and he received them with the same grace and cheerfulness, as if they had travelled on no other errand than to pay court to him. The old earl of Pembroke in par- ticular, who was one of them, he congratulated on his strength and vigour, that he was still able, during such a season, to perforin so long a jour- ney, in company with so many young people.
KING DELIVERED UP BY THE SCOTS.
The king being delivered over by the Scots to the English commissioners, was conducted, under a guard, to Holdenby, in the county of North- ampton. On his journey, the whole country
r Pari. Hist. vol. xv. p. 243, 244. s Burnet's Memoirs of the Hamiltona.
52 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1647-
flocked to behold him, moved partly by curiosity, partly by compassion and affection. If any still retained rancour against him, in his present con- dition, they passed in silence ; while his well- wishers, more generous than prudent, accompa- nied his march with tears, with acclamations, and with prayers for his safety '. That ancient super- stition likewise, of desiring the king's touch in 6crophulous distempers, seemed to acquire fresh credit among the people, from the general ten- derness which began to prevail for this virtuous and unhappy monarch.
The commissioners rendered his confinement at Holdenby very rigorous ; dismissing his ancient servants, debarring him from visits, and cutting off all communication with his friends or family. The parliament, though earnestly applied to by the king, refused to allow his chaplains to attend him, because they had not taken the covenant. The king refused to assist at the service exercised according to the directory ; because he had not as yet given his consent to that mode of worship". Such religious zeal prevailed on both sides ! And such was the unhappy and distracted condition to which it had reduced king and people !
During the time that the king remained in the Scottish army at Newcastle, died the earl of Essex, the discarded, but still powerful and po- pular, general of the parliament. His death, in 1 Ludlow, Herbert. " Clarendon, vol. v. p. 39. Warwick, p. 298.
164;. CHARLES t 53
this conjuncture, was a public misfortune. Fully sensible of the excesses to which affairs had been carried, and of the worse consequences which were still to be apprehended, he had resolved to conciliate a peace, and to remedy, as far as pos- sible, all those ills to which, from mistake rather than any bad intentions, he had himself so much contributed. The presbyterian, or the moderate party among the commons, found themselves considerably weakened by his deatji : and the small remains of authority which still adhered to the house of peers, were in a manner wholly ex- tinguished w.
w Clarendon, vol. v. p. 43.
54
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1647-
CHAPTER LIX.
Mutiny of the Army The King seized by Joyce The
Army march against the Parliament The Army subdue the
Parliament The King flies to the Isle of Wight .... Second
Civil War .... Invasion from Scotland The Treaty of
Newport The Civil War and Invasion repressed .... The
King seized again by the Army .... The House purged .... The King's Trial And Execution .... And Character.
1 he dominion of the parliament was of short duration. No sooner had they subdued their so- vereign, than their own servants rose against them, and tumbled them from their slippery throne. The sacred boundaries of the laws being once violated, nothing remained to confine the wild projects of zeal and ambition. And every successive revolution became a precedent for that which followed it.
In proportion as the terror of the king's power diminished, the division between independent and presbyterian became every day more apparent ; and the neuters found it at last requisite toKseek (jhelter in one or the other faction. Many new writs were issued for elections, in the room of members who had died, or were disqualified by adhering to the king ; yet still the presbyterians retained the superiority among the commons : and
1647. CHARLES I. 55
all the peers, except lord Say, were esteemed of that party. The independents, to whom the in- ferior sectaries adhered, predominated in the army : and the troops of the new model were universally infected with that enthusiastic spirit. To their assistance did the independent party among the commons chiefly trust, in their pro- jects for acquiring the ascendant over their an- tagonists.
Soon after the retreat of the Scots, the presby- terians, seeing every thing reduced to obedience, began to talk of diminishing the army : and, on pretence of easing the public burdens, they le- velled a deadly blow at the opposite faction. They purposed to embark a strong detachment, under Skippon and Massey, for the service of Ireland : they openly declared their intention of making a great reduction of the remainder x. It was even imagined, that another new model of the army was projected, in order to regain to the presbyterians that superiority which they had so imprudently lost by the former y.
The army had small inclination to the service of Ireland; a country barbarous, uncultivated, and laid waste by massacres and civil commo- tions : they had less inclination to disband, and to renounce that pay, which, having earned it through fatigues and dangers, they now purposed
x Fourteen thousand men were only intended to be kept up ; 6000 horse, 6000 foot, and 2000 dragoons. Bates. y Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 564.
6Q HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1047,
to enjoy in ease and tranquillity. And most of the officers, having risen from the dregs of the people, had no other prospect, if deprived of their commission, than that of returning to languish in their native poverty and obscurity.
These motives of interest acquired additional influence, and became more dangerous to the par- liament, from the religious spirit by which the army was universally actuated. Among the ge- nerality of men, educated in regular, civilized societies, the sentiments of shame, duty, honour, have considerable authority, and serve to coun- terbalance and direct the motives derived from private advantage : but, by the predominancy of enthusiasm among the parliamentary forces, these salutary principles lost their credit, and were re- garded as mere human inventions, yea moral in- stitutions, fitter for heathens than for christians z. The saint, resigned over to superior guidance, was at full liberty to gratify all his appetites, disguised under the appearance of pious zeal. And, besides the strange corruptions engendered by this spirit, it eluded and loosened all the ties of morality, and gave entire scope, and even sanction, to the selfishness and ambition which naturally adhere to the human mind.
The military confessors were farther encourag- ed in disobedience to superiors, by that spiritual pride to which a mistaken piety is so subject. They were not, they said, mere janizaries ; mer-
' Rush. vol. vj. p. 134.
1647. CHARLES I. 57
cenary troops enlisted for hire, and to be disposed of at the will of their paymasters \ Religion and liberty were the motives which had excited them to arms; and they had a superior right to see those blessings, which they had purchased with their blood, ensured to future generations. By the same title that the presbyterians, in contradi- stinction to the royalists, had appropriated to themselves the epithet of godly, or the well affect- ed*, the independents did now, in contradistinc- tion to the presbyterians, assume this magnificent appellation, and arrogate all the ascendant, which naturally belongs to it.
Hearing of parties in the house of commons, and being informed that the minority were friends to the army, the majority enemies ; the troops naturally interested themselves in that dangerous distinction, and were eager to give the superiority to their partisans. Whatever hardships they un- derwent, though perhaps derived from inevitable necessity, were ascribed to a settled design of op- pressing them, and resented as an effect of the animosity and malice of their adversaries.
Notwithstanding the great revenue, which accrued from taxes, assessments, sequestrations, and compositions, considerable arrears were due to the army ; and many of the private men, as well as officers, had near a twelvemonth's pay still owing them. The army suspected, that this de-
' Rush. vol. vii. p. 565. b Ibid. vol. vii. p. 474.
58 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1647-
ficiency was purposely contrived in order to oblige them to live at free quarters ; and by rendering them odious to the country, serve as a pretence for disbanding them. When they saw such mem- bers as were employed in committees and civil offices accumulate fortunes, they accused them of rapine and public plunder. And, as no plan was pointed out by the commons, for the pay- ment of arrears, the soldiers dreaded, that, after they should be disbanded or embarked for Ire- land, their enemies, who predominated in the two houses, would entirely defraud them of their right, and oppress them with impunity.
MUTINY OF THE ARMY.
On this ground or pretence did the first commo- tions begin in the army. A petition, addressed to Fairfax the general, was handed about ; crav- ing an indemnity, and that ratified by the king, for any illegal actions, of which, during the course of the war, the soldiers might have been guilty; together with satisfaction in arrears, freedom from pressing, relief of widows and maimed soldiers, and pay till disbanded0. The commc js, aware of what combustible materials the army was com- posed, were alarmed at this intelligence. Such a combination, they knew, if not checked in its first
c Pari. Hist. vol. xv. p 342.
1647. CHARLES I. 59
appearance, must be attended with the most dan- gerous consequences, and must soon exalt the military above the civil authority. Besides sum- moning some officers to answer for this attempt, they immediately voted, that the petition tended to introduce mutiny, to put conditions upon the parliament, and to obstruct the relief of Ireland ; and they threatened to proceed against the pro- moters of it, as enemies to the state, and disturb- ers of public peace d. This declaration, which may be deemed violent, especially as the army had some ground for complaint, produced fatal effects. The soldiers lamented, that they were deprived of the privileges of Englishmen ; that they were not allowed so much as to represent their grievances ; that, while petitions from Essex and other places were openly encouraged against the army, their mouths were stopped ; and that they who were the authors of liberty to the na- tion, were reduced, by a faction in parliament, to the most grievous servitude.
In this disposition was the army found by Warwic, Dacres, Massey, and other commission- ers, who were sent to make them proposals for entering into the service of Ireland6. Instead of inlisting, the generality objected to the terms ; demanded an indemnity ; were clamorous for their arrears : and, though they expressed no dis- satisfaction against Skippon, who was appointed
d Pari. Hist. vol. xv. p. 344. ' Rush. vol. vii. p. 45?.
60 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l&tf.
commander, they discovered much stronger in- clination to serve under Fairfax and Cromwel f. Some officers, who were of the presbyterian party, having entered into engagements for this service, could prevail on very few of the soldiers to inlist under them. And, as thest officers lay all under the grievous reproach of deserting the army, and be- traying the interest of their companions, the rest were farther confirmed in that confederacy, which they had secretly formed*.
To petition and remonstrate being the most cautious method of conducting a confederacy, an application to parliament was signed by near 200 officers ; in which they made their apology with a very imperious air, asserted their right of petitioning, and complained of that imputation thrown upon them by the former declaration of the lower house h. The private men likewise of some regiments sent a letter to Skippon ; in which, together with insisting on the same topics, they lament that designs were formed against them and many of the godly party in the king- dom ; and declare that they could not engage for Ireland, till they were satisfied in their ex- pectations, and had their just desires granted '. The army, in a word, felt their power, and re- solved to be masters.
The parliament too resolved, if possible, to preserve their dominion ; but being destitute of
' Pari. Hist. vol. vii. p. 458. g Rush. vol. vii. p. 46l, 556. h Rush. vol. vii. p. 468. ; Idem, ibid. p. 474.
1647. CHARLES I. 61
power, and not retaining much authority, it was not easy for them to employ any expedient which could contribute to their purpose. The expedi- ent which they now made use of, M'as the worst imaginable. They sent Skippon, Cromwel, Ire- ton, and Fleetwood, to the head quarters at Saf- fron Weldon in Essex ; and empowered them to make offers to the army, and inquire into the cause of its distempers. These very generals, at least the three last, were secretly the authors of all the discontents ; and failed not to foment those disorders, which they pretended to appease. By their suggestion, a measure was embraced, which, at once, brought matters to extremity, and ren- dered the mutiny incurable.
In opposition to the parliament at Westmin- ster, a military parliament was formed. Together with a council of the principal officers, which was appointed after the model of the house of peers ; a more free representative of the army was com- posed, by the election of two private men or in- ferior officers, under the title of agitators, from each troop or company k. By these means, both the general humour of that time was gratified, intent on plans of imaginary republics ; and an easy method contrived for conducting underhand, and propagating, the sedition of the army.
This terrible court, when assembled, having first declared that they found no distempers in the
1 Rush. vol. vii. p. 485. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 43.
62 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1647.
army, but many grievances, under which it la- boured, immediately voted the offers of the par- liament unsatisfactory. Eight weeks pay alone, they said, was promised ; a small part of fifty- six weeks, which they claimed as their due : no vi- sible security was given for the remainder : and having been declared public enemies by the com- mons, they might hereafter be prosecuted as such, unless the declaration were recalled K Before matters came to this height, Cromwel had posted up to London, on pretence of laying before the parliament the rising discontents of the army.
The parliament made one vigorous effort more, to try the force of their authority : they voted that all the troops which did not engage for Ireland, should instantly be disbanded in their quarters m. At the same time, the counsel of the army ordered a general rendezvous of all the re- giments, in order to provide for their common interests. And while they thus prepared them- selves for opposition to the parliament, they struck a blow, which at once decided the victory in their favour.
THE KING SEIZED BY JOYCE. June 3.
A party of five hundred horse appeared at Hol- denby, conducted by one Joyce, who had once
1 Rush. vol. vii. p. 4Q7, 505. Whitlocke, p. 250. m Rush. vol. vii. p. 487.
164;. CHARLES I. 63
been a taylor by profession ; but was now ad- vanced to the rank of cornet, and was an active agitator in the army. Without being opposed by the guard, whose affections were all on their side, Joyce came into the king's presence, armed with pistols, and told him, that he must immediately go along with him. Whither ? said the king. To the army, replied Joyce. By what warrant f asked the king. Joyce pointed to the soldiers, whom he brought along ; tall, handsome, and well accoutred. Your warrant, said Charles, smiling, is writ in fair characters, legible without spelling n. The parliamentary commissioners came into the room : they asked Joyce, whether he had any orders from the parliament ? he said, No : from the General ? No : by what authority he came ? He made the same reply as to the king : they would write, they said, to the parliament to know their pleasure. You may do so, replied Joyce ; but in the mean time the king must immediately go with me. Resistance was vain. The king, after protracting the time as long as he could, went into his coach ; and was safely conducted to the army, who were hastening to their rendezvous at Triplo-Heath, near Cambridge. The parliament, informed of this event by their commissioners, were thrown into the utmost consternation0.
Fairfax himself was no less surprised at the king's arrival. That bold measure, executed by
n Whitlocke, p. 254. Warwick, p. 299. • Rush. vol. vii. p. 514, 515. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 47.
04 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1647-
Joyce, had never been communicated to the ge- neral. The orders were entirely verbal ; and no- body avowed them. And while every one affect- ed astonishment at the enterprise, Cromwel, by whose council it had been directed, arrived from London, and put an end to their deliberations.
This artful and audacious conspirator had con- ducted himself in the parliament with such pro- found dissimulation, with such refined hypocrisy, that he had long deceived those, who, being them- selves very dexterous practitioners, in the same arts, should naturally have entertained the more suspicion against others. At every intelligence of disorders in the army, he was moved to the highest pitch of grief and of anger. He wept bitterly : he lamented the misfortunes of his country : he advised every violent measure for suppressing the mutiny ; and by these precipitate counsels, at once seemed to evince his own sin- cerity, and enflamed those discontents, of which he intended to make advantage. He obtested heaven and earth, that his devoted attachment to the parliament had rendered him so odious in the army, that his life, while among them, was in the utmost danger ; and he had very narrowly escaped a conspiracy formed to assassinate him. But in- formation being brought, that the most active officers and agitators were entirely his creatures, the parliamentary leaders secretly resolved, that, next day, when he should come to the house, an accusation should be entered against him, and he
1647. CHARLES I. 65
should be sent to the Tower p. Cromwel, who in the conduct of his desperate enterprises frequently approached to the very brink of destruction, knew how to make the requisite turn with proper dex- terity and boldness. Being informed of this de- sign, he hastened to the camp ; where he was re- ceived with acclamations, and was instantly in- vested with the supreme command, both of ge- neral and army.
Fairfax, having neither talents himself for cabal, nor penetration to discover the cabals of others, had given his entire confidence to Crom- wel ; who, by the best-coloured pretences, and by the appearance of an open sincerity and a scrupulous conscience, imposed on the easy na- ture of this brave and virtuous man. The coun- cil of officers and the agitators were moved alto- gether by Cromwel's direction, and conveyed his will to the whole army. By his profound and artful conduct, he had now attained a situation, where he could cover his enterprises from public view ; and seeming either to obey the commands of his superior officer, or yield to the movements of the soldiers, could secretly pave the way for his future greatness. While the disorders of the army Mere yet in their infancy, he kept at a di- stance, lest his counterfeit aversion might throw a damp upon them, or his secret encouragement be- get suspicion in the parliament. As soon as they
p Clarendon, vol. v. p. 46. VOL. VIII. F
66 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1047-
came to maturity, he openly joined the troops ; and in the critical moment, struck that important blow of seizing the king's person, and depriving the parliament of any resource of an accommoda- tion with him. Though one vizor fell off, an- other still remained to cover his natural counte- nance. Where delay was requisite, he could em- ploy the most indefatigable patience : where ce- lerity was necessary, he flew to a decision. And by thus uniting in his person the most opposite talents, he was enabled to combine the most contrary interests in a subserviency to his secret purposes.
THE ARMY MARCH AGAINST THE PARLIAMENT.
The parliament, though at present defenceless, was possessed of many resources ; and time might easily enable them to resist that violence with which they were threatened. Without farther deliberation, therefore, Cromwel advanced the army upon them, and arrived in a few days at St. Albans.
Nothing could be more popular than this ho- stility which the army commenced against the parliament. As much as that assembly was once the idol of the nation, as much was it now become the object of general hatred and aversion.
The self-denying ordinance had no longer been put in execution, than till Essex, Manches-
1647- CHARLES I. 67
ter, Waller, and the other officers of that party, had resigned their commission : immediately after, it was laid aside by tacit consent; and the mem- bers, sharing all offices of power and profit among them, proceeded with impunity in exercising acts of oppression on the helpless nation. Though the necessity of their situation might serve as an apology for many of their measures, the people, not accustomed to such a species of government, were not disposed to make the requisite allow- ances.
A small supply of 100,000 pounds a year could never be obtained by former kings from the jea- lous humour of parliaments ; and the English, of all nations in Europe, were the least accustomed to taxes : but this parliament, from the com- mencement of the war, according to some com- putations, had levied, in five j^ears, above forty millions q ; yet were loaded with debts and incum- brances, which, during that age, were regarded as prodigious. If these computations should be thought much exaggerated, as they probably arer, the taxes and impositions were certainly far higher
' Clement Walker's History of the Two Juntos, prefixed to his History of Independency, p. 8. This is an author of spirit and ingenuity ; and being a zealous parliamentarian, his autho- rity is very considerable, notwithstanding the air of satire which prevails in his writings. This computation, however, seems much too large 5 especially as the sequestrations, during the time of war, could not be so considerable as afterwards.
rYet the same sum precisely is assigned in another book, called Royal Treasury of England, p. 297. 2
68 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1647.
than in any former state of the English govern- ment; and such popular exaggerations are, at least, a proof of popular discontents.
But the disposal of this money was no less the object of general complaint against the parlia- ment than the levying of it. The sum of 300,000 pounds they openly took, 'tis affirmed s, and di- vided among: their own members. The commit- tees, to whom the management of the different branches of revenue was entrusted, never brought in their accounts, and had unlimited power of secreting whatever sums they pleased from the public treasure*. These branches were needlessly multiplied, in order to render the revenue more intricate, to share the advantages among greater numbers, and to conceal the frauds of which they were universally suspected u.
The method of keeping accounts practised in the exchequer was confessedly the exactest, the most ancient, the best known, and the least liable to fraud. The exchequer was, for that reason, abolished, and the revenue put under the ma- nagement of a committee who were subject to no control w.
The excise was an odious tax, formerly un- known to the nation ; and was now extended over provisions, and the common necessaries of life. Near one half of the goods and chattels, and at least one half of the lands, rents, and revenues of
• Clement Walker's History of Independency, p. 3. 166. ' Ibid, p. 8. • Id. ibid. • Id. ibid.
1647. CHARLES I. «9
the kingdom had been sequestered. To great numbers of royalists, all redress from these se- questrations was refused : to the rest, the remedy could be obtained only by paying large composi- tions and subscribing the covenant, which they abhorred. Besides pitying the ruin and desola- tion of so many ancient and honourable families, indifferent spectators could not but blame the hardship of punishing with such severity, actions which the law in its usual and most undisputed interpretation strictly required of every subject.
The severities too, exercised against the epis- copal clergy, naturally affected the royalists, and even all men of candour, in a sensible manner. By the most moderate computation x, it appears, that above one half of the established clergy had been turned out to beggary and want, for no other crime than their adhering to the civil and religious principles in which they had been edu- cated; and for their attachment to those laws under whose countenance they had at first em- braced that profession. To renounce episcopacy and the liturgy, and to subscribe the covenant, were the only terms which could save them from so rigorous a fate ; and if the least mark of ma- lignancy, as it was called, or affection to the king,
* See John Walker's Attempt towards recovering an Account of the Numbers and Sufferings of the Clergy. The parliament pretended to leave the sequestered clergy a fifth of their revenue j but this author makes it sufficiently appear, that this provision, •mall as it is, was never regularly paid the ejected clergy.
?0 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. X&f.
who so entirely loved them, had ever escaped their lips, even this hard choice was not permit- ted. The sacred character, which gives the priesthood such authority over mankind, becom- ing more venerable from the sufferings endured, for the sake of principle, by these distressed royalists, aggravated the general indignation against their persecutors.
But what excited the most universal complaint was, the unlimited tyranny and despotic rule of the country-committees. During the war, the discretionary power of these courts was excused, from the plea of necessity : but the nation was reduced to despair, when it saw neither end put to their duration, nor bounds to their authority. These could sequester, fine,-- imprison, and cor- porally punish, without law or remedy. They interposed in questions of private property. Under colour of malignancy, they exercised ven- geance against their private enemies. To the ob- noxious, and sometimes to the innocent, they sold their protection. And instead of one star- chamber, which had been abolished, a great number were anew erected', fortified with better pretences, and armed with more unlimited au- thority r.
1 Clement Walker's History of Independency, p. 5. Hollis gives the same representation as Walker of the plundering, op- pressions, and tyranny of the parliament : only, instead of lay- ing the fault on both parties, as Walker does, he ascribes it solely to the independent faction. The presbyterians, indeed, being
s
1617. CHARLES I. 71
Could any thing have increased the indigna- tion against that slavery, into which the nation, from the too eager pursuit of liberty, had fallen, it must have been the reflection on the pretences by which the people had so long been deluded. The sanctified hypocrites, who called their op- pressions the spoiling of the Egyptians, and their rigid severity the dominion of the elect, interlard- ed all their iniquities with long and fervent pray- ers, saved themselves from blushing by their pious grimaces, and exercised in the name of the Lord, all their cruelty on men. An undisguised violence could be forgiven : but such a mockery of the understanding, such an abuse of religion, were, with men of penetration, objects of peculiar re- sentment.
The parliament, conscious of their decay in popularity, seeing a formidable armed force ad- vance upon them, were reduced to despair, and found all their resources much inferior to the present necessity. London still retained a strong attachment to presbyterianism ; and its militia, which was numerous, and had acquired reputa- tion in wars, had by a late ordinance been put into hands in whom the parliament could entirely confide. This militia was now called out, and ordered to guard the lines, which had been drawn round the city, in order to secure it against the
commonly denominated the modern party, would probably be more inoffensive. See Rush. vol. vii. p. 598. and Pari. Hist, vol. xv. p. 230,
7% HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1647.
king. A body of horse was ordered to be in- stantly levied. Many officers, who had been cashiered by the new model of the army, offered their service to the parliament. An army of 5000 men lay in the north under the command of general Pointz, who was of the presbyterian fac- tion ; but these were too distant to be employed in so urgent a necessity. The forces destined for Ireland were quartered in the west ; and, though deemed faithful to the parliament, they also lay at a distance. Many inland garrisons were com- manded by officers of the same party ; but their troops, being so much dispersed, could at present be of no manner of service. The Scots were faithful friends, and zealous for presbytery and the covenant ; but a long time was required, ere they could collect their forces, and march to the assistance of the parliament.
In this situation, it was thought more prudent to submit, and by compliance to stop the fury of the enraged army. The delaration, by which the military petitioners had been voted public ene- mies, was recalled and erased from the journal- book2. This was the first symptom which the parliament gave of submission; and the army, hoping, by terror alone, to effect all their pur- poses, stopped at St. Albans, and entered into negotiation with their masters.
Here commenced the encroachments of the
■ Rush. vol. vii. p. 503, 547- Clarendon, vol. v. p. 45.
1W7- CHARLES I. 73
military upon the civil authority. The army, in their usurpations on the parliament, copied ex- actly the model which the parliament itself had set them, in their recent usurpations on the crown.
Every day they rose in their demands. If one claim was granted, they had another ready, still more enormous and exorbitant; and were deter- mined never to be satisfied. At first they pre- tended only to petition for what concerned them- selves as soldiers : next, they must have a vindi- cation of their character: then it was necessary, that their enemies be punished a : at last they claimed a right of modelling the whole govern- ment, and settling the nation b.
They preserved, in words, all deference and respect to the parliament; but, in reality, in- sulted them and tyrannised over them. That assembly they pretended not to accuse : it was only evil counsellors, who seduced and betray- ed it.
They proceeded so far as to name eleven members, whom, in general terms, they charged with high treason, as enemies to the army and evil counsellors to the parliament. Their names were, Hollis, sir Philip Stapleton, sir William Lewis, sir John Clotworthy, sir William Waller, sir John Maynard, Massey, Glyn, Long, Harley,
* Rush. vol. vii. p. 50Q. b Ibid. vol. vii. p. 5Q7, 633. Ibid. vol. viii. p. 731.
74 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1647.
and Nicholas c. These were the very leaders of the presbyterian party.
They insisted, that these members should im- mediately be sequestered from parliament, and be thrown into prison d. The commons replied, that they could not, upon a general charge, pro- ceed so fare . The army observed to them, that the cases of Strafford and Laud were direct pre- cedents for that purposed At last, the eleven members themselves, not to give occasion for discord, begged leave to retire from the house ; and the army, for the present, seemed satisfied with this mark of submission 8.
Pretending that the parliament intended to levy war upon them, and to involve the nation again in blood and confusion, they required, that all new levies should be stopped. The parliament complied with this demand h.
There being no signs of resistance, the army, in order to save appearances, removed, at the de- sire of the parliament, to a greater distance from London, and fixed their head-quarters at Read- ing. They carried the king along with them in all their marches.
That prince now found himself in a better situation than at Holdenby, and had attained
c Rush. vol. vii. p. 570.
* Ibid. vol. vii. p. 572. e Ibid. vol. vii. p. 592.
' Ibid. vol. vii. p. 594. Whitlocke, p. 259.
1 Rush. vol. vii. p. 593, 594.
fc Ibid. vol. vii. p. 572, 574.
1647. CHARLES I. R
some greater degree of freedom, as well as of consideration, with both parties.
All his friends had access to his presence : his correspondence with the queen was not inter- rupted : his chaplains were restored to him, and he was allowed the use of the liturgy: his children were once allowed to visit him, and they passed a few days at Caversham, where he then resided \ He had not seen the duke of Gloces- ter, his youngest son, and the princess Elizabeth, since he left London, at the commencement of the civil disorders k; nor the duke of York, since he went to the Scottish army before Newark. No private man, unacquainted with the pleasures of a court and the tumult of a camp, more passion- ately loved his family, than did this good prince ; and such an instance of indulgence in the army was extremely grateful to him. Cromwel, who was witness to the meeting of the royal family, confessed, that he never had been present at so tender a scene ; and he extremely applauded the benignity which displayed itself in the whole dis- position and behaviour of Charles.
That artful politician, as well as the leaders of all parties, paid court to the king ; and fortune, notwithstanding all his calamities, seemed again
1 Clarendon, vol. i. p. 51, 52, 5f. k When the king applied to have his children, the parliament always told him, that they could take as much care at London, both of their bodies and souls, as could be done at Oxford. Pari. Hist. vol. xiii.p. 127.
70 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1647-
to smile upon him. The parliament, afraid of his forming some accommodation with the army, ad- dressed him in a more respectful style than form- erly ; and invited him to reside at Richmond, and contribute his assistance to the settlement of the nation. The chief officers treated him with re- gard, and spake on all occasions of restoring him to his just powers and prerogatives. In the pub- lic declarations of the army, the settlement of his revenue and authority were insisted on '. The royalists, every where, entertained hopes of the restoration of monarchy ; and the favour which they universally bore to the army, contributed very much to discourage the parliament, and to forward their submission.
The king began to feel of what consequence he was. The more the national confusions in- creased, the more was he confident that all parties would, at length, have recourse to his lawful au- thority as the only remedy for the public disor- ders. You cannot be without me> said he, on se- veral occasions : you cannot settle the nation but by my assistance. A people without government and without liberty, a parliament without authority, an army without a legal master : distractions every where, terrors, oppressions, convulsions: from this scene of confusion, which could not long continue, all men, he hoped, would be brought to reflect on that ancient government, under which
1 Rush. vol. vii. p. 590.
1647. CHARLES I. 77
they and their ancestors had so long enjoyed hap- piness and tranquillity.
Though Charles kept his ears open to all pro- posals, and expected to hold the balance between the opposite parties, he entertained more hopes of accommodation with the army. He had experi- enced the extreme rigour of the parliament. They pretended totally to annihilate his authority : they had confined his person. In both these particu- lars, the army showed more indulgence10. He had a free intercourse with his friends. And in the proposals, which the council of officers sent for the settlement of the nation, they insisted neither on the abolition of episcopacy, nor of the punishment of the royalists ; the two points to which the king had the most extreme reluctance : and they demanded, that a period should be put to the present parliament ; the event for which he most ardently longed.
His conjunction too seemed more natural with the generals, than with that usurping assembly, who had so long assumed the entire sovereignty of the state, and who had declared their resolution still to continue masters. By gratifying a few persons with titles and preferments, he might draw over, he hoped, the whole military power, and, in an instant, reinstate himself in his civil authority. To Ireton he offered the lieutenancy of Ireland : to Cromwel, the garter, the title of
m Warwick, p. 303. Pari. Hist. vol. xvi. p. 40. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 50.
73 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. I<*f.
earl of Essex, and the command of the army. Negotiations to this purpose were secretly con- ducted. Cromwel pretended to hearken to them ; and was well pleased to keep the door open for an accommodation, if the course of events should, at any time, render it necessary. And the king, who had no suspicion that one born a private gentleman could entertain the daring ambition of seizing a sceptre transmitted through a long- line of monarchs, indulged hopes that he would, at last, embrace a measure which, by all the mo- tives of duty, interest, and safety, seemed to be recommended to him.
While Cromwel allured the king by these ex- pectations, he still continued his scheme of reduc- ing the parliament to subjection, and depriving them of all means of resistance. To gratify the army, the parliament invested Fairfax with the title of general in chief of all the forces in England and Ireland ; and entrusted the whole military authority to a person who, though well inclined to their service, was no longer at his own dis- posal.
They voted that the troops which, in obedi- ence to them, had enlisted for Ireland, and de- serted the rebellious army, should be disbanded, or, in other words, be punished for their fidelity. The forces in the north, under Pointz, had already mutinied against their general, and had entered into an association with that body of the army
164;. CHARLES I. . 79
which was so successfully employed in exalting the military above the civil authority n.
That no resource might remain to the parlia- ment, it was demanded, that the militia of Lon- don should be changed, the presbyterian commis- sioners displaced, and the command restored to those who, during the course of the war, had con- stantly exercised it. The parliament even com- plied with so violent a demand, and passed a vote in obedience to the army0.
By this unlimited patience they purposed to temporise under their present difficulties, and they hoped to find a more favourable opportunity for recovering their authority and influence : but the impatience of the city lost them all the advantage of their cautious measures. A petition against the alteration of the militia was carried to Westmin- ster, attended by the apprentices and seditious multitude, who besieged the door of the house of commons ; and by their clamour, noise, and vio- lence, obliged them to reverse that vote, which they had passed so lately. When gratified in this pretension, they immediately dispersed, and left the parliament at liberty p.
No sooner was intelligence of this tumult con- veyed to Reading, than the army was put in mo- tion. The two houses being under restraint, they were resolved, they said, to vindicate, against the
n Rush, vol. vii. p. 620. ° Ibid. vol. vii. p. 629. 632.
p Ibid. vol. vii. p. 641. 643. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 01. Whit- locke, p. 269. CI. Walker, p. 38.
80 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 164?.
seditious citizens, the invaded privileges of parlia- ment, and restore that assembly to its just free- dom of debate and counsel. In their way to London, they were drawn up on Hounslow-heath; a formidable body, twenty thousand strong, and determined, without regard to laws or liberty, to pursue whatever measures their generals should dictate to them. Here the most favourable event happened, to quicken and encourage their ad- vance. The speakers of the two houses, Man- chester and Lenthal, attended by eight peers, and about sixty commoners, having secretly retired from the city, presented themselves with their maces, and all the ensigns of their dignity; and complaining of the violence put upon, them, ap- plied to the army for defence and protection. They were received with shouts and acclamations: respect was paid to them as to the parliament of England ; and the army being provided with so plausible a pretence, which, in all public trans- actions, is of great consequence, advanced to chastise the rebellious city, and to reinstate the violated parliament \
Neither Lenthal nor Manchester were es- teemed independents ; and such a step in them was unexpected. But they probably foresaw, that the army must, in the end, prevail ; and they were willing to pay court in time to that authority, which began to predominate in the nation.
' Rush. vol. viii. p. 750. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 63.
1617. CHARLES I. «1
The parliament, forced from their temporising measures, and obliged to resign, at once, or com- bat for their liberty and power, prepared them- selves with vigour for defence, and determined to resist the violence of the army. The two houses immediately chose new speakers, lord Hunsdon, and Henry Pelham : they renewed their former orders for enlisting troops : they appointed Massey to be commander : they ordered the trained bands to man the lines : and the whole city was in a ferment, aud resounded with military prepara- tions1.
When any intelligence arrived, that the army stopped or retreated, the shout of One and all, ran with alacrity, from street to street, among the citizens : when news came of their advancing, the cry of Treat and capitulate, was no less loud and vehement*. The terror of an universal pil- lage, and even massacre, had seized the timid in* habitants.
THE ARMY SUBDUE THE PARLIAMENT.
As the army approached, Rainsborow, being sent by the general over the river, presented him- self before Southwark, and was gladly received by some soldiers, who were quartered there for its defence, and who were resolved not to separate
r Rush. vol. vii. p. 646. ■ Whitlocke, p. 26*5.
VOL. VIII. G
82 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. *<54;,
their interests from those of the army. It be- hoved then the parliament to submit. The army marched in triumph through the city, but pre- served the greatest order, decency, and appear- ance of humility. They conducted to Westmin- ster the two speakers, who took their seats as if nothing had happened. The eleven impeached members, being accused as authors of the tumult, were expelled ; and most of them retired beyond sea : seven peers were impeached : the mayor, one sheriff, and three aldermen, sent to the Tower: several citizens and officers of the militia commit- ted to prison : every deed of the parliament an- nulled, from the day of the tumult till the return of the speakers ; the lines about the city levelled : the militia restored to the independents : regi- ments quartered in Whitehall and the Meuse : and the parliament being reduced to a regular formed servitude, a day was appointed of solemn thanksgiving for the restoration of its liberty c.
The independent party among the commons exulted in their victory. The whole authority of the nation, they imagined, was now lodged in their hands; and they had a near prospect of moulding the government into that imaginary republic which had long been the object of their wishes. They had secretly concurred in all en- croachments of the military upon the civil power; and they expected, by the terror of the sword, to
! Rush. vol. viii. p. Jgy, jqq, &c.
1<547» CHARLES I. 83
impose a more perfect system of liberty on the reluctant nation. All parties, the king, the church, the parliament, the presbyterians, had been guilty of errors since the commencement of these disorders : but it must be confessed, that this delusion of the independents and republicans was, of all others, the most contrary to common sense and the established maxims of policy. Yet were the leaders of that party, Vane, Fiennes, St. John, Martin, the men in England the most cele- brated for profound thought and deep contriv- ance ; and by their well-coloured pretences and professions, they had over-reached the whole na- tion. To deceive such men, would argue a su- perlative capacity in Cromwel ; were it not that, besides the great difference there is between dark, crooked councils and true wisdom, an exorbitant passion for rule and authority will make the most prudent overlook the dangerous consequences of such measures as seem to tend, in any degree, to. their own advancement.
The leaders of the army, having established their dominion over the parliament and city, ven- tured to bring the king to Hampton-court, and he lived, for some time, in that palace, with an ap- pearance of dignity and freedom. Such equabi- lity of temper did he possess, that daring all the variety of fortune which he underwent, no differ- ence was perceived in his countenance or be- haviour ; and though a prisoner, in the hands of his most inveterate enemies, he supported, to- 2
84 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1647.
wards all who approached him, the majesty of a monarch ; and that neither with less nor greater state than he had heen accustomed to maintain. His manner, which was not in itself popular nor gracious, now appeared amiable, from its great meekness and equality. »
The parliament renewed their applications to him, and presented him with the same conditions which they had offered at Newcastle. The king declined accepting them, and desired the parlia- ment to take the proposals of the army into con- sideration, and make them the foundation of the public settlement11. He still entertained hopes that his negotiations with the generals would be crowned with success ; though every thing, in that particular, daily bore a worse aspect. Most historians have thought that Cromwel never was sincere in his professions ; and that, having by- force rendered himself master of the king's person, and, by fair pretences, acquired the countenance of the royalists, he had employed these advant- ages to the enslaving of the parliament: and afterwards thought of nothing but the establish- ment of his own unlimited authority, with which he esteemed the restoration, and even life of the king, altogether incompatible. This opinion, so much warranted by the boundless ambition and profound dissimulation of his character, meets with ready belief; though it is more agreeable to
a Rush. vol. viii. p. 8 JO.
1647. CHARLES I. 8.>
the narrowness of human views, and the darkness of futurity, to suppose, that this daring usurper was guided by events, and did not as yet foresee, with any assurance; that unparalleled greatness which he afterwards attained. Many writers of that age have asserted #, that he really intended to make a private bargain with the king; a mea- sure which carried the most plausible appearance both for his safety and advancement: but that he found insuperable difficulties in reconciling to it the wild humours of the army. The horror and antipathy of these fanatics had, for many years, been artfully fomented against Charles ; and though their principles were on all occasions easily warped and eluded by private interest, yet was some colouring requisite, and a flat contra- diction to all former professions and tenets could not safely be proposed to them. It is certain, at least, that Cromwel made use of this reason, why he admitted rarely of visits from the king's friends, and showed less favour than formerly to the royal cause. The agitators, he said, had ren- dered him odious to the army, and had represent- ed him as a traitor, who, for the sake of private interest, was ready to betray the cause of God to the great enemy of piety and religion. Desperate projects too, he asserted to be secretly formed, for the murder of the king; and he pretended much to dread lest all his authority, and that of the
* See note [C] vol. X.
8(5 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1647-
commanding officers, would not be able to re- strain these enthusiasts from their bloody pur- poses*.
Intelligence being daily brought to the king, of menaces thrown out by the agitators, he began to think of retiring from Hampton-court, and of putting himself in some place of safety. The guards were doubled upon him : the promiscuous concourse of people restrained : a more jealous care exerted in attending his person : all, under colour of protecting him from danger ; but really with a view of making him uneasy in his present situation. These artifices soon produced the in- tended effect. Charles, who was naturally apt to be swayed by counsel, and who had not then ac» cess to any good counsel, took suddenly a re- solution of M'ithdrawing himself, though without any concerted, at least any rational, scheme for the future disposal of his person. Attended only by sir John Berkeley, Ashburnham, and Leg, he privately left Hampton-court ; and his escape was not discovered till near an hour after ; when those who entered his chamber found on the table some letters directed to the parliament, to the general, and to the officer who had attended him y. All night he travelled through the forest, and arrived next day at Titchfield, a seat of the earl of South- ampton's, where the countess dowager resided, a woman -of honour, to whom the king knew he
* Clarendon, vol. v. p. Jfo-. » Rush. vol. viii. p. 8/1,
1647. ' CHARLES I. 87
might safely entrust his person. Before he ar- rived at this place, he had gone to the sea-coast ; and expressed great anxiety, that a ship which he seemed to look for, had not arrived ; and thence, Berkeley and Leg, who were not in the secret, conjectured, that his intention was to transport himself beyond sea.
THE KING FLIES TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT.
The king could not hope to remain long con- cealed at Titchfield : what measure should next be embraced was the question. In the neigh- bourhood lay the isle of Wight, of which Ham- mond was governor. This man was entirely de- pendent on Cromwel. At his recommendation he had married a daughter of the famous Hampden, who, during his lifetime, had been an intimate friend of Cromwel's, and whose memory was ever respected by him. These circumstances were very unfavourable: yet, because the governor was nephew to Dr. Hammond, the king's fa- vourite chaplain, and had acquired a good cha- racter in the army, it was thought proper to have recourse to him, in the present exi- gence, when no other rational expedient could be thought of. Ashburnham and Berkeley were dis- patched to the island. They had orders not to inform Hammond of the place where the king
£3 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1^4*.
was concealed, till they had first obtained a pro- mise from him not to deliver up his majesty, though the parliament and army should require him ; but to restore him to his liberty, if he could .not protect him. This promise, it is evident, would have been a very slender security : yet even without exacting it, Ashburnham, impru- dently, if not treacherously, brought Hammond to Titchfield ; and the king was obliged to put himself in his hands, and to attend him to Carisr broke castle in the isle of Wight, where, though received with great demonstrations of respect and duty, he was in reality a prisoner.
Lord Clarendon? is positive, that the king, when he fled from Hampton-court, had no inten- tion of going to this island ; and indeed all the circumstances of that historian's narrative, which Ave have here followed, strongly favour this opi- nion. But there remains a letter of Charles's to the earl of Laneric, secretary of Scotland, in which he plainly intimates, that that measure was volun- tarily embraced ; and even insinuates, that, if he had thought proper, he might have been in Jersey or any other place of safety *. Perhaps, he still coniided in the promises of the generals ; and flat- tered himself, that if he were removed from the fury of the agitators, by which his life was imme- diately threatened, they would execute what they had so often promised in his favour.
1 P. 7g, 80, &c. * See note [D] vol. X.
1647. CHARLES I. f S9
Whatever may be the truth in this matter; for it is impossible fully to ascertain the truth ; Charles never took a weaker step, nor one more agreeable to Cromwel and all his enemies. He was now lodged in a place, removed from his par- tisans, at the disposal of the army, whence it would be very difficult to deliver him, either by force or artifice. And though it was always in the power of Cromwel, whenever he pleased, to have sent him thither ; yet such a measure, with- out the king's consent, would have been very in- vidious, if not attended with some danger. That the king should voluntarily throw himself into the snare, and thereby gratify his implacable per» secutors, was to them an incident peculiarly for- tunate, and proved in the issue very fatal to him. Cromwel being now entirely master of the par* liament, and free from all anxiety with regard to the custody of the king's person, applied himself seriously to quell those disorders in the army,- which he himself had so artfully raised, and so successfully employed against both king and par- liament. In order to engage the troops into a re- bellion against their masters, he had encouraged an arrogant spirit among the inferior officers and private men ; and the camp, in many respects, carried more the appearance of civil liberty than of military obedience. The troops themselves were formed into a kind of republic ; and the plans of imaginary republics, for the settlement of the state, were every day the topics of conversa-
90 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1617-
tion among these armed legislators. Royalty it was agreed to abolish: nobility must be set aside : even all ranks of men be levelled ; and an uni- versal equality of property, as well as of power, be introduced among the citizens. The saints, they said, Avere the salt of the earth : an entire parity had place among the elect: and, by the same rule, that the apostles were exalted from the most ignoble professions, the meanest sentinel, if enlightened by the Spirit, was entitled to equal regard with the greatest commander. In order to wean the soldiers from these licentious maxims, Cromwel had issued orders for discontinuing the meetings of the agitators; and he pretended to pay entire obedience to the parliament, whom, being now fully reduced to subjection, he pur- posed to make, for the future, the instruments of his authority. But the Levellers, for so that party in the army was called, having experienced the sweets of dominion, \vould not so easily be de- prived of it. They secretly continued their meet- ings : they asserted, that their officers, as much as any part of the church or state, needed reform- ation : several regiments joined in seditious re- monstrances and petitions3. Separate rendez- vouses were concerted ; and every thing tended to anarchy and confusion. But this distemper was soon cured by the rough, but dexterous hand' of Cromwel. He chose the opportunity of a re-
• Rush. vol. viii. p. 845. S5(J.
1647. CHARLES I. gi
view, that he might display the greater boldness and spread the terror the wider. He seized the ringleaders before their companions : held in the field a council of war: shot one mutineer instant- ly : and struck such dread into the rest, that they presently threw down the symbols of sedition, which they had displayed, and thenceforth re- turned to their wonted discipline and obedience b- Cromwei had great deference for the counsels of Ireton ; a man who, having grafted the soldier on the lawyer, the statesman on the saint, had adopted such principles as were fitted to introduce the severest tyranny, while they seemed to encou- rage the most unbounded license in human so- ciety. Fierce in his nature, though probably sin- cere in his intentions, he purposed by arbitrary power to establish liberty, and, in prosecution of his imagined religious purposes, he thought him- self dispensed from all the ordinary rules of mo- rality by which inferior mortals must allow them- selves to be governed. From his suggestion, Cromwei secretly called at Windsor a council of the chief officers, in order to deliberate concern- ing the settlement of the nation, and the future disposal of the king's person0. In this confer- ence, which commenced with devout prayers, poured forth by Cromwei himself, and other in- spired persons (for the officers of this army re-
b Rush. vol. viii. p. S75. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 6f . c Clarendon, vol. v. p. Q2.
02 - HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1647.
ceived inspiration with their commission), was first opened the daring and unheard of counsel, of bringing the king to justice, and of punishing, by a judicial sentence, their sovereign, for his pretended tyranny and mal-administration. While Charles lived, even though restrained to the closest prison, conspiracies, they knew, and insurrections would never be wanting in favour of a prince, who was so extremely revered and beloved by his own party, and whom the nation in general began to regard with great affection and compassion. To murder him privately was exposed to the imputa- tion of injustice and cruelt}r, aggravated by the baseness of such a crime ; and every odious epi- thet of traitor and assassin would, by the general voice of mankind, be undisputably ascribed to the actors in such a villany. Some unexpected pro- cedure must be attempted, which would astonish the world by its novelty, would bear the sem- blance of justice, and would cover its barbarity by the audaciousness of the enterprise. Striking in with the fanatical notions of the entire equality of mankind, it would ensure the devoted obedience of the army, and serve as a general engagement against the royal family, whom, by their open and united deed, they would so heinously affront and injure d.
d The following was a favourite text among the enthusiasts of that age : " Let the high praises of God be in the mouths of his " saints, and a two-fold_s\vord in their hands, to execute venge- '* ancc upon the heathen and punishment upon the people ; to
1647. CHARLES I. 03
.- This measure, therefore, being secretly resolv- ed on, it was requisite, by degrees, to make the parliament adopt it, and to conduct them from violence to violence, till this last act of atrocious iniquity should seem in a manner wholly inevita- ble. The king, in order to remove those fears and jealousies, which were perpetually pleaded as reasons for every invasion of the constitution, had offered, by a message sent from Carisbroke- castle, to resign, during his own life, the power of the militia and the nomination to all the great offices ; provided that, after his demise, these prerogatives should revert to the crown". But the parliament acted entirely as victors and enemies ; and, in all their transactions with him, payed no longer any regard to equity or reason. At the instigation of the independents and army, they neglected this offer, and framed four proposals, which they sent him as preliminaries ; and, before they would deign to treat, they demanded his positive assent to all of them. By one he was requited to invest the parliament with the military power for twenty years, together with an authority to levy what- ever money should be necessary for exercising it: and even after the twenty years should be elapsed,
u bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of " iron; to execute upon them the judgments written : this ho- " nour have all his saints." Psalm cxlix. ver. 6, 7> 8> 9« Hugh Peters, the mad chaplain of Cromwel, preached frequently upon this text.
'Rush. vol. viii. p. 880.
91 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1647.
they reserved a right of resuming the same au- thority, whenever they should declare the safety of the kingdom to require it. By the second, he was to recal all his proclamations and declarations against the parliament, and acknowledge that assembly to have taken arms in their just and ne- cessary defence. By the third, he was to annul all the acts, and void all the patents of peerage, which had passed the great seal, since it had been carried from London by lord-keeper Littleton; and at the same time, renounce for the future the power of making peers without consent of parlia- ment. By the fourth, he gave the two houses power to adjourn as they thought proper : a de- mand seemingly of no great importance; but contrived by the independents, that they might be able to remove the parliament to places where it should remain in perpetual subjection to the army f.
The king regarded the pretension as unusual and exorbitant, that he should make such conces- sions, while not secure of any settlement; and should blindly trust his enemies for the condi- tions which they were afterwards to grant him. He required, therefore, a personal treaty with the parliament, and desired, that all the terms on both sides should be adjusted, before any concession, on either side, should be insisted on. The repub- lican party in the house pretended to take fire at
' Clarendon, vol. v. p. 88.
1648. CHARLES I. 95
this answer ; and openly inveighed, in violent terms, against the person and government of the king; whose name, hitherto, had commonly, in all debates, been mentioned with some degree of reverence. Ireton, seeming to speak the sense of the army, under the appellation of many thousand godly men, who had ventured their lives in de- fence of the parliament, said, that the king, by denying the four bills, had refused safety and protection to his people ; that their obedience to him was but a reciprocal duty for his protec- tion of them ; and that, as he had failed on his part, they were freed from all obligations to alle- giance, and must settle the nation without con- sulting any longer so misguided a prince g. Crom- wel, after giving an ample character of the valour, good affections, and godliness of the army, sub- joined, that it was expected the parliament should guide and defend the kingdom by their own power and resolutions, and not accustom the peo- ple any longer to expect safety and government from an obstinate man, whose heart God had hardened; that those who at the expence of their blood had hitherto defended the parliament from so many dangers, would still continue, with fide- lity and courage, to protect them against all op- position in this vigorous measure. " Teach them M not," added he, ' l by your neglecting your own V safety and that of the kingdom (in which theirs
* CI. Walker, p. 70.
*q6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 164S.
" too is involved), to imagine themselves be- " trayed, and their interests abandoned to the " rage and malice of an irreconcileable enemy, " whom, for your sake, they have dared to provoke. <c Beware (and at these words he laid his hand on *' his sword), beware, lest despair cause them to " seek safety by some other means than by ad- ** hering to you, who know not how to consult !' your own safety h." Such arguments prevailed, though ninety-one members had still the courage to oppose. It was voted that no more addresses be made to the king, nor any letters or mes- sages be received from him; and that it be treason for any one, without leave of the two houses, to have any intercourse with him. The lords concurred in the same ordinance'.
By this vote of non-address, so it was called, the king was in reality dethroned, and the whole constitution formally overthrown. So violent a measure was supported by a declaration of the commons no less violent. The blackest calumnies were there thrown upon the king ; such as, even in their famous remonstrance, they thought proper to omit, as incredible and extravagant: the poi- soning of his father, the betraying of Rtochelle, the contriving of the Irish massacre k. By blast- ing his fame, had that injury been in their power, they formed a very proper prelude to the execut- ing of violence on his person.
1 Cl. Walker, p. 70. 'Rush. vol. viii. p, Q65, Q67.
k Rush. vol. viii. p. 0(j8. Clarendon, vol. v. p. Q3.
J 048. CHARLES I. 97
No sooner had the king refused his assent to the four bills, than Hammond, by orders from the army, removed all his servants, cut off his corre- spondence with his friends, and shut him up in close confinement. The king afterwards showed to sir Philip Warwick, a decrepid old man, who, he said, was employed to kindle his fire, and was the best company he enjoyed, during several months that this rigorous confinement lasted1. No amusement was allowed him, nor society, which might relieve his anxious thoughts : to be speedi- ly poisoned or assassinated was the only prospect which he had every moment before his eyes : for he entertained no apprehension of a judicial sen- tence and execution ; an event of which no hi- story hitherto furnished an example. Meanwhile, the parliament was very industrious in publishing, from time to time, the intelligence which they received from Hammond ; how cheerful the king was, how pleased with every one that approached him, how satisfied in his present condition111: as if the view of such benignity and constancy had not been more proper to inflame, than allay, the general compassion of the people. The great source whence the king derived consolation amidst all his calamities, was undoubtedly reli- gion; a principle which in him seems to have contained nothing fierce or gloomy, nothing which enraged him against his adversaries, or terri-
1 Warwick, p. 329. m Rush. vol. viii. p. 989.
VOL. VIII. H
ys HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1648.
fied him with the dismal prospect of futurity. While every thing around him bore a hostile aspect ; while friends, family, relations, whom he passionately loved, were placed at a distance, and unable to serve him ; he reposed himself with confidence in the arms of that Being who pene- trates and sustains all nature, and whose severi- ties, if received with piety and resignation, he regarded as the surest pledges of unexhausted favour.
SECOND CIVIL WAH.
The parliament and army, meanwhile, enjoyed not in tranquillity that power which they had obtained with so much violence and injustice. Combinations and conspiracies, they were sensi- ble, were every where forming around them ; and Scotland, whence the king's cause had received the first fatal disaster, seemed now to promise its support and assistance.
Before the surrender of the king's person at Newcastle, and much more since that event, the subjects of discontent had been daily multiplying between the two kingdoms. The independents, who began to prevail, took all occasions of mortifying the Scots, whom the presbyterians looked on with the greatest affection and veneration. When the Scottish commissioners, who, joined to a commit- tee of English lords and commons, had managed
1648. CHARLES L QQ
the war, were ready to depart, it was proposed in parliament to give them thanks for their civilities and good offices. The independents insisted, that the words Good offices should be struck out ; and thus the whole brotherly friendship and intimate alliance with the Scots resolved itself into an acknowledgment of their being well-bred gen- tlemen.
The advance of the army to London, the sub-* jection of the parliament, the seizing of the king at Holdenbyj his confinement in Carisbroke- castle, were so many blows sensibly felt by that nation, as threatening the final overthrow of pres- bytery, to which they were so passionately de- voted. The covenant was profanely called, in the house of commons, an almanac out of date11; and that impiety, though complained of, had passed uncensured. Instead of being able to de-» termine and establish orthodoxy by the sword and by penal statutes, they saw the sectarian army, who were absolute masters, claim an unbounded liberty of conscience, which the presbyterians re- garded with the utmost abhorrence. All the vio- lences put on the king they loudly blamed, as repugnant to the covenant, by which they stood engaged to defend his royal person. And those very actions of which they themselves had been guilty, they denominated treason and rebellion, when executed by an opposite party.
" CI. Walker, p. SO,
100 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l6<18.
The earls of Loudon, Lauderdale, and Lanenc, who were sent to London, protested against the four bills ; as containing too great a diminu- tion of the king's civil power, and providing no security for religion. They complained, that not- withstanding this protestation, the bills were still insisted on ; contrary to the solemn league, and to the treaty between the two nations. And when they accompanied the English commission- ers to the isle of Wight, they secretly formed a treaty with the king, for arming Scotland in his favour0.
INVASION FROM SCOTLAND.
Three parties at that time prevailed in Scotland : the royalists, who insisted upon the restoration of the king's authority, without any regard to reli- gious sects or tenets : of these Montrose, though absent, was regarded as the head. The rigid presbyterians, who hated the king even more than they abhorred toleration ; and who determined to give him no assistance, till he should subscribe the covenant : these were governed by Argyle. The moderate presbyterians, who endeavoured to reconcile the interests of religion and of the crown, and hoped, by supporting the presbyterian party in England, to suppress the sectarian army,
° Clarendon, vol. v. p. 101.
1648. CHARLES I. 101
and to reinstate the parliament, as well as the king, in their just freedom and authority : the two brothers, Hamilton and Laneric, were leaders of this party.
When Pendennis castle was surrendered to the parliamentary army, Hamilton, who then obtained his liberty, returned into Scotland ; and being generously determined to remember ancient fa- vours, more than recent injuries, he immediately embraced, with zeal and success, the protection of the royal cause. He obtained a vote from the Scottish parliament to arm 40, 000 men in support of the king's authority, and to call over a consi- derable body under Monro, who commanded the Scottish forces in Ulster. And though he openly protested, that the covenant was the foundation of all his measures, he secretly entered into corre- spondence with the English royalists, sir Marma- duke Langdale and sir Philip Musgrave, who had levied considerable forces in the north of England.
The general assembly, who sat at the same time, and was guided by Argyle, dreaded the con- sequence of these measures, and foresaw that the opposite party, if successful, would effect the re- storation of monarchy, without the establishment of presbytery, in England. To join the king be- fore he had subscribed the covenant was, in their eyes, to restore him to his honour before Christ had obtained hisp; and they thundered out ana-
p Whitlocke, p. 305.
\02 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1648.
themas against every one who paid obedience to the parliament. Two supreme independent judi- catures were erected in the kingdom ; one threat- ening the people with damnation anpl eternal tor- ments, the other with imprisonment, banishment, and military execution. The people were dis- tracted in their choice ; and the armament of Ha- milton's party, though seconded by all the civil power, went on but slowly. The royalists he would not as yet allow to join him, lest he might give offence to the ecclesiastical party ; though he secretly promised them trust and preferment as soon as his army should advance into England.
While the Scots were making preparations for the invasion of England, every part of that king- dom was agitated with tumults, insurrections, conspiracies, discontents. It is seldom that the people gain any thing by revolutions in govern- ment; because the new settlement, jealous and insecure, must commonly be supported with more expence and severity than the old : but on no oc- casion was the truth of this maxim more sensibly felt, than in the present situation of England. Complaints against the oppression of ship-money, against the tyranny of the star-chamber, had roused the people to arms : and having gained a complete victory over the crown, they found themselves loaded with a multiplicity of taxes, formerly unknown ; and scarcely an appearance of law and liberty remained in the administration. The presbytetians, who had chiefly supported the
1&18. CHARLES I. 103
war, were enraged to find the prize, just when it seemed within their reach, snatched by violence from them. The royalists, disappointed in their expectations, by the cruel treatment which the king now received from the army, t were strongly animated to restore him to liberty, and to re- cover the advantages which they had unfortu- nately lost. All orders of men were inflamed with indignation at seeing the military prevail over the civil power, and king and parliament at once re- duced to subjection by a mercenary army. Many persons of family and distinction had, from the beginning of the war, adhered to the parliament : but all these were, by the new party, deprived of authority ; and every office was entrusted to the most ignoble part of the nation. A base populace exalted above their superiors : hypocrites exer- cising iniquity under the vizor of religion : these circumstances promised not much liberty or lenity to the people ; and these were now found united in the same usurped and illegal administration.
Though the whole nation seemed to combine in their hatred of military tyranny, the ends which the several parties pursued were so differ- ent, that little concert was observed in their in- surrections. Langhorne, Poyer, and Powel, pres- by terian officers, who commanded bodies of troops in Wales, were the first that declared themselves ; and they drew together a considerable army in those parts, which were extremely devoted to the royal cause. An insurrection was raised in Kent
iO-i HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1648.
fry young Hales and the earl of Norwich. Lord Capel, sir Charles Lucas, sir George Lisle, excited commotions in Essex. The earl of Holland, who had several times changed sides since the comr mencement of the civil wars, endeavoured to as- semble forces in Surrey. Pomfret castle in York- shire was surprised by Maurice. Langdale and Musgrave were in arms, and masters of Berwic and Carlisle in the north.
What seemed the most dangerous circum- stance, the general spirit of discontent had seized the fleet. Seventeen ships, lying in the mouth of the river, declared for the king ; and putting Rainsborow, their admiral, ashore, sailed over to Holland, where the prince of Wales took the command of them q.
The English royalists exclaimed loudly against Hamilton's delays, which they attributed to a refined policy in the Scots ; as if their intentions were, that all the king's party should be first, sup- pressed, and the victory remain solely to the pres- byterians. Hamilton, with better reason, com- plained of the precipitate humour of the English royalists, who, by their ill-timed insurrections, forced him to march his army before his levies were completed, or his preparations in any for- wardness.
No commotions beyond a tumult of the ap- prentices, which was soon suppressed, were raised
n Clarendon, vol. v. p. 137.
l&JS. CHARLES I. 105
in London : the terror of the army kept the citi- zens in subjection. The parliament was so over- awed, that they declared the Scots to be enemies, and all who joined them traitors. Ninety mem- bers, however, of the lower house had the courage to dissent from this vote.
Cromwel and the military council prepared themselves with vigour and conduct for defence. The establishment of the army was at this time 26,000 men; but by enlisting supernumeraries, the regiments were greatly augmented, and com- monly consisted of more than double their stated complement'. Colonel Horton first attacked the revolted troops in Wales, and gave them a con- siderable defeat. The remnants of the vanquish- ed threw themselves into Pembroke, and were there closely besieged, and soon after taken, by Cromwel. Lambert was opposed to Langdale and Musgrave in the north, and gained advan- tages over them. Sir Michael Livesey defeated the earl of Holland at Kingston, and pursuing his victory, took him prisoner at St. Neots. Fair- fax, having routed the Kentish royalists at Maid- stone, followed the broken army : and when they joined the royalists of Essex, and threw them- selves into Colchester, he laid siege to that place, which defended itself to the last extremity. A new fleet was manned, and sent out under the command of Warwic, to oppose the revolted ships, of which the prince had taken the command.
rWhitlocke, p. 284.
10(5 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1648.
While the forces were employed in all quarters, the parliament regained its liberty, and began to act with its wonted courage and spirit. The members, who had withdrawn, from terror of the army, returned ; and infusing boldness into their companions, restored to the presbyterian party the ascendant which it had formerly lost. The eleven impeached members were recalled, and the vote, by which they were expelled, was reversed. The vote too of non-addresses was repealed ; and commissioners, live peers and ten commoners, were sent to Newport, in the isle of Wight, in order to treat with the king8. He was allowed to summon several of his friends and old coun- sellors, that he might have their advice in this important transaction'. The theologians, on both sides, armed with their syllogisms and quo- tations, attended as auxiliaries11. By them the flame had first been raised ; and their appearance was but a bad prognostic of its extinction. Any other instruments seemed better adapted for a treaty of pacification.
TREATY OF NEWPORT. September 18.
When the king presented himself to this com- pany, a great and sensible alteration was remark- ed in his aspect, from what it appeared the year
' Clarendon, vol. v. p. 180. Sir Edward Walker's perfect copies, p. 6. * Ibid. p. 8. ■ Ibid. p. 8, 38.
1648. CHARLES I. 107
before, when he resided at Hampton-court. The moment his servants had been removed, he had laid aside all care of his person, and had allowed his beard and hair to grow, and to hang dishevel- led and neglected. His hair was become almost entirely grey ; either from the decline of years, or from that load of sorrows, under which he la- boured, and which, though borne with constancy, preyed inwardly on his sensible and tender mind. His friends beheld with compassion, and perhaps even his enemies, that grey and discrowned head, as he himself terms it, in a copy of verses, which the truth of the sentiment, rather than any elegance of expression, renders very pathetic w. Having in vain endeavoured by courage to de- fend his throne from his armed adversaries, it now behoved him, by reasoning and persuasion, to save some fragments of it from these peaceful, and no less implacable negotiators.
The vigour of the king's mind, notwithstand- ing the seeming decline of his body, here appear- ed unbroken and undecayed. The parliamentary commissioners would allow none of his counsel to be present, and refused to enter into reasoning with any but himself. He alone, during the transactions of two months, was obliged to main- tain the argument against fifteen men of the greatest parts and capacity in both houses ; and no advantage was ever obtained over him x. This
w Burnet's Memoirs of Hamilton. * Herbert's Memoirs, p. 72.
108 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1648.
-was the scene, above all others, in which he was qualified to excel. A quick conception, a culti- vated understanding, a chaste elocution, a dig- nified manner ; by these accomplishments he triumphed in all discussions of cool and temperate reasoning. The king is much changed, said the earl of Salisbury to sir Philip Warwic : he is ex- tremely improved of late. No, replied sir Philip ; he was always so : but you are now at last sensible of ity. Sir Henry Vane, discoursing with his fellow- commissioners, drew an argument from the king's uncommon abilities, why the terms of pacifica- tion must be rendered more strict and rigid2. But Charles's capacity shone not equally in ac- tion as in reasoning.
The first point, insisted on by the parliament- ary commissioners, was the king's recalling all his proclamations and declarations against the parliament, and the acknowledging that they had taken arms in their own defence. He frankly offered the former concession ; but long scrupled the latter. The falsehood, as well as indignity, of that acknowledgment, begat in his breast an extreme reluctance against it. The king had, no doubt, in some particulars of moment, invaded, from a seeming necessity, the privileges of his people : but having renounced all claim to these usurped powers, having confessed his errors, and having repaired every breach in the constitution,
y Warwick, p. 324. •Clarendon. Sir Edward Walker, p. 319.
Lfltf* CHARLES I. 109
and even erected new ramparts, in order to secure it; he could no longer, at the commencement of the war, be represented as the aggressor. How- ever it might be pretended, that the former dis- play of his arbitrary inclinations, or rather his monarchical principles, rendered an offensive or preventive war in the parliament prudent and reasonable ; it could never, in any propriety of speech, make it be termed a defensive one. But the parliament, sensible that the letter of the law condemned them as rebels and traitors, deemed this point absolutely necessary for their future security ; and the king, finding that peace could be obtained on no other terms, at last yielded to it. He only entered a protest, which was ad- mitted ; that no concession made by him should be valid, unless the whole treaty of pacification were concluded*.
He agreed that the parliament should retain, during the term of twenty years, the power over the militia and army, and that of levying what money they pleased for their support. He even yielded to them the right of resuming, at any time afterwards, this authority, whenever they should declare such a resumption necessary for public safety. In effect, the important power of the sword was for ever ravished from him and his successors b.
He agreed, that all the great offices, during
• Walker, p. 11, 12, 24. * Ibid. p. 51.
110 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1(548.
twenty years, should be filled by both houses of parliament c. He relinquished to them the entire government of Ireland, and the conduct, of the war there d. He renounced the power of the wards, and accepted of 100,000 pounds a year, in lieu of ite. He acknowledged the validity of their great seal, and gave up his ownf. He abandoned the power of creating peers without consent of parliament. And he agreed, that all the debts contracted in order to support the war against him, should be paid by the people.
So great were the alterations made on the English constitution by this treaty, that the king said, not without reason, that he had been more an enemy to his people by these concessions, could he have prevented them, than by any other ac- tion of his life.
Of all the demands of the parliament, Charles refused only two. Though he relinquished almost every power of the crown, he would neither give up his friends to punishment, nor desert what he esteemed his religious duty. The severe repent- ance, which he had undergone, for abandoning Strafford, had, no doubt, confirmed him in the resolution never again to be guilty of a like error. His long solitude and severe afflictions had con- tributed to rivet him the more in those religious principles, which had ever a considerable influence over him. His desire, however, of finishing an
■ Walker, p. 78. d Ibid. p. 45.
• Ibid. p. 69, 77. { Ibid. p. 56, 68.
1048. CHARLES I. HI
accommodation induced him to go a fars in both these particulars, as he thought any-wise consist- ent with his duty.
The estates of the royalists being, at that time, almost entirely under sequestration, Charles, who could give them no protection, consented that they should pay such compositions as they and the parliament could agree on ; and only begged that they might be made as moderate as possible. He had not the disposal of offices ; and it seemed but a small sacrifice to consent, that a certain number of his friends should be rendered inca- pable of public employments8. But when the parliament demanded a bill of attainder and ba- nishment against seven persons, the marquess of Newcastle, lord Digby, lord Biron, sir Marma- duke Langdale, sir Richard Granville, sir Francis Doddington, and judge Jenkins, the king abso- lutely refused compliance : their banishment for a limited time he was willing to agree to h.
Religion was the fatal point about which the differences had arisen ; and of all others, it was the least susceptible of composition or moderation between the contending parties. The parliament insisted on the establishment of presbytery, the sale of the chapter lands, the abolition of all forms of prayer, and strict laws against catholics. The king offered to retrench every thing which he did not esteem of apostolical institution : he was will-
•Walker, p. 6 1 . h Ibid. p. 91, 93.
112 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1648.
ing to abolish archbishops, deans, prebends, canons : he offered that the chapter lands should be let at low leases during ninety-nine years : he consented, that the present church government should continue during three years \ After that time, he required not. that any thing should be restored to bishops but the power of ordination, and even that power to be exercised by advice of the presbyters i. If the parliament, upon the ex- piration of that period, still insisted on their de- mand, all other branches of episcopal jurisdiction were abolished, and a new form of church go- vernment must, by common consent, be esta- blished. The book of common prayer he was willing to renounce, but required the liberty of using some other liturgy in his own chapel k: a demand which, though seemingly reasonable, was positively refused by the parliament.
In the dispute on these articles, one is not sur- prised, that two of the parliamentary theologians should tell the king, That if' he did not consent to the utter abolition of episcopacy, he would be damned. But it is not without some indignation that we read the following vote of the lords and com- mons : M The houses, out of their detestation to " that abominable idolatry used in the mass, do " declare, that they cannot admit of, or consent " unto, any such indulgence in any law, as is " desired by his majesty, for exempting the
i
Walker, p. 29, 35, 49. I Ibid. p. 65.
Ibid. p. 75, 82. Rush. vol. viii. p. 1823.
1&J8. CHARLES I. llj
" queen and her family from the penalties to be " enacted against the exercise of the mass1." The treaty of marriage, the regard to the queen's sex and high station, even common humanity ; all considerations were undervalued, in compa- rison of their bigoted prejudices *.
It was evidently the interest, both of king and parliament, to finish their treaty with all expedi- tion; and endeavour, by their combined force, to resist; if possible, the usurping fury of the army. It seemed even the interest of the parlia- ment, to leave in the king's hand a considerable share of authority, by which he might be enabled to protect them and himself from so dangerous an enemy. But the terms on which they insisted were so rigorous, that the king fearing no worse from the most implacable enemies, was in no haste to come to a conclusion. And so great was the bigotry on both sides, that they were willing to sacrifice the greatest civil interests, rather than relinquish the most minute of their theological contentions. From these causes, assisted by the artifice of the independents, * the treaty was. spun out to such a length, that the invasions and in- surrections were every where subdued ; and the army had leisure to execute their violent and sanguinary purposes.
•Walker, p. fl. * See note [E] vol. X.
VOL. VIII. I
114 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1648.
CIVIL WAR AND INVASION REPRESSED.
Hamilton, having entered England with a nu- merous, although undisciplined, army, durst not unite his forces with those of Langdale ; because the English royalists had refused to take the co- venant; and the Scottish presbyterians, though engaged for the king, refused to join them on any other terms. The two armies marched to- gether, though at some distance ; nor could even the approach of the parliamentary army, under Cromwel, oblige the covenanters to consult their own safety, by a close union with the royalists. When principles are so absurd and so destructive of human society, it may safely be averred, that the more sincere and the more disinterested they are, they only become the more ridiculous and more odious.
Cromwel feared not to oppose 8000 men, to the numerous armies of 20,000, commanded by Hamilton and Langdale. He attacked the latter by surprise, near Preston in Lancashire"1; and, though the royalists made a brave resistance, yet not being succoured in time by their confederates, they were almost entirely cut in pieces. Hamil- ton was next attacked, put to rout, and pursued to Utoxeter, where he surrendered himself pri- soner. Cromwell followed his advantage ; and
" 17th of August.
1548. CHARLES I. 115
marching into Scotland with a considerable body, joined Argyle, who was also in arms ; and having suppressed Laneric, Monro, and other moderate presbyterians, he placed the power entirely in the hands of the violent party. The ecclesiastical authority, exalted above the civil, exercised the severest vengeance on all who had a share in Ha- milton's engagement, as it was called; nor could any of that party recover trust, or even live in safety, but by doing solemn and public penance for taking arms, by authority of parliament, in defence of their lawful sovereign.
The chancellor Loudon, who had, at first, countenanced Hamilton's enterprise, being ter- rified with the menaces of the clergy, had, some time before, gone over to the other party ; and he now openly in the church, though invested with the highest civil character in the kingdom, did penance for his obedience to the parliament, which he termed a carnal self-seeking. He ac- companied his penance with so many tears, and such pathetical addresses to the people for their prayers in this his uttermost sorrow and distress, that an universal weeping and lamentation took place among the deluded audience".
The loan of great sums of money, often to the ruin of families, was exacted from all such as lay under any suspicion of favouring the king's party, though their conduct had been ever so inoffensive.
■ Whitlocke, p. 360.
116 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1648.
This was a device, fallen upon by the ruling party, in order, as they said, to reach Heart Malig- nants0. Never, in this island, was known a more severe and arbitrary government, than was ge- nerally exercised by the patrons of liberty in both kingdoms.
The siege of Colchester terminated in a man- ner no less unfortunate than Hamilton's engage- ment, for the royal cause. After suffering the utmost extremities of famine, after feeding on the vilest aliments; the garrison desired, at last, to capitulate. Fairfax required them to surrender at discretion ; and he gave such an explanation to these terms, as to reserve to himself power, if he pleased, to put them all instantly to the sword. The officers endeavoured, though in vain, to per- suade the soldiers, by making a vigorous sally, to break through, at least to sell their lives as dear as possible. They were obliged p to accept of the conditions offered; and Fairfax, instigated by Ireton, to whom Cromwel, in his absence, had consigned over the government of the passive general, seized sir Charles Lucas and sir George Lisle, and resolved to make them instant sacri- fices to military justice. This unusual severity was loudly exclaimed against by all the prisoners. Lord Capel, fearless of danger, reproached Ireton with it ; and challenged him, as they were all en- gaged in the same honourable cause, to exercise
0 Guthry. p 18th of August.
1648. CHARLES I. 117
the same impartial vengeance on all of them. Lucas was first shot, and he himself gave orders to fire, with the same alacrity as if he had com- manded a platoon of his own soldiers. Lisle in- stantly ran and kissed the dead body, then cheer- fully presented himself to a like fate. Thinking that the soldiers, destined for his execution, stood at too great a distance, he called to them to come nearer: one of them replied, Til xvarrant you, sir, we'll hit you : he answered, smiling, Friends, I have been nearer you when you have missed me. Thus perished this generous spirit, not less beloved for his modesty and humanity, than esteemed for his courage and military conduct.
Soon after, a gentleman appearing in the king's presence, clothed in mourning for sir Charles Lu- cas; that humane prince, suddenly recollecting the hard fate of his friends, paid them a tribute, which none of his own unparalleled misfortunes ever extorted from him : he dissolved into a flood of tears q.
THE KING SEIZED AGAIN BY THE ARMY.
By these multiplied successes of the army, they had subdued all their enemies ; and none re- mained but the helpless king and parliament, to
'Whidocke.
J18 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1648.
oppose their violent measures. From Cromwel's suggestion, a remonstrance was drawn by the council of general officers, and sent to the parlia- ment They there complain of the treaty with the king ; demand his punishment for the blood spilt during the war ; require a dissolution of the present parliament, and a more equal representa- tion for the future ; and assert, that, though ser- vants, they are entitled to represent these import- ant points to their masters, who are themselves no better than servants and trustees of the people. At the same time, they advanced with the army to Windsor, and sent colonel Eure to seize the king's person at Newport, and convey him to Hurst castle in the neighbourhood, where he was de- tained in strict confinement.
This measure being foreseen some time before, the king was exhorted to make his escape, which Mas conceived to be very easy : but having given his word to the parliament not to attempt the re- covery of his liberty during the treaty, and three weeks after; he would not, by any persuasion, be induced to hazard the reproach of violating that promise. In vain was it urged, that a pro- mise given to the parliament could no longer be binding ; since they could no longer afford him protection from violence, threatened him by other persons, to whom he was bound by no tie or en- gagement. The king would indulge no refine- ments of casuistry, however plausible, in such de- licate subjects ; and was resolved, that what de-
1048. CHARLES I. 119
predations soever fortune should commit upon him, she never should bereave him of his honour1".
The parliament lost not courage, notwithstand- ing the danger with which they were so nearly- menaced. Though without any plan for resisting military usurpations, they resolved to withstand them to the uttermost ; and rather to bring on a violent and visible subversion of government, than lend their authority to those illegal and sanguin- ary measures which were projected. They set aside the remonstrance of the army, without deigning to answer it; they voted the seizing of the king's person to be without their consent, and sent a message to the general, to know by what authority that enterprise had been execut- ed; and they issued orders, that the army should advance no nearer to London.
Hollis, the present leader of the presbyteri- ans, was a man of unconquerable intrepidity ; and many others of that party seconded his magnani- mous spirit. It was proposed by them, that the generals and principal officers should, for their disobedience and usurpations, be proclaimed trai- tors by the parliament.
But the parliament was dealing with men who would not be frightened by words, nor retarded by any scrupulous delicacy. The generals, under the name of Fairfax (for he still allowed them to employ his name), marched the army to London,
1 Col. Cooke's Memoirs, p. 174. Rush, vol. viii. p. 1347.
120 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1648.
and placing guards in Whitehall, the Meuse, St, James's, Durham-house, Covent-garden, and Palace-yard, surrounded the parliament with their hostile armaments,
THE HOUSE PURGED. December 6.
The parliament, destitute of all hopes of prevail- ing, retained, however, courage to resist. They attempted, in the face of the army, to close their treaty with the king ; and, though they had for- merly voted his concessions with regard to the church and delinquents to be unsatisfactory, they now took into consideration the final resolution with regard to the whole. After a violent debate of three days, it was carried, by a majority of 129 against 83, in the house of commons, that the king's concessions were a foundation for the houses to proceed upon in the settlement of the kingdom.
Next day, when the commons were to meet, colonel Pride, formerly a drayman, had environed the house with two regiments; and, directed by lord Grey of Groby, he seized in the passage forty-one members of the presbyterian party, and sent them to a low room, which passed by the appellation of hell ; whence they were afterwards carried to several inns. Above 160 members more were excluded ; and none were allowed to enter but the most furious and the most determined of
1643. CHARLES I. 121
the independents; and these exceeded not the number of fifty or sixty. This invasion of the parliament commonly passed under the name of colonel Prides purge j so much disposed was the nation to make merry with the dethroning of those members, who had violently arrogated the whole authority of government, and deprived the king of his legal prerogatives.
The subsequent proceedings of the parliament, if this diminutive assembly deserve that honour- able name, retain not the least appearance of law, equity, or freedom. They instantly reversed the former vote, and declared the king's concessions unsatisfactory. They determined, that no mem- ber, absent at this last vote, should be received, till he subscribed it as agreeable to his judgment. They renewed their former vote of non-addresses. And they committed to prison sir William Waller, sir John Clotworthy, the generals Massey, Brown, Copley, and other leaders of the presbyterians. These men, by their credit and authority, which was then very high, had, at the commencement of the war supported the parliament ; and thereby prepared the way for the greatness of the present leaders, who, at that time, were of small account in the nation.
The secluded members having published a paper, containing a narrative of the violence which had been exercised upon them, and a pro- testation, that all acts were void, which from that time had been transacted in the house of com-
122 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 16-18.
mons ; the remaining members encountered it with a declaration in which they pronounced it false, scandalous, seditious, and tending to the destruction of the visible and fundamental go- vernment of the kingdom.
These sudden and violent revolutions held the whole nation in terror and astonishment. Every man dreaded to be trampled under foot, in the contention between those mighty powers which disputed for the sovereignty of the state. Many began to withdraw their effects beyond sea : fo- reigners scrupled to give any credit to a people, so torn by domestic faction, and oppressed by mi- litary usurpation : even the internal commerce of the kingdom began to stagnate. And in order to remedy these growing evils, the generals, in the name of the army, published a declaration, in which they expressed their resolution of support- ing law and justice 8.
The more to quiet the minds of men, the coun- cil of officers took into consideration, a scheme called The agreement of the people ; being the plan of a republic, to be substituted in the place of that government which they had so violently pulled in pieces. Many parts of this scheme, for correcting the inequalities of the representative, are plausible ; had the nation been disposed to re- ceive it, or had the army intended to impose it. Other parts are too perfect for human nature, and
• Rush. vol. viii. p. 1364.
l&JS. CHARLES I. 125
savour strongly of that fanatical spirit so prevalent throughout the kingdom.
The height of all iniquity and fanatical extra- vagance yet remained ; the public trial and exe- cution of their sovereign. To this period was every measure precipitated by the zealous inde- pendents. The parliamentary leaders of that party had intended, that the army, themselves, should execute that daring enterprise ; and they deemed so irregular and lawless a deed best fitted to such irregular and lawless instruments*. But the ge- nerals were too wise to load themselves singly with the infamy which, they knew, must attend an action so shocking to the general sentiments of mankind. The parliament, they were resolved, should share with them the reproach of a measure which was thought requisite for the advancement of their common ends of safety and ambition. In the house of commons, therefore, a committee was appointed to bring in a charge against the king. On their report a vote passed, declaring it treason in a king to levy war against his parlia- ment, and appointing a High Court of Justice to try Charles for this new invented treason. This vote was sent up to the house of peers.
The house of peers, during the civil wars, had, all along, been of small account ; but it had lately, since the king's fall, become totally contemptible; and very few members would submit to the mor-
1 Whitlocke.
124 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1CH9.
tification of attending it. It happened, that day, to be fuller than usual, and they were assembled, to the number of sixteen. Without one dissent- ing voice, and almost without deliberation, they instantly rejected the vote of the lower house, and adjourned themselves for ten days ; hoping that this delay would be able to retard the furious career of the commons.
The commons were not to be stopped by so small an obstacle. Having first established a principle, which is noble in itself, and seems spe- cious, but is belied by all history and experience, That the people are the origin of all just pozver ; they next declared, that the commons of England, assembled in parliament, being chosen by the people, and representing them, are the supreme authority of the nation, and that whatever is en- acted and declared to be law by the commons, hath the force of law, without the consent of king or house of peers. The ordinance for the trial of Charles Stuart, king of England, so they called him, was again read, and unanimously as- sented to.
In proportion to the enormity of the violences and usurpations, were augmented the pretences of sanctity, among those regicides. " Should any " one have voluntarily proposed," said Cromwel in the house, " to bring the king to punishment, " I should have regarded him as the greatest trai- " tor; but, since providence and necessity have " cast us upon it, I will pray to God for a blessing
1649. CHARLES I. 125
on your counsels ; though I am not prepared to give you any advice on this important occa- sion. Even I myself," subjoined he, " when I was lately offering up petitions for his ma- jesty's restoration, felt my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, and considered this preternatural movement as the answer which heaven, having rejected the king, had sent to my supplications." A woman of Hertfordshire, illuminated by pro- phetical visions, desired admittance into the mili- tary council, and communicated to the officers a revelation, which assured them that their measures were consecrated from above, and ratified by a heavenly sanction. This intelligence gave them great comfort, and much confirmed them in their present resolutions u.
Colonel Harrison, the son of a butcher, and the most furious enthusiast in the army, was sent with a strong party, to conduct the king to Lon- don. At Windsor, Hamilton, who was there de- tained a prisoner, was admitted into the king's presence; and falling on his knees, passionately exclaimed, My dear master I — I have indeed been so to you, replied Charles, embracing him. No far- ther intercourse was allowed between them. The king was instantly hurried away. Hamilton long followed him with his eyes, all suffused in tears, and prognosticated, that in this short salutation,
0 Whitlocke p. 3(50.
12(3 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 16I9.
lie had given the last adieu to his sovereign and his friend.
Charles himself was assured, that the period of his life was now approaching ; but notwith- standing all the preparations which were making, and the intelligence which he received, he could not, even yet, believe that his enemies really meant to conclude their violences by a public trial and execution. A private assassination he every moment looked for ; and though Harrison assured him, that his apprehensions were entirely groundless, it was by that catastrophe, so fre- quent with dethroned princes, that he expected to terminate his life. In appearance, as well as in reality, the king was now dethroned. All the exterior symbols of sovereignty were withdrawn, and his attendants had orders to serve him with- out ceremony. At first he was shocked with in- stances of rudeness and familiarity* to which he had been so little accustomed. Nothing so con- temptible as a despised prince ! was the reflection which they suggested to him. But he soon re- conciled his mind to this, as he had done to his other calamities.
All the circumstances of the trial were now adjusted; and the high court of justice fully con- stituted. It consisted of 133 persons as named by the commons; but there scarcely ever sat above 70: so difficult was it, notwithstanding the blindness of prejudice and the allurements of in- terest, to engage men of any name or character in
iG4g. CHARLES I. 127
that criminal measure. Cromwel, Ireton, Har- rison, and the chief officers of the army, most of them of mean birth, were members, together with some of the lower house and some citizens of London. The twelve judges were at first ap- pointed in the number; but as they had affirmed, that it was contrary to all the ideas of English law to try the king for treason, by whose author- ity all accusations for treason must necessarily be conducted ; their names, as well as those of some peers, were afterwards struck out. Brad- shaw, a lawyer, was chosen president. Coke was appointed solicitor for the people of England. Dorislaus, Steele, and Aske, were named assist- ants. The court sat in Westminster-hall.
It is remarkable, that, in calling over the court, when the crier pronounced the name of Fairfax, which had been inserted in the number, a voice came from one of the spectators, and cried, He has more zvit than to be here. When the charge was read against the king, In the name of the people of England ; the same voice exclaimed, Not a tenth part of them. Axtel, the officer who guarded the court, giving orders to fire into the box whence these insolent speeches came ; it was discovered, that lady Fairfax was there, and that it was she who had had the courage to utter them. She was a person of noble extraction, daughter of Horace, lord Vere of Tilbury ; but being seduced by the violence of the times, she had long se- conded her husband's zeal against the royal cause,
128 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 164§.
and was now, as well as he, struck with abhor- rence at the fatal and unexpected consequence of all his boasted victories.
THE KING'S TRIAL.
The pomp, the dignity, the ceremony of this transaction corresponded to the greatest concep- tion that is suggested in the annals of human kind ; the delegates of a great people sitting in judgment upon their supreme magistrate, and trying him for his misgovernment and breach of trust. The solicitor, in the name of the com- mons, represented, that Charles Stuart, being ad- mitted king of England, and entrusted with a limited power; yet nevertheless, from a wicked design to erect an unlimited and tyrannical go- vernment, had traiterously and maliciously levied war against the present parliament, and the people whom they represented, and was therefore im- peached as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and a pub- lic and implacable enemy to the commonwealth. After the charge was finished, the president di- rected his discourse to the king, and told him, that the court expected his answer.
The king, though long detained a prisoner, and now produced as a criminal, sustained, by his magnanimous courage, the majesty of a monarch. With great temper and dignity he declined the authority of the court, and refused to submit
J64g. CHARLES I. 129
himself to their jurisdiction. He represented, that having been engaged in treaty with his two houses of parliament, and having finished almost every article, he had expected to be brought to his capital in another manner, and ere this time, to have been restored to his power, dignity, re- venue, as well as to his personal liberty: that he could not now perceive any appearance of the. upper house, so essential a member of the consti- tution ; and had learned, that even the commons, whose authority was pretended, were subdued by lawless force, and were bereaved of their liber- ty: that he himself was their native heredi- tary king; nor was the whole authority of the state, though free and united, entitled to try him, who derived his dignity from the Supreme Majesty of heaven : that, admitting those extra- vagant principles which levelled all orders of men, the court could plead no power delegated by the people ; unless the consent of every individual, down to the meanest and most ignorant peasant, had been previously, asked and obtained: that he acknowledged, without scruple, that he had a trust committed to him, and one most sacred and inviolable ; he was entrusted with the liberties of his people, and would not now betray them, by recognizing a power founded on the most atro- cious violence and usurpation : that having taken arms, and frequently exposed his life in defence of public liberty, of the constitution, of the funda- mental laws of the kingdom, he was willing, in
VOL. VIII. k
130 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1649.
this last and most solemn scene, to seal with his blood those precious rights for which, though in vain, he had so long contended : that those who arrogated a title to sit as his judges, were born his subjects, and born subjects to those laws, which determined, that the king can do no wrong : that he was not reduced to the necessity of shel- tering himself under this general maxim, which guards every English monarch, even the least de- serving ; but was able, by the most satisfactory reasons, to justify those measures, in which he had been engaged : that to the whole world, and even to them, his pretended judges, he was de- sirous, if called upon in another manner, to prove the integrity of his conduct, and assert the justice of those defensive arms, to which, unwillingly and unfortunately, he had had recourse : but that, in order to preserve a uniformity of conduct, he must at present forego the apology of his inno- cence ; lest, by ratifying an authority, no better founded than that of robbers and pirates, he be justly branded as the betrayer, instead of being applauded as the martyr, of the constitution.
The president, in order to support the majesty of the people, and maintain the superiority of his court above the prisoner, still inculcated, that he must not decline the authority of his judges; that they over-ruled his objections; that they were delegated by the people, the only source of every lawful power ; and that kings themselves acted but in trust from that community, which had in-
1649. CHARLES I. 131
vested this high court of justice with its jurisdic- tion. Even according to those principles, which in his present situation he was perhaps obliged to adopt, his behaviour in general will appear not a little harsh and barbarous ; but when we consider him as a subject, and one too of no high charac^ ter, addressing himself to his unfortunate sove- reign, his style will be esteemed, to the last de- gree, audacious and insolent.
Three times was Charles produced before the Court, and as often declined their jurisdiction. On the fourth, the judges having examined some witnesses, by whom it was proved that the king had appeared in arms against the forces commis- sioned by the parliament ; they pronounced sen- tence against him* He seemed very anxious, at this time, to be admitted to a conference with the two houses ; and it was supposed, that he in- tended to resign the crown to his son : but the court refused compliance, and considered that re- quest as nothing but a delay of justice.
It is confessed, that the king's behaviour, during this last scene of his life, does honour to his memory ; and that, in all appearances before his judges, he never forgot his part, either as a prince or as a man. Firm and intrepid, he main- tained, in each reply, the utmost perspicuity and justness both of thought and expression : mild and equable, he rose into no passion at that un- usual authority which was assumed over him. His soul, without effort or affectation, seemed 2
132 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1649.
only to remain in the situation familiar to it, and to look down with contempt on all the efforts of human malice and iniquity. The soldiers, insti- gated by their superiors, were brought, though with difficulty, to cry aloud for justice: Poor souls ! said the king to one of his attendants ; for a little money they would do as much against their commanders'". Some of them were permitted to go the utmost length of brutal insolence, and to spit in his face, as he was conducted along the passage to the court. To excite a sentiment of piety was the only effect which this inhuman in- sult was able to produce upon him.
The people, though under the rod of lawless unlimited power, could not forbear, with the most ardent prayers, pouring forth their wishes for his preservation; and, in his present distress, they avowed him, by their generous tears for their monarch, whom, in their misguided fury, they had before so violently rejected. The king was soft- ened at this moving scene, and expressed his gra- titude for their dutiful affection. One soldier too, seized by contagious sympathy, demanded from heaven a blessing on oppressed and fallen majesty : his officer overhearing the prayer, beat him to the ground in the king's presence. The punishment, methinks, exceeds the offence : this was the reflection which Charles formed on that oc- casion \
* Rushwortb, vol. viii. p. 1425. x Warwick, p. 339.
164Q. CHARLES I. 133
As soon as the intention of trying the king was known in foreign countries, so enormous an action was exclaimed against by the general voice of reason and humanity; and all men, under whatever form of government they were born, re- jected this example, as the utmost effort of un- disguised usurpation, and the most heinous insult on law and justice. The French ambassador, by orders from his court, interposed in the king's behalf: the Dutch employed their good offices: the Scots exclaimed and protested against the violence : the queen, the prince, wrote pathetic letters to the parliament. All solicitations were found fruitless with men whose resolutions were fixed and irrevocable.
Four of Charles's friends, persons of virtue and dignity, Richmond, Hertford, Southampton, Linde- sey, applied to the commons. They represented that they were the king's counsellors, and had concurred, by their advice, in all those measures which were now imputed as crimes to their royal master: that in the eye of the law, and according to the dictates of common reason, they alone were guilty, and were alone exposed to censure for every blameable action of the prince : and that they now presented themselves, in order to save, by their own punishment, that precious life which it became the commons themselves, and every subject, with the utmost hazard, to protect and defend*. Such a generous effort tended to their
' Perinchef, p. 85. Lloyde, p. 319-
JSI HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Wig.
honour; but contributed nothing towards the king's safety.
Tbe people remained in that silence and asto- nishment which all great passions, when they have not an opportunity of exerting themselves, na- turally produce in the human mind. The soldiers being incessantly plyed with prayers, sermons, and exhortations, were wrought up to a degree of fury, and imagined, that in the acts of the most extreme disloyalty towards their prince, consisted their greatest merit in the eye of heaven2.
Three days were allowed the king between his sentence and his execution. This interval he passed with great tranquillity, chiefly in reading and devotion. All his family that remained in England were allowed access to him. It con- sisted only of the princess Elizabeth and the duke of Glocester ; for the duke of York had made his escape. Glocester was little more than an infant : the princess, notwithstanding her tender years, shewed an advanced judgment; and the calamities of her family had made a deep impression upon her. After many pious consolations and advices, the king gave her in charge to tell the queen, that, during the whole course of his life, he had never once, even in thought, failed in his fidelity towards her ; and that his conjugal tenderness and Jiis life should have an equal duration.
To the young duke too, he could not forbear
* Burnet's History of his own Times.
l<54p. CHARLES I. 135
giving some advice, in order to season his mind with early principles of loyalty and obedience to- wards his brother, who was so soon to be his sove- reign. Holding him on his knee, he said, '* Now " they will cut off thy father's head," At these words the child looked very stedfastly upon him. Mark, child ! what I say : they will cut off my head! and perhaps make thee a king: but mark what I say, thou must not be a king, as long as thy brothers Charles and James are alive. They will cut off thy brothers' heads when they can catch them ! and thy head too they will cut off at last ! therefore, I charge thee, do not be made a king by them !" The duke, sighing, replied, " I will be torn in pieces " first !" So determined an answer from one of such tender years, filled the king's eyes with tears of joy and admiration.
Every night, during this interval, the king slept sound as usual ; though the noise of work- men, employed in framing the scaffold, and other preparations for his execution, continually re- sounded in his ears3. The morning of the fatal day he rose early ; and calling Herbert, one of his attendants, he bade him employ more than usual care in dressing him, and preparing him for so great and joyful a solemnity. Bishop Juxon, a man endowed with the same mild and steady virtues by which the king himself was so much
* Clement Walker's History of Independency.
136 , HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 11549-
distinguished, assisted him in his devotions, and paid the last melancholy duties to his friend and sovereign.
EXECUTION OF THE KING.
The street before Whitehall was the place de- stined for the execution : for it was intended, by choosing that very place, in sight of his own pa- lace, to . display more evidently the triumph of popular justice over royal majesty. When the king came upon the scaffold, he found it so sur- rounded with soldiers, that he could not expect to be heard by any of the people : he addressed, therefore, his discourse to the few persons who were about him ; particularly colonel Tomlinson, to whose care he had lately been committed, and upon whom, as upon many others, his amiable deportment had wrought an entire conversion. He justified his own innocence in the late fatal wars, and observed that he had not taken arms till after the parliament had enlisted forces ; nor had he any other object in his warlike operations, than to preserve that authority entire, which his predecessors had transmitted to him. He threw not, however, the blame upon the parliament; but was more inclined to think that ill- instru- ments had interposed, and raised in them fears and jealousies with regard to his intentions. Though innocent towards his people, he acknow-
rub/uhed 2?o>rJ;iSc4. fy- JaSWaUu, 46 •PaOmosUr RM-Jondon
1649. CHARLES I. 137
ledged the equity of his execution in the eyes of his Maker ; and observed, that an unjust sen- tence, which he had suffered to take effect, was now punished by an unjust sentence upon himself. He forgave all his enemies, even the chief instru- ments of his death; but exhorted them and the whole nation to return to the ways of peace, by paying obedience to their lawful sovereign, his son and successor. When he was preparing him- self for the block, bishop Juxon called to him : There is, sir, but one stage more, which, though turbulent and troublesome, is yet a very short one. Consider, it will soon carry you a great way; it will carry you from earth to heaven ; and there you shall find, to your great joy, the prize to which you hasten, a crown of glory." " I go," replied the king, " from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown; where no disturbance can have place." At one blow was his head severed from his body. A man in a vizor performed the office of executioner : an- other, in a like disguise, held up to the spectators the head streaming with blood, and cried aloud, This is the head of a traitor !
It is impossible to describe the grief, indigna- tion, and astonishment, which took place, not only among the spectators, who were overwhelmed with a flood of sorrow, but throughout the whole nation, as soon as the report of this fatal exe- cution was conveyed to them. Never monarch, in the full triumph of success and victory, was
138 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 164Q.
more dear to his people, than his misfortunes and magnanimity, his patience and piety, had ren- dered this unhappy prince. In proportion to their former delusions, which had animated them against him, was the violence of their return to duty and affection ; while each reproached him- self, either with active disloyalty towards him, or with too indolent defence of his oppressed cause. On weaker minds, the effect of these complicated passions was prodigious. Women are said to have cast forth the untimely fruit of their womb : others fell into convulsions, or sunk into such a melancholy as attended them to their grave : nay, some, unmindful of themselves, as though they could not, or would not, survive their beloved prince, it is reported, suddenly fell down dead. The very pulpits were bedewed with unsuborned tears; those pulpits, which had for- merly thundered out the most violent impreca- tions and anathemas against him. And all men united in their detestation of those hypocritical parricides, who, by sanctified pretences, had so long disguised their treasons, and in this last act of iniquity, had thrown an indelible stain upon the nation.
A fresh instance of hypocrisy was displayed the very day of the king's death. The generous Fairfax, not content with being absent from the trial, had used all the interest which he yet re- tained, to prevent the execution of the fatal sen- tence; and had even employed persuasion with
164(J. CHARLES I. 139
his own regiment, though none else would follow him, to rescue the king from his. disloyal murder- ers. Cromwei and Ireton, informed of this in- tention, endeavoured to convince him that the Lord had rejected the king; and they exhorted him to seek by prayer some direction from heaven on this important occasion : but they concealed from him that they had already signed the war- rant for the execution. Harrison was the person appointed to join in prayer with the unwary ge- neral. By agreement, he prolonged his doleful cant, till intelligence arrived, that the fatal blow was struck. He then rose from his knees, and insisted with Fairfax, that this event was a mi- raculous and providential answer, which heaven had sent to their devout supplications b.
It being remarked, that the king, the moment before he stretched out his neck to the execu- tioner, had said to Juxon, with a very earnest accent, the single word Remember; great my- steries were supposed to be concealed under that expression ; and the generals vehemently insisted with the prelate, that he should inform them of the king's meaning. Juxon told them, that the king, having frequently charged him to inculcate on his son the forgiveness of his mur- derers, had taken this opportunity, in the last moment of his life, when his commands, he sup- posed, would be regarded as sacred and inviolable, to reiterate that desire ; and that his mild spirit k Herbert, p. 135.
140 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l64g.
thus terminated its present course, by an act of benevolence towards his greatest enemies.
The character of this prince, as that of most men, if not of all men, was mixed ; but his vir- tues predominated extremely above his vices, .or more properly speaking, his imperfections : For scarce any of his faults rose to that pitch as to merit the appellation of vices. To consider him in the most favourable light, it may be affirmed that his dignity was free from pride, his humanity from weakness, his bravery from rashness, his temperance from austerity, his frugality from avarice : all these virtues, in him, maintained their proper bounds, and merited unreserved praise. To speak the most harshly of him, we may affirm that many of his good qualities were attended with some latent frailty, which, though seemingly inconsiderable, was able, when se- conded by the extreme malevolence of his for- tune, to disappoint them of all their influence : his beneficent disposition was clouded by a man- ner not very gracious; his virtue was tinctured with superstition ; his good sense was disfigured by a deference to persons of a capacity inferior to his own ; and his moderate temper exempted him not from hasty and precipitate resolutions. He deserves the epithet of a good, rather than a great man; and was more fitted to rule in a regular established government, than either to give way to the encroachments of a popular assembly, or finally to subdue their pretensions. He wanted
1649. CHARLES 1. 141
suppleness and dexterity sufficient for the first measure : he was not endowed with the vigour requisite for the second. Had he been born an absolute prince, his humanity and good sense had rendered his reign happy and his memory pre- cious* had the limitations and prerogative been in his time quite fixed and certain, his integrity had made him regard, as sacred, the boundaries of the constitution. Unhappily, his fate threw him into a period when the precedents of many former reigns savoured strongly of arbitrary power, and the genius of the people ran violently towards liberty. And if his political prudence was not sufficient to extricate him from so peril- ous a situation, he may be excused ; since, even after the event, when it is commonly easy to cor- rect all errors, one is at a loss to determine what conduct, in his circumstances, could have main- tained the authority of the crown, and preserved the peace of the nation. Exposed without reve- nue, without arms, to the assault of furious, im- placable, and bigoted factions, it was never per- mitted him, but with the most fatal consequences, to commit the smallest mistake ; a condition too rigorous to be imposed on the greatest human capacity.
Some historians have rashly questioned the good faith of this prince : but, for this reproach, the most malignant scrutiny of his conduct, which, in every circumstance, is now thoroughly known, affords not any reasonable foundation.
142 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1649.
On the contrary, if we consider the extreme diffi- culties to which he was so frequently reduced, and compare the sincerity of his professions and declarations; we shall avow, that probity and honour ought justly to be numbered among his most shining qualities. In every treaty, those concessions which he thought he could not in conscience maintain, he never could, by any motive or persuasion, be induced to make. And though some violations of the petition of right may perhaps be imputed to him ; these are more to be ascribed to the necessity of his situation, and to the lofty ideas of royal prerogative, which, from former established precedents, he had im- bibed, than to any failure in the integrity of his principles *.
This prince was of a comely presence ; of a sweet, but melancholy aspect. His face was re- gular, handsome, and well complexioned ; his body strong, healthy, and justly proportioned ; and being of a middle stature, he was capable of enduring the greatest fatigues. He excelled in horsemanship and other exercises ; and he pos- sessed all the exterior, as well as many of the essential qualities which form an accomplished prince.
The tragical death of Charles begat a question, whether the people, in any case, were entitled to judge and to punish their sovereign; and most
• See note [F] vol. X.
1049. CHARLES I. 143
men, regarding chiefly the atrocious usurpation of the pretended judges, and the merit of the virtuous prince who suffered, were inclined to condemn the republican principle as highly sedi- tious and extravagant : but there still were a few who, abstracting from the particular circum- stances of this case, were able to consider the question in general, and were inclined to mo- derate, not contradict, the prevailing sentiment. Such might have been their reasoning. If ever, on any occasion, it were laudable to conceal truth from the populace, it must be confessed, that the doctrine of resistance affords such an example ; and that all speculative reasoners ought to observe, with regard to this principle, the same cautious silence, which the laws in every species of government have ever prescribed to them- selves. Government is instituted in order to re- strain the fury and injustice of the people ; and being always founded on opinion, not on force, it is dangerous to weaken, by these speculations, the reverence which the multitude owe to au- thority, and to instruct them beforehand, that the case can ever happen, when they may be freed from their duty of allegiance. Or should it be found impossible to restrain the license of human disquisitions, it must be acknowledged,; that the doctrine of obedience ought alone to be inculcated, and that the exceptions, which are rare, ought sel- dom or never to be mentioned in popular reason- ings and discourses. Nor is there any danger,
M4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1649
that mankind, by this prudent reserve, should universally degenerate into a state of abject servi- tude. When the exception really occurs, even though it be not previously expected and des- canted on, it must, from its very nature, be so obvious and undisputed, as to remove all doubt, and overpower the restraint, however great, im- posed by teaching the general doctrine of obe- dience. But between resisting a prince and de- throning him, there is a wide interval ; and the abuses of power, which can warrant the latter vio- lence, are greater and more enormous than those which will justify the former. History, however, supplies us with examples even of this kind ; and the reality of the supposition, though, for the fu- ture, it ought ever to be little looked for, must, by all candid inquirers, be acknowledged in the past. But between dethroning a prince and pu- nishing him, there is another very wide interval ; and it were not strange, if even men of the most enlarged thought should question, whether human nature could ever in any monarch reach that height of depravity, as to warrant, in revolted subjects, this last act of extraordinary jurisdic- tion. That illusion, if it be an illusion, which teaches us to pay a sacred regard to the persons of princes, is so salutary, that to dissipate it by the formal trial and punishment of a sovereign, will have more pernicious effects upon the people, than the example of justice can be supposed to have a beneficial influence upon princes, by check-
1649. CHARLES I. 145
ing their career of tyranny. It is dangerous also, by these examples, to reduce princes to despair, or bring matters to such extremities against per- sons endowed with great power, as to leave them no resource, but in the most violent and most san- guinary counsels. This general position being established, it must however be observed, that no reader, almost of any party or principle, was ever shocked, when he read, in ancient history, that the Roman senate voted Nero, their absolute so- vereign, to be a public enemy, and, even without trial, condemned him to the severest and most ignominious punishment; a punishment from which the meanest Roman citizen was, by the laws, exempted. The crimes of that bloody ty- rant are so enormous, that they break through all rules ; and extort a confession, that such a de- throned prince is no longer superior to his people, and can no longer plead, in his own defence, laws, which were established for conducting the ordi- nary course of administration. But when we pass from the case of Nero to that of Charles, the great disproportion, or rather total contrariety, of character immediately strikes us ; and we stand astonished, that, among a civilized people, so much virtue could ever meet with so fatal a cata- strophe. History, the great mistress of wisdom, furnishes examples of all kinds ; and every pru- dential, as well as moral precept, may be author-
VOL. VIII l
146' HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1649.
ised by those events, which her enlarged mirror is able to present to us. From the memorable revolutions which passed in England during this period, we may naturally deduce the same useful lesson, which Charles himself, in his later years, inferred ; that it is dangerous for princes, even from the appearance of necessity, to assume more authority than the laws have allowed them. But it must be confessed, that these events furnish us with another instruction, no less natural, and no less useful, concerning the madness of the people, the furies of fanaticism, and the danger of merce- nary armies.
In order to close this part of the British his- tory, it is also necessary to relate the dissolution of the monarchy in England : that event soon followed upon the death of the monarch. When the peers met, on the day appointed in their ad- journment, they entered upon business, and sent down some votes to the commons, of which the latter deigned not to take the least notice. In a few days, the lower house passed a vote, that they would make no more addresses to the house of peers, nor receive any from them ; and that that house was useless and dangerous, and was there- fore to be abolished. A like vote passed with re- gard to the monarchy ; and it is remarkable, that Martin, a zealous republican, in the debate on this question, confessed, that, if they desired a king, the last was as proper as any gentleman in
1349- CHARLES I. uf
England*. The commons ordered a new great seal to be engraved, on which that assembly was represented, with this legend, On the first
YEAR OF FREEDOM, BY God's BLESSING, RE- STORED, 1648. The forms of all public business were changed, from the king's name, to that of the keepers of the liberties of England d. And it was declared high treason to proclaim, or any- otherwise acknowledge, Charles Stuart, commonly called prince of Wales.
The commons intended, it is said, to bind the princess Elizabeth apprentice to a button-maker : the duke of Glocester was to be taught some other mechanical employment. But the former soon died ; of grief, as is supposed, for her fa^ ther's tragical end : the latter was, by Cromwel, sent beyond sea.
The king's statue, in the Exchange, was thrown down; and on the pedestal these words were inscribed ; Exit tyrannus, begum ulti- mus; The tyrant is gone, the last of the kings.
Duke Hamilton was tried by a new high court of justice, as earl of Cambridge in Eng- land ; and condemned for treason. This sen- tence, which was certainly hard, but which ought to save his memory from all imputations of trea-
c Walker's History of Independency, part II. d The court of King's Bench was called the court of Public Bench. So cautious on this head were some of the republicans, that, it is pretended, in reciting the Lord's prayer, they would not say thy kingdom come, but always thy common-wealth come.
2
143 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1649.
chery to his master, was executed on a scaffold, erected before Westminster- hall. Lord Capel underwent the same fate. Both these noblemen had escaped from prison, but were afterwards dis- covered and taken. To all the solicitations of their friends for pardon, the generals and parlia- mentary leaders still replied, that it was certainly the intention of Providence they should suffer; since it had permitted them to fall into the hands of their enemies, after they had once recovered their liberty.
The earl of Holland lost his life by a like sentence. Though of a polite and courtly beha- viour, he died lamented by no party. His ingra- titude to the king, and his frequent changing of sides, Avere regarded as great stains on his me- mory. The earl of Norwich, and sir John Owen, being condemned by the same court, were par- doned by the commons.
The king left six children ; three males, Charles, born in 1630, James duke of York, born in 1633, Henry duke of Glocester, born in 1641 ; and three females, Mary princess of Orange, born 1631, Elizabeth, born 1635, and Henrietta, after- wards duchess of Orleans, born at Exeter 1644.
The archbishops of Canterbury in this reign were Abbot and Laud : the lord keepers, Williams bishop of Lincoln, lord Coventry, lord Finch, lord Littleton, and sir Richard Lane ; the high admi- rals, the duke of Buckingham and the earl of Northumberland ; the treasurers, the earl of Marl-
l64g. CHARLES I. 149
borough, the earl of Portland, Juxon bishop of London, and lord Cottington ; the secretaries of state, lord Conway, sir Albertus Moreton, Coke, sir Henry Vane, lord Falkland, lord Digby, and sir Edward Nicholas.
It may be expected, that we should here men- tion the Icon Basiliki, a work published in the king's name a few days after his execution. It seems almost impossible, in the controverted parts of history, to say any thing which will, satisfy the zealots of both parties : but with regard to the genuineness of that production, it is not easy for an historian to fix any opinion, which will be en- tirely to his own satisfaction. The proofs brought to evince that this work is or is not the king's, are so convincing, that if any impartial reader peruse any one side apart8, he will think it im- possible that arguments could be produced, suffi- cient to counterbalance so strong an evidence : and when he compares both sides, he will be some time at a loss to fix any determination. Should an absolute suspense of judgment be found diffi-
e See on the one hand, Toland's Amyntor, and on the other, Wagstaff's Vindication of the royal Martyr, with Young's addi- tion. We may remark, that lord Clarendon's total silence with regard to this subject, in so full a history, composed in vindica- tion of the king's measures and character, forms a presumption on Toland's side, and a presumption of which that author was ignorant ; the works of the noble historian not being then published. Bishop Burnet's testimony too must be allowed of some weight against the Icon.
150 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Kftfe
cult or disagreeable in so interesting a question, I must confess, that I much incline to give the pre- ference to the arguments of the royalists. The testimonies, which prove that performance to be the king's, are more numerous, certain, and direct, than those on the other side. This is the case, even if we consider the external evidence : but when we weigh the internal, derived from the style and composition, there is no manner of com- parison. These meditations resemble in elegance, purity, neatness, and simplicity, the genius of those performances which we know with certainty to have flowed from the royal pen : but are so unlike the bombast, perplexed, rhetorical, and corrupt style of Dr. Gauden, to whom they are ascribed, that no human testimony seems suffi- cient to convince us that he was the author. Yet all the evidences, which would rob the king of that honour, tend to prove that Dr. Gauden had the merit of writing so fine a performance, and the infamy of imposing it on the world for the king's.
It is not easy to conceive the general com- passion excited towards the king, by the publish- ing, at so critical a juncture, a work so full of piety, meekness, and humanity. Many have not scrupled to ascribe to that book the subsequent restoration of the royal family. Milton compares its effects to those which were wrought on the tumultuous Romans by Anthony's reading to
1049. CHARLES I. 151
them the will of Caesar. The Icon passed through fifty editions in a twelvemonth; and independent of the great interest taken in it by the nation, as the supposed production of their murdered so- vereign, it must be acknowledged the best prose composition, which, at the time of its publication, was to be found in the English language.
THE
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
THE COMMONWEALTH.
No people could undergo a change more sudden and entire in their man- ners, than did the English nation during the Commonwealth. From tran- quillity, concord, submission, and sobriety, they passed in an instant to a state of faction, fanaticism, rebellion, and almost frenzy. The violence of the English parties exceeded any thing which we can now imagine : had they con- tinued but a little longer, there was just reason to dread all the horrors of the ancient massacres and proscriptions.
VOLUME VIII.
1649. THE COMMONWEALTH. 153
CHAPTER LX.
State of England .... of Scotland .... of Ireland .... Levellers suppressed. . . . Siege of Dublin raised . . . .Tredah stormed .... Covenanters .... Montrose taken prisoner .... executed .... Covenanters .... Battle of Dunbar .... of "Worcester .... King's escape .... The commonwealth .... Dutch war .... Dissolution of the parliament.
THE COMMONWEALTH.
STATE OF ENGLAND.
JLhe confusions which overspread England after the murder of Charles I. proceeded as well from the spirit of refinement and innovation, which agitated the ruling party, as from the dissolution of all that authority, both civil and ecclesiastical, by which the nation had ever been accustomed to be governed. Every man had framed the mo- del of a republic, and however new it was, or fantastical, he was eager in recommending it to his fellow-citizens, or even imposing it by force upon them. Every man had adjusted a system of religion, which being derived from no tradi- tional authority, was peculiar to himself; and
154 HISTORY OF ENGLANJX 1G46.
being founded on supposed inspiration, not on any principles of human reason, had no means, besides cant and low rhetoric, by which it could recommend itself to others, The levellers in- sisted on an equal distribution of power and pro- perty, and disclaimed all dependence and subor- dination. The millenarians or fifth-monarchy- men required, that government itself should be abolished, and all human powers be laid in the dust, in order to pave the way for the dominion of Christ, whose second coming they suddenly expected. The Antinomians even insisted, that the obligations of morality and natural law were suspended, and that the elect, guided by an in- ternal principle more perfect and djvine, were superior to the beggarly elements of justice and humanity. A considerable party declaimed against tithes and hireling priesthood, and were resolved that the magistrate should not support by power or revenue any ecclesiastical establishment. An- other party inveighed against the law and its professors ; and on pretence of rendering more simple the distribution of justice, were desirous of abolishing the whole system of English jurispru- dence, which seemed interwoven with monarchical government. Even those among the republicans who adopted not such extravagancies, were so intoxicated with tfieir saintly character, that they supposed themselves possessed of peculiar privi- leges; and all professions, oaths, laws, and en- gagements had, iu a great measure, lost their
l64g. THE COMMONWEALTH. 155
influence over them. The bands of society were every where loosened ; and the irregular passions of men were encouraged by speculative principles, still more unsocial and irregular.
The royalists, consisting of the nobles and more considerable gentry, being degraded from their authority, and plundered of their property, were inflamed with the highest resentment and indignation against those ignoble adversaries, who had reduced them to subjection. The presby- terians, whose credit had first supported the arms of the parliament, were enraged to find that, by the treachery or superior cunning of their asso ciates, the fruits of all their successful labours were ravished from them. The former party, from inclination and principle, zealously attached themselves to the son of their unfortunate mon- arch, whose memory they respected, and whose tragical death they deplored. The latter cast their eye towards the same object ; but they had still many prejudices to overcome, many fears and jealousies to be allayed, ere they could cor- dially entertain thoughts of restoring the family, which they had so grievously offended, and whose principles they regarded with such violent ab- horrence.
The only solid support of the republican inde- pendent faction, which, though it formed so small a part of the nation, had violently usurped the government of the whole, was a numerous army •of near fifty thousand men. But this army, for-
150 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l€4g.
midable from its discipline and courage, as well as its numbers, was actuated by a spirit that ren- dered it dangerous to the assembly which had assumed the command over it. Accustomed to indulge every chimera in politics, every phrenzy in religion, the soldiers knew little of the sub- ordination of citizens, and had only learned, from apparent necessity, some maxims of military obe- dience. And while they still maintained, that all those enormous violations of law and equity, of which they had been guilty, were justified by the success with which Providence had blessed them ; they were ready to break out into any new dis- order, wherever they had the prospect of a like sanction and authority.
What alone gave some stability to all these unsettled humours was, the great influence both civil and military acquired by Oliver Cromwel. This man, suited to the age in which he lived, and to that alone, was equally qualified to gain the affection and confidence of men, by what was ir?an, vulgar, and ridiculous in his character ; as to command their obedience by what was great, daring, and enterprising. Familiar even to buf- foonery with the meanest centinel, he never lost his authority : transpo- a degree of madness
with religious extasies, lever forgot the poli-
tical purposes to which tl might serve. Hating monarchy, while a subj .t; despising liberty, while a citizen ; though ae retained for a time all orders of men under a seeming obedience to
.1649. THE COMMONWEALTH. 157
the parliament ; lie was secretly paving the way, by artifice and courage, to his own unlimited au- thority.
The parliament, for so we must henceforth call a small and inconsiderable part of the house of commons, having murdered their sovereign with so many appearing circumstances of solemn- ity and justice, and so much real violence and even fury, began to assume more the air of a civil, legal power, and to enlarge a little the narrow bottom upon which they stood. They admitted a few of the excluded and absent members, such as were liable to least exception ; but on condi- tion that these members should sign an appro- bation of whatever had been done in their ab- sence with regard to the king's trial : and some of them were willing to acquire a share of power on such terms : the greater part disdained to lend their authority to such apparent usurpations. They issued some writs for new elections, in places where they hoped to have interest enough to bring in their own friends and dependants. They named a council of state, thirty-eight in number, to whom all addresses were made, who gave orders to all generals and admirals, who exe- cuted the laws, and who digested all business be- fore it was introduced into parliament f. They
f Their names were, the earls of Denbigh, Mulgrave, Pem- broke, Salisbury, lords Grey and Fairfax, Lisle, Rolls, St. John, Wilde, Bradshaw, Cromwel, Skippon, Pickering, Massam, Hasel- rig, Harrington, Vane jun. Danvers, Arraine., Mildmay* Con-.
]58 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l(54c>.
pretended to employ themselves entirely in ad- justing the laws, forms, and plan of a new repre- sentative ; and as soon as they should have settled the nation, they professed their intention of re- storing the power of the people, from whom they acknowledged they had entirely derived it.
The commonwealth found every thing in Eng- land composed into a seeming tranquillity by the terror of their arms. Foreign powers, occupied in wars among themselves, had no leisure or in- clination to interpose in the domestic dissensions of this island. The young king, poor and neg- lected, living sometimes in Holland, sometimes in France, sometimes in Jersey, comforted himself amidst his present distresses with the hopes of better fortune. The situation alone of Scotland and Ireland gave any immediate inquietude to the new republic.
OF SCOTLAND.
After the successive defeats of Montrose and Hamilton, and the ruin of their parties, the whole authority in Scotland fell into the hands of Ar- gyle and the rigid churchmen, that party which was most averse to the interests of the royal family. Their enmity, however, against the inde-
stable, Pennington, Wilson, Whitlocke, Martin, Ludlow, Staple- ton, Hevingham, Wallop, Hutchinson, Bond, Popham, Valen- tine, Walton, Scot, Pnrefoy, Jones.
l64y. THE COMMONWEALTH. I5t>
pendents, who had prevented the settlement of presbyterian discipline in England, carried them to embrace opposite maxims in their political conduct. Though invited by the English parlia- ment to model their government into a republican form, they resolved still to adhere to monarchy, which had ever prevailed in their country, and which, by the express terms of their covenant, they had engaged to defend. They considered besides, that as the property of the kingdom lay mostly in the hands of great families, it would be difficult to establish a commonwealth, or without some chief magistrate, invested with royal au- thority, to preserve peace or justice in the com- munity. The execution, therefore, of the king, against which they had always protested, having occasioned a vacancy of the throne, they im- mediately proclaimed his son and successor, , Charles II.; but upon condition " of his good " behaviour and strict observance of the coven- " ant, and his entertaining no other persons about " him but such as were godly men and faithful " to that obligation." These unusual clauses, inserted in the very first acknowledgment of their prince, sufficiently shewed their intention of limiting extremely his authority. And the English commonwealth, having no pretence to interpose in the affairs of that kingdom, allowed the Scots for the present to take their own mea* sures in settling their government.
160 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1O49.
OF IRELAND.
The dominion which England claimed over Ire- land, demanded more immediately their efforts for subduing that country. In order to convey a just notion of Irish affairs, it will be necessary to look backwards some years, and to relate briefly those transactions which had past during the me- morable revolutions in England. When the late king agreed to that cessation of arms with the popish rebels8, which was become so requisite, as well for the security of the Irish protestants as for promoting his interests in England, the par- liament, in order to blacken his conduct, re- proached him with favouring that odious rebel- lion, and exclaimed loudly against the terms of the cessation. They even went so far as to de- clare it entirely null and invalid, because finished without their consent; and to this declaration the Scots in Ulster, and the earl of Inchiquin, a nobleman of great authority in Munster, professed to adhere. By their means the war was still kept alive ; but as the dangerous distractions in Eng- land hindered the parliament from sending any considerable assistance to their allies in Ireland, the marquis of Ormond, lord lieutenant, being a native of Ireland, and a person endowed with great prudence and virtue, formed a scheme for
■ 1643.
1&I9. THE COMMONWEALTH. |fl
composing the disorders of his country, and for engaging the rebel Irish to support the cause of his royal master. There were many circum- stances which strongly invited the natives of Ire- land to embrace the king's party. The maxims of that prince had always led him to give a rea- sonable indulgence to the catholics throughout all his dominions ; and one principal ground of that enmity, which the puritans professed against him, was this tacit toleration. The parliament, on the contrary, even when unprovoked, had ever menaced the papists with the most rigid restraint, if not a total extirpation ; and immediately after the commencement of the Irish rebellion, they put to sale all the estates of the rebels, and had engaged the public faith for transferring them to the adventurers, who had already advanced money upon that security. The success, there- fore, which the arms of the parliament met with at Naseby, struck a just terror into the Irish ; and engaged the council of Kilkenny, composed of deputies from all the catholic counties and cities, to conclude a peace with the marquis of Ormond11. They professed to return to their duty and alle- giance, engaged to furnish ten thousand men for the support of the king's authority in England, and were content with stipulating in return, in- demnity for their rebellion and toleration of their religion.
h 1646*
VOL. VIII. M
1(52 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1649.
Ormond, not doubting but a peace, so advan- tageous and even necessary to the Irish, would be strictly observed, advanced with a small body of troops to Kilkenny, in order to concert measures for common defence with his new allies. The pope had sent over to Ireland a nuncio, Rinuc- cini, an Italian ; and this man, whose commission empowered him to direct the spiritual concerns of the Irish, was emboldened, by their ignorance and bigotry, to assume the chief authority in the civil government. Foreseeing that a general sub- mission to the lord-lieutenant would put an end to his own influence, he conspired with Owen O'Neal, who commanded the native Irish in Ulster, and who bore a great jealousy to Preston, the general chiefly trusted by the council of Kil- kenny. By concert, these two malcontents se- cretly drew forces together, and were ready to fall on Ormond, who remained in security, trust- ing to the pacification so lately concluded with the rebels. He received intelligence of their treachery, made his retreat with celerity and con- duct, and sheltered his small army in Dublin and the other fortified towns, which still remained in the hands of the protestants.
The nuncio, full of arrogance, levity, and am- bition, was not contented with this violation of treaty. He summoned an assembly of the clergy at Waterford, and engaged them to declare against that pacification, which the civil council had con-
164Q. THE COMMONWEALTH. 163
eluded with their sovereign. He even thundered out a sentence of excommunication against all who should adhere to a peace, so prejudicial, as he pretended, to the catholic religion ; and the deluded Irish, terrified with his spiritual menaces, ranged themselves every where on his side, and submitted to his authority. Without scruple, he carried on war against the lord-lieutenant, and threatened with a siege the protestant garrisons, which were, all of them, very ill provided for defence.
Meanwhile, the unfortunate king was necessi- tated to take shelter in the Scottish army ; and being there reduced to close confinement, and secluded from all commerce with his friends, de- spaired, that his authority, or even his liberty, would ever be restored to him. He sent orders to Ormond, if he could not defend himself, rather to submit to the English than to the Irish rebels ; and accordingly the lord-lieutenant, being re- duced to extremities, delivered up Dublin, Tre- dah, Dundalk, and other garrisons, to colonel Michael Jones, who took possession of them in the name of the English parliament. Ormond himself went over to England, was admitted into the king's presence, received a grateful acknow- ledgment for his past services, and during some time lived in tranquillity near London. But being banished with the other royalists, to a distance from that city, and seeing every event turn out unfortunately for his royal master, and threaten
164 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1649.
him with a catastrophe still more direful, he thought proper to retire into France, where he joined the queen and the prince of Wales.
In Ireland, during these transactions, the au- thority of the nuncio prevailed without control among all the catholics ; and that prelate, by his indiscretion and insolence, soon made them re- pent of the power with which they had entrusted him. Prudent men likewise were sensible of the total destruction which was hanging over the nation from the English parliament, and saw no resource or safety but in giving support to the de- clining authority of the king. The earl of Clan- ricarde, a nobleman of an ancient family, a, per- son too of merit, who had ever preserved his loyalty, was sensible of the ruin which threatened his countrymen, and was resolved, if possible, to prevent it. He secretly formed a combination among the catholics ; he entered into a corre spondence with Inchiquin, who preserved great authority over the protestants in Munster; he attacked the nuncio, whom he chased out of the island ; and he sent to Paris a deputation, invit- ing the lord lieutenant to return and take pos- session of his government.
Ormond, on his arrival in Ireland, found the kingdom divided into many factions, among which either open war or secret enmity prevailed. The authority of the English parliament was esta- blished in Dublin, and the other towns, which he himself had delivered into their hands. O'Neal
l64g. THE COMMONWEALTH. 165
maintained his credit in Ulster ; and having en- tered into a secret correspondence with the parlia- mentary generals, was more intent on schemes for his own personal safety, than anxious for the pre- servation of his country or religion. The other Irish, divided between their clergy, were averse to Ormond, and their nobility, who were attached to him, were very uncertain in their motions and feeble in their measures. The Scots in the north, enraged, as well as their other countrymen, against the usurpations of the sectarian army, professed their adherence to the king; but were still hindered by many prejudices from entering into a cordial union with his lieutenant. All these distracted coun- cils and contrary humours checked the progress of Ormond, and enabled the parliamentary forces in Ireland to maintain their ground against him. The republican faction, meanwhile, in England, employed in subduing the revolted royalists, in reducing the parliament to subjection, in the trial, condemnation, and execution of their sove- reign, totally neglected the supplying of Ireland, and allowed Jones and the forces in Dublin to remain in the utmost weakness and necessity. The lord-lieutenant, though surrounded with dif- ficulties, neglected not the favourable opportunity of promoting the royal cause. Having at last assembled an army of 16,000 men, he advanced upon the parliamentary garrisons. Dundalk, where Monk commanded, was delivered up by the troops, who mutinied against their governor.
166 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. \64g.
Tredah, Neury, and other forts, were taken. Dublin was threatened with a siege ; and the affairs of the lieutenant appeared in so prosperous a condition, that the young king entertained thoughts of coming in person into Ireland.
When the English commonwealth was brought to some tolerable settlement, men began to cast their eyes towards the neighbouring island. Dur- ing the contest of the two parties, the govern- ment of Ireland had remained a great object of intrigue ; and the presbyterians endeavoured to obtain the lieutenancy for Waller, the independents for Lambert. After the execution of the king, Cromwel himself began to aspire to a command, where so much glory, he saw, might be won, and so much authority acquired. In his absence, he took care to have his name proposed to the coun- cil of state ; and both friends and enemies con- curred immediately to vote him into that import- ant office : the former suspected, that the matter had not been proposed merely by chance, without his own concurrence ; the latter desired to re- move him to a distance, and hoped, during his absence, to gain the ascendant over Fairfax, whom he had so long blinded by his hypocritical pro- fessions. Cromwel himself, when informed of his election, feigned surprise, and pretended at first to hesitate with regard to the acceptance of the command. And Lambert, either deceived by his dissimulation, or in his turn feigning to be de- ceived, still continued, notwithstanding this dis-
1649. THE COMMONWEALTH. 1(5;
appointment, his friendship and connexions with Cromwel.
The new lieutenant immediately applied him- self with his wonted vigilance to make prepara- tions for his expedition. Many disorders in England it behoved him previously to compose. All places were full of danger and inquietude. Though men, astonished with the successes of the army, remained in seeming tranquillity, symptoms of the greatest discontent every where appeared. The English, long accustomed to a mild admini- stration, and unacquainted with dissimulation, could not conform their speech and countenance to the present necessity, or pretend attachment to a form of government, which they generally regarded with such violent abhorrence. It was requisite to change the magistracy of London, and to degrade, as well as punish, the mayor and some of the aldermen, before the proclamation for the abolition of monarchy could be published in the city. An engagement being framed to support the commonwealth without king or house of peers, the army was with some difficulty brought to subscribe it; but though it was im- posed upon the rest of the nation under severe penalties, no less than putting all who refused out of the protection of law ; such obstinate reluct- ance was observed in the people, that even the imperious parliament was obliged to desist from it. The spirit of fanaticism, by which that as- sembly had at first been strongly supported, was
108 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 16^9.
now turned, in a great measure, against them. The pulpits being chiefly filled with presbyterians, or disguised royalists, and having long been the scene of news and politics, could by no penalties be restrained from declarations unfavourable to the established government. Numberless were the extravagancies which broke out among the people. Everard, a disbanded soldier, having preached that the time was now come when the community of goods would be renewed among christians, led out his followers to take pos&ession of the land ; and being carried before the general, he refused to salute him ; because he was but his fellow creature l. What seemed more dangerous, the army itself was infected with like humours*. Though the levellers had for a time been sup- pressed by the audacious spirit of Cromwel, they still continued to propagate their doctrines among the private men and inferior officers, who pre- tended a right to be consulted, as before, i'n the administration of the commonwealth. They now practised against their officers the same lesson which they had been taught against the parlia- ment. They framed a remonstrance, and sent five agitators to present it to the general and council of war: these were cashiered with ig- nominy by sentence of a court-martial. One Lockier, having carried his sedition farther, was sentenced to death; but this punishment was so
'WhUlocke. * See note [G] vol. X.
16-ig. THE COMMONWEALTH. 169
far from quelling the mutinous spirit, that above a thousand of his companions showed their ad- herence to him, by attending his funeral, and wearing in their hats black and sea-green ribbons by way of favours. About four thousand assem- bled at Burford, under the command of Thomson, a man formerly condemned for sedition by a court-martial, but pardoned by the general. Co- lonel Reynolds, and afterwards Fairfax and Crom- wel, fell upon them, while unprepared for de- fence, and seduced by the appearance of a treaty. Four hundred were taken prisoners : some of them capitally punished : the rest pardoned : and this tumultuous spirit, though it still lurked in the army, and broke out from time to time, seemed for the present to be suppressed.
Petitions, framed in the same spirit of opposi- tion, were presented to the parliament by lieute- nant-colonel Lilburn, the person who, for dis- persing seditious libels, had formerly been treated with such severity by the star-chamber. His liberty was at this time as ill-relished by the par- liament, and he was thrown into prison, as a pro- moter of sedition and disorder in the common- wealth. . The women applied by petition for his release ; but were now desired to mind their household affairs, and leave the government of the state to the men. From all quarters, the par- liament was harassed with petitions of a very free nature, which strongly spoke the sense of the nation, and proved how ardently all men longed
170 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 164£.
for the restoration of their laws and liberties. Even in a feast, which the city gave to the par- liament and council of state, it was deemed a re* quisite precaution, if we may credit Walker and Dug-dale, to swear all the cooks, that they would serve nothing but wholesome food to them.
The parliament judged it necessary to enlarge the laws of high-treason beyond those narrow bounds, within which they had been confined during the monarchy. They even comprehended verbal offences, nay intentions, though they had never appeared in any overt act against the state. To affirm the present government to be an usurpa- tion, to assert that the parliament or council of state were tyrannical or illegal, to endeavour sub- verting their authority, or stirring up sedition against them ; these offences were declared to be high-treason. The power of imprisonment, of which the petition of right had bereaved the king, it was now found necessary to restore to the council of state ; and all the jails in England were filled with men whom the jealousies and fears of the ruling party had represented as dangerous*. The taxes, continued by the new government, and which, being unusual, were esteemed heavy, increased the general ill-will under which it la- boured. Besides the customs and excise, ninety thousand pounds a«month were levied on land for the subsistence of the army. The sequestrations
" History of Independency, part ii.
I64g. THE COMMONWEALTH. 171
and compositions of the royalists, the sale of the crown lands, and of the dean and chapter lands, though they yielded great sums, were not suffi- cient to support the vast expences, and, as was suspected, the great depredations of the parlia- ment and their creatures1.
Amidst all these difficulties and disturbances, the steady mind of Cromwel, without confusion or embarrassment, still, pursued its purpose. While he was collecting an army of twelve thou- sand men in the west of England, he sent to Ire- land, under Reynolds and Venables, a reinforce- ment of four thousand horse and foot, in order to strengthen Jones, and enable him to defend him- self against the marquis of Ormond, who lay at Finglass, and was making preparations for the attack of Dublin. Inchiquin, who had now made a treaty with the king's lieutenant, having, with a separate body, taken Tredah, and Dundalk, gave a defeat to Offarrell who served under O'Neal, and to young Coot who commanded some parlia- mentary forces. After he had joined his troops to the main army, with whom, for some time, he remained united, Ormond passed the river Liffy, and took post at Rathmines, two miles from Dublin, with a view of commencing the siege of that city. In order to cut off all farther supply from Jones, he had begun the reparation of an old fort which lay at the gates of Dublin ; and
1 Pari. Hist. vol. xix. p. 136. 176.
172 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l64g.
being exhausted with continual fatigue for some days, he had retired to rest, after leaving orders to keep his forces under arms. He was suddenly awaked with the noise of firing; and starting from his bed, saw every thing already in tumult and confusion. Jones, an excellent officer, for- merly a lawyer, had sallied out with the reinforce- ment newly arrived ; and, attacking the party employed in repairing the fort, he totally routed them, pursued the advantage, and fell in with the army, which had neglected Ormond's orders. These he soon threw into disorder ; put them to flight, in spite of all the efforts of the lord-lieute- nant ; chased them off the field ; seized all their tents, baggage, ammunition ; and returned vic- torious to Dublin, after killing a thousand men, and taking above two thousand prisoners"1.
This loss, which threw some blemish on the military character of Ormond, was irreparable to the royal cause. That numerous army which, with so much pains and difficulty, the lord-lieute- nant had been collecting for more than a year, was dispersed in a moment. Cromwel soon after arrived in Dublin, where he was welcomed with shouts and rejoicings. He hastened to Tredah. That town was well fortified : Ormond had thrown into it a good garrison of three thousand men, under sir Arthur Aston, an officer of reputa- tion. He expected that Tredah, lying in the
■ Pari. Hist. vol. xix. p. 165.
1649. THE COMMONWEALTH. 173
neighbourhood of Dublin, would first be at- tempted by Cromwel, and he was desirous to employ the enemy some time in that siege, while he himself should repair his broken forces. But Cromwel knew the importance of dispatch. Hav- ing made a breach, he ordered a general assault. Though twice repulsed with loss, he renewed the attack, and himself, along with Ireton, led on his men. All opposition was overborne by the fu- rious valour of the troops. The town was taken sword in hand ; and orders being issued to give no quarter, a cruel slaughter was made of the garrison. Even a few, who were saved by the soldiers, satiated with blood, were next day mi- serably butchered by orders from the general. One person alone of the garrison escaped to be a messenger of this universal havoc and destruction.
Cromwel pretended to retaliate by this severe execution the cruelty of the Irish massacre : but he well knew, that almost the whole garrison was English; and his justice was only a bar- barous policy, in order to terrify all other garri- sons from resistance. His policy, however, had the desired effect. Having led the army without delay to Wexford, he began to batter the town. The garrison, after a slight defence, offered to capitulate ; but, before they obtained a cessation, they imprudently neglected their guards ; and the English army rushed in upon them. The same severity was exercised as at Tredah.
174 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 16-19.
Every town before which Cromwel presented himself, now opened its gate without resistance. Ross, though strongly garrisoned, was surren- dered by lord TafFe. Having taken Estionage, Cromwel threw a bridge over the Barrow, and made himself master of Passage and Carrie. The English had no farther difficulties to encounter than what arose from fatigue and the advanced season. Fluxes and contagious distempers creeped in among the soldiers, who perished in great num- bers. Jones himself, the brave governor of Dub- lin, died at Wexford. And Cromwel had so far advanced with his decayed army, that he began to find it difficult either to subsist in the enemy's country, or retreat to his own garrisons. But while he was in these straits, Corke, Kinsale, and all the English garrisons in Munster, deserted to him, and opening their gates, resolved to share the fortunes of their victorious countrymen.
This desertion of the English put an end to Or- mond's authority, which was already much dimi- nished by the misfortunes at Dublin, Tredah, and Wexford. The Irish, actuated by national and religious prejudices, could no longer be kept in obedience by a protestant governor, who was so unsuccessful in all his enterprises. The clergy renewed their excommunications against him and his adherents, and added the terrors of supersti- tion to those which arose from a victorious ene- my. Cromwel, having received a reinforcement from England, again took the field earlv in the
1649. THE COMMONWEALTH. 175
spring. He made himself master of Kilkenny and Clonmel, the only places where he met with any vigorous resistance. The whole frame of the Irish union being in a manner dissolved, Ormond soon after left the island, and delegated his au- thority to Clanricarde, who found affairs so de- sperate as to admit of no remedy. The Irish were glad to embrace banishment as a refuge. Above 40,000 men passed into foreign service ; and Cromwel, well pleased to free the island from enemies, who never could be cordially reconciled to the English, gave them full liberty and leisure for their embarkation.
While Cromwel proceeded with such uninter- rupted success in Ireland, which in the space of nine months he had almost entirely subdued, fortune was preparing for him a new scene of victory and triumph in Scotland. Charles was at the Hague when sir Joseph Douglas brought him intelli- gence that he was proclaimed king by the Scot- tish parliament. At the same time, Douglas in- formed him of the hard conditions annexed to the proclamation, and extremely damped that joy which might arise from his being recognised sovereign in one of his kingdoms. Charles too considered, that those who pretended to acknow- ledge his title, were at that very time in actual rebellion against his family, and would be sure to intrust very little authority in his hands, and scarcely would afford him personal liberty and security. As the prospect of affairs in Ireland
176 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 16-19.
was at that time not unpromising, he intended rather to try his fortune in that kingdom, from which he expected more dutiful submission and obedience.
Meanwhile he found it expedient to depart from Holland. The people in the United Pro- vinces were much attached to his interests. Be- sides his connexion with the family of Orange, which was extremely beloved by the populace, all men regarded with compassion his helpless con- .1 dition, and expressed the greatest abhorrence against the murder of his father ; a deed to which nothing, they thought, but the rage of fanaticism and faction could have impelled the parliament. But though the public in general bore great fa- vour to the king, the States were uneasy at his presence. They dreaded the parliament, so for- midable by their power, and so prosperous in all their enterprises. They apprehended the most precipitate resolutions from men of such violent and haughty dispositions. And, after the mur- der of Dorislaus, they found it still more neces- sary to satisfy the English commonwealth, by re- moving the king to a distance from them.
Dorislaus, though a native of Holland, had lived long in England ; and being employed as assistant to the high court of justice, which con- demned the late king, he had risen to great credit and favour with the ruling party. They sent him envoy to Holland ; but no sooner had he arrived at the Hague, than he was set upon by some
1650. THE COMMONWEALTH. 177
royalists, chiefly retainers to Montrose. They rushed into the room, where he was sitting with some company ; dragged him from the table ; put him to death as the first victim to their murdered sovereign ; very leisurely and peaceably separated themselves ; and though orders were issued by the magistrates to arrest them, these were exe* cuted with such slowness and reluctance, that the criminals had all of them the opportunity of making their escape.
Charles* having passed some time at Paris, where no assistance was given him, and even few civilities were paid him, made his retreat into Jer- sey, where his authority was still acknowledged. Here Winram, laird of Liberton, came to him as deputy from the committee of estates in Scotland, and informed him of the conditions to which he must necessarily submit before he could be admit- ted to the exercise of his authority. Conditions more severe were never imposed by subjects upon their sovereign ; but as the affairs of Ireland be- gan to decline, and the king found it no longer safe to venture himself in that island, he gave a civil answer to Winram, and desired the commis- sioners to meet him at Breda, in order to enter into a treaty with regard to these conditions.
COVENANTERS.
The earls of Cassilis and Lothian, lord Burley, the laird of Liberton, and other commissioners,
VOL. VIII. N
178 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1650.
arrived at Breda; but without any power of treating: the king must submit, without re- serve, to the terms imposed upon him. The terms were, that he should issue a proclamation, banish- ing from court all excommunicated persons, that is, all those who, either under Hamilton or Mont- rose, had ventured their lives for his family ; that no English subject who had served against the parliament, should be allowed to approach him ; that he should bind himself by his royal promise to take the covenant; that he should ratify all acts of parliament by which presbyterian govern- ment, the directory of worship, the confession of faith, and the catechism, were established; and that in civil affairs he should entirely conform himself to the direction of parliament, and in ecclesiastical, to that of the assembly. These proposals, the commissioners, after passing some time in sermons and prayers, in order to express the more determined resolution, very solemnly delivered to the king".
o
The king's friends were divided with regard to the part which he should act in this critical conjuncture. Most of his English counsellors dis- suaded him from accepting conditions so disad- vantageous and dishonourable. They said that the men M'ho now governed Scotland were the most furious and bigoted of that party, which, notwithstanding his gentle government, had first excited a rebellion against the late king; after the most unlimited concessions, had renewed
1650. THE COMMONWEALTH. 179
their rebellion, and stopped the progress of his victories in England ; and after he had entrusted his person to them in his uttermost distress, had basely sold him, together with their own honour, to his barbarous enemies : that they had as yet shown no marks of repentance, and even in the terms which they now proposed, displayed the same antimonarchical principles, and the same jealousy of their sovereign, by which they had ever been actuated : that nothing could be more dishonourable than that the king, in his first en- terprise, should sacrifice, merely for the empty name of royalty, those principles for which his father had died a martyr, and in which he himself had been strictly educated : that by this hypo- crisy he might lose the royalists, who alone were sincerely attached to him ; but never would gain the presbyterians, who were averse to his family and his cause, and would ascribe his compliance merely to policy and necessity : that the Scots had refused to give him any assurances of their intending to restore him to the throne of Eng- land ; and could they even be brought to make such an attempt, it had sufficiently appeared, by the event of Hamilton's engagement, how un- equal their force was to so great an enterprise : that on the first check which they should receive, Argyle and his partisans would lay hold of the quickest expedient for reconciling themselves to the English parliament, and would betray the king, as they had done his father, into the hands 2
160 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1650.
of his enemies : and that, however desperate the royal cause, it must still be regarded as highly imprudent in the king to make a sacrifice of his honour ; where the sole purchase was to endanger his life or liberty.
The earl of Laneric, now duke of Hamilton, the earl of Lauderdale, and others of that party, who had been banished their country for the late engagement, were then with the king ; and being desirous of returning home in his retinue, they joined the opinion of the young duke of Buck- ingham, and earnestly pressed him to submit to the conditions required of him. It was urged, that nothing would more gratify the king's ene- mies than to see him fall into the snare laid for him, and by so scrupulous a nicety, leave the possession of his dominions to those who desired but a pretence for excluding him : that Argyle, not daring so far to oppose the bent of the nation as to throw off all allegiance to his sovereign, had embraced this expedient, by which he hoped to make Charles dethrone himself* and refuse a king- dom which was offered him : that it was not to be doubted but the same national spirit, assisted by Hamilton and his party, would rise still higher in favour of their prince after he had entrusted him- self to their fidelity, and would much abate the rigour of the conditions now imposed upon him : that whatever might be the present intentions of the ruling party, they must unavoidably be en- gaged in a war with England, and must accept
1(550. THE COMMONWEALTH. 181
the assistance of the king's friends of all parties, in order to support themselves against a power so much superior : that how much soever a steady, uniform conduct might have been suitable to the advanced age and strict engagements of the late king, no one would throw any blame on a young prince for complying with conditions which ne- cessity had extorted from him : that even the rigour of those principles professed by his father, though with some it had exalted his character, had been extremely prejudicial to his interests ; nor could any thing be more serviceable to the royal cause, than to give all parties room to hope for more equal and more indulgent maxims of go- vernment : and that where affairs were reduced to so desperate a situation, dangers ought little to be regarded ; and the king's honour lay rather in showing some early symptoms of courage and activity, than in chusing strictly a party among theological controversies, with which it might be supposed, he was as yet very little acquainted.
These arguments, seconded by the advice of the queen mother and of the prince of Orange, the king's brother-in-law, who both of them thought it ridiculous to refuse a kingdom merely from regard to episcopacy, had great influence on Charles. But what chiefly determined him -to comply was the account brought him of the fate of Montrose, who, with all the circumstances of rage and contumely, had been put to death by his zealous countrymen. Though in this instance
183 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l<550.
the king saw more evidently the furious spirit by which the Scots were actuated, he had now no farther resource, and was obliged to grant what- ever was demanded of him.
MONTROSE TAKEN PRISONER.
Montrose, having laid down his arms at the command of the late king, had retired into France, and, contrary to his natural disposition, had lived for some time unactive at Paris. He there became acquainted with the famous cardinal de Retz; and that penetrating judge celebrates him in his memoirs as one of those heroes, of whom there are no longer any remains in the world, and who are only to be met with in Plu- tarch. Desirous of improving his martial genius, he took a journey to Germany, was caressed by the emperor, received the rank of mareschal, and proposed to levy a regiment for the imperial ser- vice. While employed for that purpose in the Low Countries, he heard of the tragical death of the king ; and at the same time received from his young master a renewal of his commission of captain general in Scotland". His ardent and daring spirit needed but this authority to put him in action. He gathered followers in Holland and the north of Germany, whom his great reputation
n Burnet, Clarendon.
1650. THE COMMONWEALTH. 183
allured to him. The king of Denmark and duke of Holstein sent him some small supply of money : the queen of Sweden furnished him with arms : the prince of Orange with ships : and Montrose, hastening his enterprise, lest the king's agreement with the Scots should make him revoke his com- mission, he set out for the Orkneys with about 500 men, most of them Germans. These were all the preparations which he could make against a a kingdom, settled in domestic peace, supported by a disciplined army, fully apprised of his enter- prise, and prepared against him. Some of his re- tainers having told him of a prophesy, that to him and him alone it was reserved to restore the king's authority in all his dominions; he lent a willing ear to suggestions which, however ill-grounded or improbable, were so conformable to his own daring character.
He armed several of the inhabitants of the Orkneys, though an unwarlike people, and car- ried them over with him to Caithness; hoping that the general affection to the king's service, and the fame of his former exploits, would make the Highlanders flock to his standard. But all men were now harassed and fatigued with wars and disorders : many of those who formerly ad- hered to him, had been severely punished by the covenanters : and no prospect of success was en- tertained in opposition to so great a force as was drawn together against him. But however weak Montrose's army, the memory of past events struck
;84 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1050.
p. great terror into the committee of estates. They immediately ordered Lesley and Holborne to march against him with an army of 4000 men. Strahan was sent before, with a body of cavalry, to check his progress. He fell unexpectedly on Montrose, who had no horse to bring him intelli- gence. The royalists were put to flight ; all of them either killed or taken prisoners ; and Montr rose himself, having put on the disguise of a pea- sant, was perfidiously delivered into the hands of his enemies, by a friend to whom he had entrust- ed his person.
All the insolence which success can produce jn ungenerous minds, was exercised by the co- venanters against Montrose, whom they so much hated and so much dreaded. Theological anti- pathy farther increased their indignities towards a person, whom they regarded as impious on ac- count of the excommunication which had been pronounced against him. Lesley led him about for several days in the same low habit under which he had disguised himself. The vulgar, wherever he passed, were instigated to reproach and vilify him. When he came to Edinburgh, every circumstance of elaborate rage and insult was put in practice by order of the parliament. At the gate of the city he was met by the magistrates, and put into a new cart, purposely made with a high chair or bench, where he was placed, that the people might have a full view of him. He was bound with a cord, drawn over his breast and
1650. THE COMMONWEALTH. 185
shoulders, and fastened through holes made in the cart. The hangman then took off the hat of the noble prisoner, and rode himself before the cart in his livery, and with his bonnet on ; the other officers, who were taken prisoners with the mar- quis, walking two and two before them.
The populace, more generous and humane, when they saw so mighty a change of fortune in this great man, so lately their dread and terror, into whose hands the magistrates, a few years be- fore, had delivered on their knees the keys of the city, were struck with compassion, and viewed him with silent tears and admiration. The preach- ers, next Sunday, exclaimed against this move- ment of rebel nature, as they termed it ; and re- proached the people with their profane tenderness towards the capital enemy of piety and religion.
When he was carried before the parliament, which was then sitting, Loudon, the chancellor, in a violent declamation, reproached him with the breach of the national covenant, which he had subscribed ; his rebellion against God, the king, and the kingdom ; and the many horrible mur- ders, treasons, and impieties for which he was now to be brought to condign punishment. Montrose in his answer maintained the same superiority above his enemies, to which by his fame and great actions, as well as by the consciousness of a good cause, he was justly entitled. He told the parlia- ment, that since the king, as he was informed, had so far avowed their authority, as to enter into
lSd HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1.650.
treaty with them, he now appeared uncovered before their tribunal ; a respect which, while they stood in open defiance to their sovereign, they would in vain have required of him. That he acknowledged, with infinite shame and re- morse, the errors of his early conduct, when their plausible pretences had seduced him to tread with them the paths of rebellion, and bear arms against his prince and country. That his following ser- vices, he hoped, had sufficiently testified his re- pentance ; and his death would now atone for that guilt, the only one with which he could justly re- proach himself. That in all his warlike enter- prises he was warranted by that commission, which he had received from his and their master, against whose lawful authority they had erected their standard. That to venture his life for his sovereign was the least part of his merit : he had even thrown down his arms in obedience to the sacred commands of the king ; and had resigned to them the victory, which, in defiance of all their efforts, he was still enabled to dispute with them. That no blood had ever been shed by him but in the field of battle ; and many persons were now in his eye, many now dared to pronounce sentence of death upon him, whose life, forfeited by the laws of war, he had formerly saved from the fury of the soldiers. That he was sorry to find no better testimony of their return to alle- giance than the murder of so faithful a subject, in whose death the king's commission must be, at
16)0. THE COMMONWEALTH. 187
once so highly injured and affronted. That as to himself, they had in vain endeavoured to vilify and degrade him by all their studied indignities: the justice of his cause, he knew, would ennoble any fortune ; nor had he other affliction than to see the authority of his prince, with which he was invested, treated with so much ignominy. And that he now joyfully followed, by a like unjust sentence, his late sovereign; and should be happy if, in his future destiny, he could follow him to the same blissful mansions, where his piety and humane virtues had already, without doubt, se- cured him an eternal recompense.
Montrose's sentence was next pronounced against him, " That he, James Graham" (for this was the only name they vouchsafed to give him), " should next day be carried to Edinburgh " cross, and there be hanged on a gibbet, thirty " feet high, for the space of three hours : then " be taken down, his head be cut off upon a " scaffold, and affixed to the prison : his legs and " arms be stuck up on the four chief towns of *' the kingdom : his body be buried in the place " appropriated for common malefactors ; except " the church, upon his repentance, should take " off his excommunication."
The clergy, hoping that the terrors of imme- diate death had now given them an advantage over their enemy, flocked about him, and insulted over his fallen fortunes. They pronounced his damnation, and assured him, that the judgement,
IS8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1(550.
which he was so soon to offer, would prove but an easy prologue to that which he must undergo hereafter. They next offered to pray with him : but he was too well acquainted with those forms of imprecation which they called prayers. " Lord, " vouchsafe yet to touch the obdurate heart of " this proud incorrigible sinner ; this wicked, c< perjured, traiterous, and profane person, who " refuses to hearken to the voice of thy church." Such were the petitions, which, he expected, they would, according ta custom, offer up for him. He told them, that they were a miserably deluded and deluding people; and would shortly bring their country under the most insupportable servi- tude, to which any nation had ever been reduced. For my part, "added he, " I am much prouder to have my head affixed to the place where it is sentenced to stand, than to have my picture hang in the king's bed-chamber. So far from being sorry that my quarters are to be sent to four cities of the kingdom ; I wish I had limbs enow to be dispersed into all the cities of Christ- endom, there to remain as testimonies in favour of the cause for which I suffer." This senti- ment, that very evening, while in prison, he threw into verse. The poem remains ; a signal monument of his heroic spirit, and no despicable proof of his poetical genius.
Now was led forth, amidst the insults of his enemies and the tears of the people, this man of illustrious birth, and of the greatest renown in the
1650. THE C0MMM0NWEALTH. isy
nation, to suffer, for his adhering to the laws of his country, and the rights of his sovereign, the ignominious death destined to the meanest male- factor. Every attempt, which the insolence of the governing party had made to subdue his spirit, had hitherto proved fruitless : they made yet one effort more, in this last and melancholy scene, when all enmity, arising from motives merely human, is commonly softened and dis- armed. The executioner brought that book, which had been published in elegant Latin, of his great military actions, and tied it by a cord about his neck. Montrose smiled at this new instance of their malice. He thanked them, however, for their officious zeal ; and said, that he bore this testimony of his bravery and loyalty with more pride than he had ever worn the garter. Having asked, whether they had any more indignities to put upon him, and renewing some devout ejacula- tions, he patiently endured the last act of the exe- cutioner.
Thus perished, in the thirty-eighth year of his age, the gallant marquis of Montrose ; the man whose military genius, both by valour and con- duct, had shone forth beyond any which, during these civil disorders, had appeared in the three kingdoms. The finer arts too, he had, in his youth, successfully cultivated ; and whatever was sublime, elegant, or noble* touched his great soul. Nor was he insensible to the pleasures either of society or of love. Something, however, of the
190 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1650.
vast and unbounded characterised his actions and deportment; and it was merely by an heroic effort of duty, that he brought his mind, impa- tient of superiority, and even of equality, to pay such unlimited submission to the will of his so- vereign.
The vengeance of the covenanters was not satisfied with Montrose's execution. Urrey, whose inconstancy now led him to take part with the king, suffered about the same time : Spottis- wood of Daersie, a youth of eighteen, sir Francis Hay of Dalgetie, and colonel Sibbald, all of them of birth and character, underwent a like fate. These were taken prisoners with Montrose. The marquis of Huntley, about a year before, had also fallen a victim to the severity of the covenanters.
The past scene displays in a full light the bar- barity of this theological faction : the sequel will sufficiently display their absurdity.
The king, in consequence of his agreement with the commissioners of Scotland, set sail for that country ; and being escorted by seven Dutch ships of war, who were sent to guard the herring fishery, he arrived in the frith of Cromarty. Be- fore he was permitted to land, he was required to sign the covenant ; and many sermons and lec- tures were made him, exhorting him to persevere in that holy confederacy0. Hamilton, Lauder- dale; Dumfermling, and other noblemen of that
• Sir Edward Walker's Historical Discourses, p. 159.
1650. tfHE COMMONWEALTH. lgi
party whom they called Engagers, were immedi- ately separated from him, and obliged to retire to their houses, where they lived in a private man- ner, without trust or authority. None of his English friends, who had served his father, were allowed to remain in the kingdom. The king himself found that he was considered as a mere pageant of state, and that the few remains of royalty which he possessed, served only to draw on him the greater indignities. One of the quarters of Montrose, his faithful servant, who had borne his commission, had been sent to Aber- deen, and was still allowed to hang over the gates when he passed by that place p. The general as- sembly, and afterwards the committee of estates and the army, who were entirely governed by the assembly, set forth a public declaration, in which they protested, " that they did not espouse any M malignant quarrel or party, but fought merely *' on their former grounds or principles ; that they " disclaimed all the sins and guilt of the king, " and of his house; nor would they own him " or his interest, otherwise than with a subor- " dination to God, and so far as he owned and " prosecuted the cause of God, and acknow- " ledged the sins of his house, and of his former " waysV
The king, lying entirely at mercy, and having
"
* Sir Edward Walker's Historical Discourses, p. 100. « Ibid. p. 166, 167.
192 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. lfcO.
no assurance of life or liberty, farther than was agreeable to the fancy of these austere zealots, was constrained to embrace a measure, which no- thing but the necessity of his affairs, and his great youth and inexperience could excuse. He issued a declaration, such as they required of him r. He there gave thanks for the merciful dispensations of providence, by which he was recovered from the snare of evil counsel, had attained a full persuasion of the righteousness of the covenant, and was induced to cast himself and his interests wholly upon God. He desired to be deeply hum- bled and afflicted in spirit, because of his father's following wicked measures, opposing the coven- ant and the work of reformation, and shedding the blood of God's people throughout all his do- minions. He lamented the idolatry of his mother, and the toleration of it in his father's house ; a matter of great offence, he said, to all the pro- testant churches, and a great provocation to him who is a jealous God, visiting the sins of the father upon the children. He professed, that he would have no enemies but the enemies of the covenant ; and that he detested all popery, super- stition, prelacy, heresy, schism, and profaneness : and was resolved not to tolerate, much less to coun- tenance, any of them in any of his dominions. He declared, that he should npver love or favour those who had so little conscience as to follow his in-
' Sir Edward Walker's Historical Discourses, p. 170.
1650. THE COMMONWEALTH. 193
terests, in preference to the gospel and the king- dom of Jesus Christ. And he expressed his hope, that, whatever ill success his former guilt might have drawn upon his cause, yet now, having ob- tained mercy to be on God's side, and to acknow- ledge his own cause subordinate to that of God, divine providence would crown his arms with victory.
Still the covenanters and the clergy were diffi- dent of the king's sincerity. The facility which he discovered in yielding whatever was required of him, made them suspect, that he regarded all his concessions merely as ridiculous farces, to which he must of necessity submit. They had another trial prepared for him. Instead of the solemnity of his coronation, which was delayed, they were resolved that he should pass through a public humiliation, and do penance before the whole people. They sent him twelve articles of repent* ance, which he was to acknowledge ; and the king had agreed, that he would submit to this indignity. The various transgressions of his father and grand- father, together with the idolatry of his mother, are again enumerated and aggravated in these ar- ticles ; and farther declarations were insisted on, that he sought the restoration of his rights for the sole advancement of religion, and in subor- dination to the kingdom of Christ8. In short, having exalted the altar above the throne, and brought royalty under their feet, the clergy were * Sir Edward Walker's Historical Discourses, p. 178. VOL. VIII. O
194 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1050.
resolved to trample on it, and vilify it, by every instance of contumely, which their present influ- ence enabled them to impose upon their unhappy prince.
Charles in the mean time found his authority entirely annihilated, as well as his character de- graded. He was consulted in no public mea- sure. He was not called to assist at any councils. His favour was sufficient to discredit any pre- tender to office or advancement. All efforts which he made to unite the opposite parties, increased the suspicion which the covenanters had enter- tained of him, as if he were not entirely their own. Argyle, who by subtleties and compliances, was partly led and partly governed by this wild faction, still turned a deaf ear to all advances which the king made to enter into confidence with him. Malignants and Engagers continued to be the objects of general hatred and persecu- tion ; and whoever was obnoxious to the clergy, failed not to have one or other of these epithets affixed to him. The fanaticism which prevailed, being so full of sour and angry principles, and so overcharged with various antipathies, had acquired a new object of abhorrence : these were the Sor- ctrers. So prevalent was the opinion of witch- craft, that great numbers, accused of that crime, were burnt by sentence of the magistrates through- out all parts of Scotland. In a village near Ber- wic, which contained only fourteen houses, four- teen persons were punished by fire'; and it be-
1 Whitlocke, p. 404. 408.
1650. THE COMMONWEALTH. 195
came a science, every where much studied and cultivated, to distinguish a true witch by proper trials and symptoms u.
The advance of the English army under Crom- wel was not able to appease or soften the animo- sities among the parties in Scotland. The clergy were still resolute to exclude all but their more zealous adherents. As soon as the English parlia- ment found that the treaty between the king and the Scots would probably terminate in an accom- modation, they made preparations for a war which, they saw, would in the end prove inevitable. Cromwel, having broken the force and courage of the Irish, was sent for; and he left the command of Ireland to Ireton, who governed that king- dom in the character of deputy, and with vigi- lance and industry persevered in the work of sub- duing and expelling the natives.
It was expected that Fairfax, who still re- tained the name of general, would continue to act against Scotland, and appear at the head of the forces ; a station for which he was well quali- fied, and where alone he made any figure. But Fairfax, though he had allowed the army to make use of his name in murdering their sovereign, and offering violence to the parliament, had enter- tained unsurmountable scruples against invading the Scots, whom he considered as zealous presby-
• Whitlocke, p. 369. 418.
liX5 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1650.
terians, and united to England by the sacred bands of the covenant. He was farther disgusted at the extremities into which he had already been hurried ; and was confirmed in his repugnance by the exhortations of his wife, who had great in- fluence over him, and was herself much governed by the presby terian clergy. A committee of par- liament was sent to reason with him ; and Crom- wel was of the number. In vain did they urge that the Scots had first broken the covenant by their invasion of England under Hamilton ; and that they would surely renew their hostile at- tempts, if not prevented by the vigorous measures of the commonwealth. Cromwel, who knew the rigid inflexibility of Fairfax in every thing which he regarded as matter of principle, ventured to solicit him with the utmost earnestness ; and he went so far as to shed tears of grief and vexation on the occasion. No one could suspect any am- bition in the man who laboured so zealously to re- tain his general in that high office which, he knew, he himself was entitled to fill. The same warmth of temper which made Cromwel a frantic enthusiast, rendered him the most dangerous of hypocrites ; and it was to this turn of mind, as much as to his courage and capacity, that he owed all his won- derful successes. By the contagious ferment of his zeal, he engaged every one to co-operate with him in his measures ; and entering easily and af- fectionately into every part which he was disposed
1650. THE COMMONWEALTH. 197
to act, he was enabled, even after multiplied de- ceits, to cover, under a tempest of passion, all his crooked schemes and profound artifices.
Fairfax having resigned his commission, it was bestowed on Cromwel, who was declared captain- general of all the forces in England. This com- mand, in a commonwealth, which stood entirely by arms, was of the utmost importance ; and was the chief step which this ambitious politician had yet made towards sovereign power. He im- mediately marched his forces, and entered Scot- land with an army of 16,000 men.
The command of the Scottish army was given to Lesley, an experienced officer, who formed a very proper plan of defence. He entrenched himself in a fortified camp between Edinburgh and Leith, and took care to remove from the coun- ties of Merse and the Lothians every thing which could serve to the subsistence of the English army. Cromwel advanced to the Scotch camp, and en- deavoured by every expedient to bring Lesley to a battle : the prudent Scotchman knew that, though superior in numbers, his army was much inferior in discipline to the English ; and he carefully kept himself within his entrenchments. By skirmishes and small rencounters he tried to confirm the spirits of his soldiers ; and he was successful in these enterprises. His army daily increased both in numbers and courage. The king came to the camp ; and having exerted himself in an action, gained on the affections of the soldiery, who were
199 HISTORY OF ENGLANQ, lC£0,
more desirous of serving under a young prince of spirit and vivacity, than under a committee of talking gown-men. The clergy were alarmed, They ordered Charles immediately to leave the camp. They also purged it carefully of about 4000 Malignants and Engagers, whose zeal had led them to attend the king, and who were the soldiers of chief credit and experience in the nation w. They then concluded, that they had an army composed entirely of saints, and could not be beaten. They murmured extremely, not only against their prudent general, but also against the Lord, on account of his delays in giving them deliverance x; and they plainly told him, that if he would not save them from the English sectaries, he should no longer be their Gody. An advantage having offered itself on a Sunday, they hindered the general from making use of it, lest he should involve the nation in the guilt of sab- bath-breaking.
Cromwel found himself in a very bad situa- tion. He had no provisions but what he received by sea. He had not had the precaution to bring these in sufficient quantities; and his army was reduced to difficulties. He retired to Dunbar. Lesley followed him, and encamped on the heights of Lamermure, which overlook that town. There lay many difficult passes between Dunbar and
w Sir Edward Walker, p. 165. x Id. p. 1§S.
1 Whidocke, p. 443.
1650. THE COMMONWEALTH. igg
Berwic, and of these Lesley had taken possession. The English general was reduced to extremities. He had even embraced a resolution of sending by- sea all his foot and artillery to England, and of breaking through, at all hazards, with his cavalry. The madness of the Scottish ecclesiastics saved him from this loss and dishonour.
BATTLE OF DUNBAR.
Night and day the ministers had been wrestling with the Lord in prayer, as they termed it ; and they fancied that they had at last obtained the victory. Revelations, they said, were made them, that the sectarian and heretical army, together with Agag, meaning Cromwel, was delivered into their hands. Upon the faith of these visions, they forced their general, in spite of his remon- strances, to descend into the plain, with a view of attacking the English in their retreat. Cromwel, looking through a glass, saw the enemy's camp in motion ; and foretold, without the help of revela- tions, that the Lord had delivered them into his hands. He gave orders immediately for an at- tack. In this battle it was easily observed, that nothing, in military actions, can supply the place of discipline and experience; and that, in the presence of real danger, where men are not ac- customed to it, the fumes of enthusiasm presently dissipate, and lose their influence. The Scots,
200 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1650.
though double in number to the English, were soon put to flight, and pursued with great slaugh- ter. The chief, if not only, resistance was made by one regiment of Highlanders, that part of the army which was the least infected with fa- naticism. No victory could be more complete than this which was obtained by Cromwel. About 3000 of the enemy were slain, and 9000 taken prisoners. Cromwel pursued his advantage, and took possession of Edinburgh and Leith. The remnant of the Scottish army fled to Stirling. The approach of the winter season, and an ague, which seized Cromwel, kept him from pushing the victory any farther.
The clergy made great lamentations, and told the Lord, that to them it was little to sacrifice their lives and estates, but to him it was a great loss to suffer his elect to be destroyed z. They pub- lished a declaration, containing the cause of their late misfortunes. These visitations they ascribed to the manifold provocations of the king's house, of which they feared he had not yet thoroughly re- pented ; the secret intrusion of malignants into the king's family, and even into the camp ; the leaving of a most malignant and profane guard of horse, who, being sent for to be purged, came two days before the defeat, and were allowed to fight with the army ; the owning of the king's quarrel by many without subordination to reli-
* Sir Edward Walker.
1650. THE COMMONWEALTH. 201
gion and liberty ; and the carnal self-keeping of some, together with the neglect of family prayers by others.
Cromwel, having been so successful in the war of the sword, took up the pen against the Scottish ecclesiastics. He wrote them some pole- mical letters, in which he maintained the chief points of the independent theology. He took care likewise to retort on them their favourite ar- gument of providence ; and asked them, Whether the Lord had not declared against them? But the ministers thought that the same events, which to their enemies were judgments, to them were trials ; and they replied, that the Lord had only hid his face, for a time, from Jacob. But Crom- wel insisted, that the appeal had been made to God in the most express and solemn manner, and that, in the fields of Dunbar, an irrevocable de- cision had been awarded in favour of the English army \
a This is the best of Cromwel' s wretched compositions that re- mains, and we shall here extract a passage out of it. " You say " you have not so learned Christ as to hang the equity of our " cause upon events. We could wish that blindness had not " been upon your eyes to all those marvellous dispensations, " which God had wrought lately in England. But did not you " solemnly appeal and pray ? Did not we do so too ? And ought *'■ not we and you to think, with fear and trembling, of the hand ** of the great God, in this mighty and strange appearance of his, " but can slightly call it an event ? Were not both your and our " expectations renewed from time to time, while we waited on " God> to see which way he would manifest himself upon our
202 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1651.
The defeat of the Scots was regarded by the king as a fortunate event. The armies, which fought on both sides, were almost equally his enemies; and the vanquished were now obliged to give him some more authority, aud apply to him for support. The parliament was summoned to meet at St. Johnstone's. Hamilton, Lauder- dale, and all the Engagers were admitted into court and camp, on condition of doing public penance, and expressing repentance for their late transgressions. Some Malignants also creeped in under various pretences. The intended humilia- tion or penance of the king was changed into the ceremony of his coronation, which was performed at Scone with great pomp and solemnity. But amidst all this appearance of respect, Charles re- mained in the hands of the most rigid coven- anters : and though treated with civility and courtesy by Argyle, a man of parts and address, he was little better than a prisoner, and was still exposed to all the rudeness and pedantry of the ecclesiastics.
rt appeals ? And shall we, after all these our prayers, fastings, " tears, expectations, and solemn appeals, call these mere " events ? The Lord pity you. Surely we fear, because it ** has been a merciful and a gracious deliverance to us.
" I beseech you in the bowels of Christ, search after the " mind of the Lord in it towards you, and we shall help you by " our prayers that you may find it. For yet, if we know our " heart at all, our bowels do in Christ yearn after the godly in " Scotland." Thurloe, vol. i. p. 158.
1(551. THE COMMONWEALTH. 203
This young prince was in a situation which very ill suited his temper and disposition. All those good qualities which he possessed, his affa- bility, his wit, his gaiety, his gentleman-like, dis- engaged behaviour, were here so many vices ; and his love of ease, liberty, and pleasure, was re- garded as the highest enormity. Though artful in the practice of courtly dissimulation, the sancti- fied style was utterly unknown to him ; and he never could mould his deportment into that starched grimace, which the covenanters required as an infallible mark of conversion. The duke of Buckingham was the only English courtier al- lowed to attend him ; and, by his ingenious talent for ridicule, he had rendered himself extremely agreeable to his master. While so many objects of derision surrounded them, it was difficult to be altogether insensible to the temptation, and wholly to suppress the laugh. Obliged to attend from morning to night at prayers and sermons, they betrayed evident symptoms of weariness or contempt. The clergy never could esteem the king sufficiently regenerated : and by continual exhortations, remonstrances, and reprimands, they still endeavoured to bring him to a juster sense of his spiritual duty.
The king's passion for the fair could not alto- gether be restrained. He had once been observed using some familiarities with a young woman ; and a committee of ministers was appointed to reprove him for a behaviour so unbecoming a covenanted
204 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. lfol.
monarch. The spokesman of the committee, one Douglas, began with a severe aspect, informed the king that great scandal had been given to the godly, enlarged on the heinous nature of sin, and concluded with exhorting his majesty, whenever he was disposed to amuse himself, to be more careful, for the future, in shutting the windows. This delicacy, so unusual to the place and to the character of the man, was remarked by the king ; and he never forgot the obligation.
The king, shocked at all the indignities, and, perhaps, still more tired with all the formalities, to which he was obliged to submit, made an at- tempt to regain his liberty. General Middleton, at the head of some royalists, being proscribed by the covenanters, kept in the mountains, expecting some opportunity of serving his master. The king resolved to join this body. He secretly made his escapo from Argyle, and fled towards the Highlands. Colonel Montgomery, with a troop of horse, was sent in pursuit of him. He overtook the king, and persuaded him to return. The royalists being too weak to support him, Charles was the more easily induced to comply. This incident procured him afterwards better treatment and more authority; the covenanters being afraid of driving him, by their rigours, to some desperate resolution. Argyle renewed his courtship to the king, and the king, with equal dissimulation, pretended to repose great confid- ence in Argyle. He even went so far as to drop
1651. THE COMMONWEALTH. 205
hints of his intention to marry that nobleman's daughter : but he had to do with a man too wise to be seduced by such gross artifices.
As soon as the season would permit, the Scot- tish army was assembled under Hamilton and Lesley ; and the king was allowed to join the camp. The forces of the western counties, not- withstanding the imminent danger which threat- ened their country, were resolute not to unite their cause with that of an army which admitted any engagers or jnalignants among them ; and they kept in a body apart under Ker. They called themselves the Protester's ; and their fran- tic clergy declaimed equally against the king and against Cromwel. The other party were de- nominated Rcsolutioners ; and these distinctions continued long after to divide and agitate the kingdom.
Charles encamped at the Torwood; and his generals resolved to conduct themselves by the same cautious maxims which, so long as they were embraced, had been successful during the former campaign. The town of Stirling lay at his back, and the whole north supplied him with provisions. Strong entrenchments defended his front; and it was in vain that Cromwel made every attempt to bring him to an engagement. After losing much time, the English general sent Lambert over the frith into Fife, with an inten- tion of cutting off the provisions of the enemy. Lambert fell upon Holborne and Brown, who
20S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1651.
commanded a party of the Scots, and put them to rout with great slaughter. Cromwel also passed over with his whole army ; and lying at the back of the king, made it impossible for him to keep his post any longer.
Charles, reduced to despair, embraced a reso- lution worthy of a young prince contending for empire. Having the way open, he resolved im- mediately to march into England ; where he expected that all his friends, and all those who were discontented with the present government, would flock to his standard. He persuaded the generals to enter into the same views; and with one consent the army, to the number of 14,000 men, rose from their camp, and advanced by great journies towards the south.
Cromwel was surprised at this movement of the royal army. Wholly intent on offending his enemy, he had exposed his friends to imminent danger, and saw the king with numerous forces marching into England ; where his presence, from the general hatred which prevailed against the parliament, was capable of producing some great revolution. But if this conduct was an oversight in Cromwel, he quickly repaired it by his vigi- lance and activity. He dispatched letters to the parliament, exhorting them not to be dismayed at the approach of the Scots : he sent orders every where for assembling forces to oppose the king : he ordered Lambert with a body of cavalry to hang Upon the rear of the royal army, and infest their
1651. THE COMMONWEALTH. 207
march : and he himself, leaving Monk with 7000 men to complete the reduction of Scotland, fol- lowed the king with all the expedition possible.
Charles found himself disappointed in his ex- pectations of increasing his army. The Scots, terrified at the prospect of so hazardous an en- terprise, fell off in great numbers. The English presbyterians, having no warning given them of the king's approach, were not prepared to join him. To the royalists, this measure was equally unexpected ; and they were farther deterred from joining the Scottish army, by the orders which the committee of ministers had issued, not to ad- mit any, even in this desperate extremity, who would not subscribe the covenant. The earl of Derby, leaving the Isle of Man, where he had hitherto maintained his independence, was em- ployed in levying forces in Cheshire and Lanca- shire ; but was soon suppressed by a party of the parliamentary army. And the king, when he arrived at Worcester, found that his forces, ex- tremely harassed by a hasty and fatiguing march, were not more numerous than when he rose from his camp in the Torwood.
THE BATTLE OF WORCESTER.
Such is the influence of established govern- ment, that the commonwealth, though founded in usurpation the most unjust and unpopular, had
208 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l6n.
authority sufficient to raise every where the militia of the counties ; and these, united with the regu- lar forces, bent all their efforts against the king. With an army of about 30,000 men, Cromwel fell upon Worcester ; and attacking it on all sides, and meeting with little resistance, except from duke Hamilton and general Middleton, broke in upon the disordered royalists. The streets of the city were strewed with dead. Hamilton, a noble- man of bravery and honour, was mortally wound- ed ; Massey wounded and taken prisoner ; the king himself, having given many proofs of per- sonal valour, was obliged to fly. The whole Scot- tish army was either killed or taken prisoners. The country people, inflamed with national anti- pathy, put to death the few that escaped from the field of battle.
THE KING'S ESCAPE.
The king left Worcester at six o'clock in the afternoon, and, without halting, travelled about twenty-six miles, in company with fifty or sixty of his friends. To provide for his safety, he thought it best to separate himself from his com- panions ; and he left them without communicat- ing his intentions to any of them. By the earl of Derby's directions, he went to Boscobel, a lone house in the borders of Staffordshire, inhabited by one Penderell, a farmer. To this man Charles
1651. THE COMMONWEALTH. 209
entrusted himself. The man had dignity of sen- timents much above his condition ; and though death was denounced against all who concealed the king, and a great reward promised to any one who should betray him, he professed and main- tained unshaken fidelity. He took the assistance of his four brothers, equally honourable with him- self; and having clothed the king in a garb like their own, they led him into the neighbouring wood, put a bill into his hand, and pretended to" employ themselves in cutting faggots. Some nights he lay upon straw in the house, and fed on such homely fare as it afforded. For a better concealment, he mounted upon an oak, where he sheltered himself among the leaves and branches for twenty-four hours. He saw several soldiers pass by. All of them were intent in search of the king ; and some expressed, in his hearing, their earnest wishes of seizins: him. This tree was afterwards denominated the Royal Oak ; and for many years was regarded by the neighbourhood with great veneration.
Charles was in the middle of the kingdom, and could neither stay in his retreat, nor stir a step from it, without the most imminent danger. Fear, hopes, and party zeal, interested multitudes to discover him ; and even the smallest indiscre- tion of his friends might prove fatal. Having joined lord Wilmot, who was skulking in the neighbourhood, they agreed to put themselves into the hands of colonel Lane, a zealous royalist,
VOL. VIII. p
210 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1(551.
who lived at Bentley, not many miles distant. The king's feet were so hurt by walking about in heavy boots or countrymen's shoes which did not fit him, that he was obliged to mount on horseback ; and he travelled in this situation to Bentley, attended by the Penderells, who had been so faithful to him. Lane formed a scheme for his journey to Bristol, where, it was hoped, he would find a ship, in which he might transport himself. He had a near kinswoman, Mrs. Nor- ton, who lived within three miles of that city, and was with child, very near the time of her delivery. He obtained a pass (for, during those times of confusion, this precaution was requisite) for his sister Jane Lane and a servant, to travel towards Bristol, under pretence of visiting and attending her relation. The king rode before the lady, and personated the servant.
When they arrived at Norton's, Mrs. Lane pretended that she had brought along as her servant a poor lad, a neighbouring farmer's son, who was ill of an ague ; and she begged a private room for him, where he might be quiet. Though Charles kept himself retired in this chamber, the butler, one Pope, soon knew him : the king was alarmed, but made the butler promise that he would keep the secret from every mortal, even from his master ; and he was faithful to his en- gagement.
No ship, it was found, would, for a month, set sail from Bristol, either for France or Spain ; and
165]. THE COMMONWEALTH. 211
the king was obliged to go elsewhere fot a pass* age. He entrusted himself to colonel Windham of Dorsetshire, an affectionate partisan of the royal family : the natural effect of the long civil wars, and of the furious rage to which all men were wrought up in their different factions, was, that every one's inclinations and affections were thoroughly known, and even the courage and fidelity of most men, by the variety of incidents, had been put to trial. The royalists too had, many of them, been obliged to make conceal- ments in their houses for themselves, their friends, Or more valuable effects; and the art of eluding the enemy had been frequently practised. All these circumstances proved favourable to the king in the present exigency. As he often passed through the hands of catholics, the Priest's Hole, as they called it, the place where they were obliged to conceal their persecuted priests, was sometimes employed for sheltering their distressed sovereign.
Windham, before he received the king, asked leave to entrust the important secret to his mo- ther, his wife, and four servants, on whose fidelity he could rely. Of all these, no one proved want- ing either in honour or discretion. The vener- able old matron, on the reception of her royal guest, expressed the utmost joy, that having lost, without regret, three sons and one grand-child in defence of his father, she was now reserved, in her declining years, to be instrumental in the 9
212 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. lfol.
preservation of himself. Windham told the king, that sir Thomas, his father, in the year 1636, a few days before his death, called to him his five sons. " My children," said he, " we have hi- " therto seen serene and quiet times under our " three last sovereigns : but I must now warn * you to prepare for clouds and storms. Fac- ¥ tions arise on every side, and threaten the " tranquillity of your native country. But what* " ever happen, do you faithfully honour and " obey your prince, and adhere to the crown. I " charge you never to forsake the crown, though it " should hang upon a bush." "These last words," added Windham, " made such impressions on all " our breasts, that the many afflictions of these " sad times could never efface their indelible " characters." From innumerable instances, it appears how deep-rooted in the minds of the English gentry of that age was the principle of loyalty to their sovereign j that noble and gener- ous principle, inferior only in excellence to the more enlarged and more enlightened affection to- wards a legal constitution. But during those times of military usurpation, these passions were the same.
The king continued several days in Windham's house ; and all his friends in Britain, and in every part of Europe, remained in the most anxious suspense with regard to his fortunes: no one could conjecture whether he were dead or alive ; and the report of his death being generally believed*
ifoi. THE COMMONWEALTH. 213
happily relaxed the vigilant search of his ene- mies. Trials were made to procure a vessel for his escape; but he still met with disappointments. Having left Windham's house, he was obliged again to return to it. He passed through many- other adventures ; assumed different diguises ; in every step was exposed to imminent perils ; and received daily proofs of uncorrupted fidelity and attachment. The sagacity of a smith, who re- marked that his horse's shoes had been made in the north, and not in the west, as he pretended, once detected him ; and he narrowly escaped. At Shoreham in Sussex a vessel was at last found, in which he embarked. He had been known to so many, that if he had not set sail in that critical moment it had been impossible for him to escape. After one and forty days concealment, he arrived safely at Fescamp in Normandy. No less than forty men and women had at different times been privy to his concealment and escape b.
The battle of Worcester afforded Cromwel what he called his crowning mercy c. So elated was he, that he intended to have knighted in the field two of his generals, Lambert and Fleetwood; but was dissuaded by his friends from exerting this act of regal authority. His power and am- bition were too great to brook submission to the empty name of a republic, which stood chiefly by his influence, and was supported by his vic-
b Heathe's Chronicle, p. 301. • Parliamentary History, vol. xx. p. 47.
214 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1651.
tories. How early he entertained thoughts of taking into his hand the reins of government is uncertain. We are only assured, that he now discovered to his intimate friends these aspiring views ; and even expressed a desire of assuming the rank of king, which he had contributed, with such seeming zeal, to abolish4,
THE COMMONWEALTH,
The little popularity and credit acquired by the republicans, farther stimulated the ambition of this enterprising politician. These men had not that large thought, nor those comprehensive views, which might qualify them for acting the part of legislators : selfish aims and bigotry chiefly engrossed their attention. They carried their rigid austerity so far as to enact a law, declaring fornication, after the first act, to be felony, with-r out benefit of clergy6. Tney made small pro- gress in that important work, which they professr ed to have so much at heart, the settling of a new model of representation, and fixing a plan of government. The nation began to apprehend, that they intended to establish themselves as a
* Whitlocke, p. 523. ■ Scobel, p. 121. A bill was introduced into the house against painting, patches, and other immodest dress of women ; but it did not pass. Pari. Hist. vol. xix. p. 263.
1651. THE COMMONWEALTH. 215
perpetual legislature, and to confine the whole power to 60 or 70,persons, who called themselves the parliament of the commonwealth of England. And while they pretended to bestow new liberties upon the nation, they found themselves obliged to infringe even the most valuable of those which, through time immemorial, had been transmitted from their ancestors. Not daring to entrust the trials of treason to juries, who, being chosen in- differently from among the people, would have been little favourable to the commonwealth, and would have formed their verdict upon the ancient laws, they eluded that noble institution, by which the government of this island has ever been so much distinguished. They had evidently seen in the trial of Lilburn what they could expect from juries. This man, the most turbulent, but the most upright and courageous, of human kind, was tried for a transgression of the new statute of treasons: but though he was plainly guilty, he was acquitted, to the great joy of the people. Westminster-hall, nay the whole city, rang with shouts and acclamations. Never did any esta- blished power receive so strong a declaration of its usurpation and invalidity ; and from no insti- tution besides the admirable one of juries, could be expected this magnanimous effort.
That they might not for the future be exposed to affronts, which so much lessened their author- ity, the parliament erected a high court of justice, which was to receive indictments from the coun-
21(5 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1651.
cil of state. This court was composed of men devoted to the ruling party, without name or character, determined to sacrifice every thing to their own safety or ambition. Colonel Eusebius Andrews and colonel Walter Slingsby were tried by this court for conspiracies, and condemned to death. They were royalists, and refused to plead before so illegal a jurisdiction. Love, Gibbons, and other presbyterians, having entered into a plot against the republic, were also tried, con- demned, and executed. The earl of Derby, sir Timothy Featherstone, Bemboe, being taken pri- soners after the battle of Worcester, were put to death by sentence of a court martial ; a method of proceeding declared illegal by that very peti- tion of right, for which a former parliament had so strenuously contended, and which, after great efforts, they had extorted from the king.
Excepting their principles of toleration, the maxims by which the republicans regulated eccle- siastical affairs no more prognosticated any dur- able settlement, than those by which they con- ducted their civil concerns. The presbyterian model of congregation, classes, and assemblies, was not allowed to be finished : it seemed even the intention of many leaders in the parliament to admit of no established church, and to leave every one, without any guidance of the magi- strate, to embrace whatever sect, and to support whatever clergy, were most agreeable to him.
The parliament went so far as to make some
1651. THE COMMONWEALTH. 217
approaches in one province, to their independent model. Almost all the clergy of Wales being ejected as malignants, itinerant preachers with small salaries were settled, not above four or five in each county ; and these, being furnished with horses at the public expence, hurried from place to place, and carried, as they expressed them* selves, the glad tidings of the gospel f. They were all of them men of the lowest birth and edu- cation, who had deserted mechanical trades, in order to follow this new profession. And in this particular, as well as in their wandering life, they pretended to be more truly apostolical.
The republicans, both by the turn of their disposition, and by the nature of the instruments which they employed, were better qualified for acts of force and vigour, than for the slow and deliberate work of legislation. Notwithstanding the late wars and bloodshed, and the present fac- tions, the power of England had never, in any period, appeared so formidable to the neighbour- ing kingdoms as it did at this time, in the hands of the commonwealth. A numerous army served equally to retain every one in implicit subjection to established authority, and to strike a terror into foreign nations. The power of peace and war was lodged in the same hands with that of imposing taxes; and no difference of views, among the several members of the legislature,
I Dr. John Walker's Attempt, p. 147, & seq«
218 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1(515.
could any longer be apprehended. The present impositions, though much superior to what had ever formerly been experienced, were in reality moderate, and what a nation so opulent could easily bear. The military genius of the people had, by the civil contests, been roused from its former lethargy ; and excellent officers were formed in every branch of service. The confu- sion, into which all things had been thrown, had given opportunity to men of low stations to break through their obscurity, and to raise them- selves by their courage to commands which they were well qualified to exercise, but to which their birth could never have entitled them. And while so great a power was lodged in such active hands, no wonder the republic was successful in all its enterprises.
Blake, a man of great courage and a generous disposition, the same person who had defended Lyme and Taunton with such unshaken obstinacy against the late king, was made an admiral ; and though he had hitherto been accustomed only to land-service, into which too he had not entered till past fifty years of age, he soon raised the naval glory of the nation to a greater height than it had ever attained in any former period. A fleet was put under his command, and he received orders to pursue prince Rupert, to whom the king had entrusted that squadron which had deserted to him. Rupert took shelter in Kinsale ; and escaping thence, fled towards the coast of Portu-
1651. THE COMMONWEALTH. 219
gal. Blake pursued and chased him into the Tagus, where he intended to make an attack upon him. But the king of Portugal, moved by the favour which, throughout all Europe attended the royal cause, refused Blake admittance and aided prince Rupert in making his escape. To be revenged of this partiality, the English admiral made prize of twenty Portuguese ships richly laden ; and he threatened still farther vengeance. The king of Portugal dreading so dangerous a foe to his newly-acquired dominion, and sensible of the unequal contest in which he was engaged, made all possible submissions to the haughty re- public, and was at last admitted to negotiate the renewal of his alliance with England. Prince Rupert, having lost a great part of his squadron on the coast of Spain, made sail towards the West Indies. His brother, prince Maurice, was there shipwrecked in a hurricane. Every where this squadron subsisted by privateering, sometimes on English, sometimes on Spanish vessels. And Rupert at last returned to France, where he dis- posed of the remnants of his fleet, together with his prizes.
All the settlements in America, except New England, which had been planted entirely by the puritans, adhered to the royal party, even after the settlement of the republic; and sir George Ayscue was sent with a squadron to reduce them. Bermudas, Antigua, Virginia, were soon subdued. Barbadoes, commanded by lord Willoughby of
220 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1051.
Parham, made some resistance, but was at last obliged to submit.
With equal ease were Jersey, Guernsey, Scilly, and the Isle of Man, brought under subjection to the republic; and the sea, which had been much infested by privateers from these islands, was rendered safe to the English commerce. The countess of Derby defended the Isle of Man; and with great reluctance yielded to the neces- sity of surrendering to the enemy. This lady, a daughter of the illustrious house of Trimoille in France, had, during the civil war, displayed a manly courage by her obstinate defence of La- tham-house against the parliamentary forces ; and she retained the glory of being the last person in the three kingdoms, and in all their dependent dominions, who submitted to the victorious com- monwealth*.
Ireland and Scotland were now entirely sub- jected and reduced to tranquillity. Ireton, the new deputy of Ireland, at the head of a numerous army, 30,000 strong, prosecuted the work of sub- duing the revolted Irish ; and he defeated them in many rencounters, which, though of themselves of no great moment, proved fatal to their de- clining cause. He punished without mercy all the prisoners who had any hand in the massacres. Sir Phelim O'Neale, among the rest, was, some time after, brought to the gibbet, and suffered an
* See note [H] vol. X.
1651. THE COMMONWEALTH. 221
ignominious death, which he had so well merited by his inhuman cruelties. Limeric, a consider- able town, still remained in the hands of the Irish ; and Ireton, after a vigorous siege, made himself master of it. He was here infected with the plague, and shortly after died ; a memorable per- sonage, much celebrated for his vigilance, in- dustry, capacity, even for the strict execution of justice in that unlimited command which he pos- sessed in Ireland. He was observed to be inflex- ible in all his purposes ; and it was believed by many, that he was animated with a sincere and passionate love of liberty, and never could have been induced by any motive to submit to the smallest appearance of regal government. Cromwel appeared to be much affected by his death ; and the republicans, who reposed great confidence in him, were inconsolable. To shew their regard for his merit and services, they be- stowed an estate of two thousand pounds a-year on his family, and honoured him with a magnifi- cent funeral at the public charge. Though the established government was but the mere shadow of a commonwealth, yet was it beginning by" pro. per arts to encourage that public spirit which no other species of civil polity is ever able fully to inspire.
The command of the army in Ireland devolv- ed on lieutenant-general Ludlow. The civil go- vernment of the island was entrusted to commis- sioners. Ludlow continued to push the advantages
222 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1651.
against the Irish, and every where obtained an easy- victory. That unhappy people, disgusted with the kin a: on account of those violent declarations against them and their religion, which had been extorted by the Scots, applied to the king of Spain, to the duke of Lorraine, and found assist- ance no where. Clanricard, unable to resist the prevailing power, made submissions to the parlia- ment, and retired into England, where he soon after died. He was a steady catholic ; but a man much respected by all parties.
The successes which attended Monk in Scot- land were no less decisive. That able general laid siege to Stirling-castle ; and though it was well provided for defence, it was soon surrendered to him. He there became master of all the records of the kingdom ; and he sent them to England. The earl of Leven, the earl of Crawford, lord Ogilvy, and other noblemen, having met near Perth, in order to concert measures for raising a new army, were suddenly set upon by colonel Alured, and most of them taken prisoners. Sir Philip Musgrave, with some Scots, being engaged at Dumfries in a like enterprise, met with a like fate. Dundee was a town well fortified, supplied with a good garrison under Lumisden, and full of all the rich furniture, the plate, and money of the kingdom, which had been sent thither as to a place of safety. Monk appeared before it ; and having made a breach, gave a general assault. He carried the town ; and following the example
1651. THE COMMONWEALTH. 223
and instructions of Cromwel, put all the inhabit- ants to the sword, in order to strike a general terror into the kingdom. Warned by this ex- ample, Aberdeen, St. Andrew's, Inverness, and other towns and forts, yielded, of their own ac- cord, to the enemy. Argyle made his submis- sions to the English commonwealth ; and except- ing a few royalists, who remained some time in the mountains, under the Earl of Glencairn, lord Balcarras, and general Middleton, that kingdom which had hitherto, through all ages, by means of its situation, poverty, and valour, maintained its independence, was reduced to total subjection. The English parliament sent sir Harry Vane, St. John, and other commissioners, to settle Scot- land. These men, who possessed little of the true spirit of liberty, knew how to maintain the ap- pearance of it ; and they required the voluntary consent of all the counties and towns of this con- quered kingdom, before they would unite them into the same commonwealth with England. The clergy protested ; because, they said, this incor- porating union would draw along with it a sub- ordination of the church to the state in the things of Christ*. English judges, joined to some Scot- tish, were appointed to determine all causes; justice was strictly administered ; order and peace maintained ; and the Scots, freed from the tyranny of the ecclesiastics, were not much dis-
8 Whitlocke, p. 496. Heatbe's Chronicle, p. 307.
224 HISTOFxY OF ENGLAND. 1052.
satisfied with the present government*. The prudent conduct of Monk, a man who possessed a capacity for the arts both of peace and war, served much to reconcile the minds of men, and to allay their prejudices.
DUTCH WAR. 1652.
By the total reduction and pacification of the British dominions, the parliament had leisure to look abroad, and to exert their vigour in foreign enterprises, The Dutch were the first that felt the weight of their arms.
During the life of Frederic Henry, prince of Orange, the Dutch republic had maintained a neutrality in the civil wars of England, and had never interposed, except by her good offices, be- tween the contending parties. ' When William, who had married an English princess, succeeded to his father's commands and authority h, the States, both before and after the execution of the late king, were accused of taking steps more favour- able to the royal cause, and of betraying a great prejudice against that of the parliament. It was long before the envoy of the English common- wealth could obtain an audience of the states- general. The murderers of Dorislaus were not pursued with such rigour as the parliament ex-
* See note [I] vol. X. h 1647.
1652. THE COMMONWEALTH. 225
pec ted. And much regard had been payed to the king, and many good offices performed to him, both by the public, and by men of all ranks in the United Provinces.
After the death of William prince of Orange1, which was attended with the depression of his party and the triumph of the Dutch republicans, the parliament thought that the time was now fa- vourable for cementing a closer confederacy with the States. St. John, chief justice, who was sent over to the Hague, had entertained the idea of forming a kind of coalition between the two re- publics, which would have rendered their interests totally inseparable ; but fearing that so extraor- dinary a project would not be relished, he con- tented himself with dropping some hints of it, and openly went no farther than to propose a strict defensive alliance between England and the United Provinces, such as has now, for near seventy years, taken place between these friendly powers k. But the States, who were unwilling to form a nearer confederacy with a government, whose measures were so obnoxious, and whose situation seemed so precarious, offered only to renew the former alliances with England. And the haughty St. John, disgusted with this disap- pointment, as well as incensed at many affronts, which had been offered him with impunity, by the retainers of the Palatine and Orange fami-
1 On October 17, 1650. * Thurloe, vol. i. p. 182.
Vol. viii. q,
V
226 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1652.
lies, and indeed by the populace in general, re- turned into England, and endeavoured to foment a quarrel between the republics.
The movements of great states are often di- rected by as slender springs as those of indivi- duals. Though war with so considerable a naval power as the Dutch, who were in peace with all their other neighbours, might seem dangerous to the yet unsettled commmonwealth, there were several motives which at this time induced the English parliament to embrace hostile measures. Many of the members thought that a foreign war would serve as a pretence for continuing the same parliament, and delaying the new model of a re- presentative, with which the nation had so long been flattered. Others hoped that the war would furnish a reason for maintaining, some time longer, that numerous standing army, which was so much complained of1. On the other hand, some, who dreaded the increasing power of Crom- wel, expected that the great expence of naval armaments would prove a motive for diminishing the military establishment. To divert the atten- tion of the public from domestic quarrels towards foreign transactions, seemed, in the present dis- position of men's minds, to be good policy. The superior power of the English commonwealth,
1 We are told in the life of sir Henry Vane, that that famous republican opposed the Dutch war, and that it was the military gentlemen chiefly who supported that measure.
1652. THE COMMONWEALTH. 227
together with its advantages of situation, pro- mised success ; and the parliamentary leaders hoped to gain many rich prizes from the Dutch, to distress and sink their flourishing commerce, and by victories to throw a lustre on their own establishment, which was so new and unpopular. All these views, enforced by the violent spirit of St. John, who had great influence over Cromwel, determined the parliament to change the purposed alliance into a furious war against the United Provinces.
To cover these hostile intentions, the parlia- ment, under pretence of providing for the in- terests of commerce, embraced such measures as they knew would give disgust to the States. They framed the famous act of navigation ; which pro- hibited all nations from importing into England in their bottoms any commodity which was not the growth and manufacture of their own coun- try. By this law, though the terms in which it was conceived were general, the Dutch were principally affected ; because their country pro- duces few commodities, and they subsist chiefly by being the general carriers and factors of Eu- rope. Letters of reprisal were granted to several merchants, who - complained of injuries, which, they pretended, they had received from the States ; and above eighty Dutch ships fell into their hands, and were made prizes. The cruelties com- mitted on the English at Amboyna, which were certainly enormous, but which seemed to be
228 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1652.
buried in oblivion by a thirty years' silence, were again made the ground of complaint. And the allowing the murderers of Dorislaus to escape, and the conniving at the insults to which St. John had been exposed, were represented as symptoms of an unfriendly, if not a hostile, disposition in the States.
The States, alarmed at all these steps, sent orders to their ambassadors to endeavour the re- newal of the treaty of alliance, which had been broken off by the abrupt departure of St. John. Not to be unprepared, they equipped a fleet of a hundred and fifty sail, and took care, by their ministers at London, to inform the council of state of that armament. This intelligence, in- stead of striking terror into the English republic, was considered as a menace, and farther con- firmed the parliament in their hostile resolutions. The minds of men in both states were every day more irritated against each other; and it was not long before these humours broke forth into action.
Tromp, an admiral of great renown, received from the States the command of a fleet of forty- two sail, in order to protect the Dutch navigation against the privateers of the English. He was forced, by stress of weather, as he alleged, to take shelter in the road of Dover, where he met with Blake, who commanded an English fleet much in- ferior in number. Who was the aggressor in the action, which ensued between these two admirals,
1652. THE COMMONWEALTH. 229
both of them men of such prompt and fiery dispo- sitions, it is not easy to determine ; since, each of them sent to his own state a relation totally op- posite in all its circumstances to that of the other, and yet supported by the testimony of every cap- tain in his fleet. Blake pretended that, having given a signal to the Dutch admiral to strike, Tromp, instead of complying, tired a broadside at him. Tromp asserted that he was preparing to strike, and that the English admiral, nevertheless, began hostilities. It is certain that the admiralty of Holland, who are distinct from the council of state, had given Tromp no orders to strike, but had left him to his own discretion with regard to that vain but much contested ceremonial. They seemed willing to introduce the claim of an equality with the new commonwealth, and to in- terpret the formal respect payed the English flag as a deference due only to the monarchy. This circumstance forms a strong presumption against the narrative of the Dutch admiral. The whole Orange party, it must be remarked, to which Tromp was suspected to adhere, were desirous of a war with England.
Blake, though his squadron consisted only of fifteen vessels, reinforced, after the battle began, by eight under captain Bourne, maintained the fight with bravery for five hours, and sunk one ship of the enemy, and took another. Night parted the combatants, and the Dutch fleet retired towards the coast of Holland. The populace of
230 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1652.
London were enraged, and would have insulted the Dutch ambassadors, who lived at Chelsea, had not the council of state sent guards to pro- tect them.
When the States heard of this action, of which the consequences were easily foreseen, they were in the utmost consternation. They immediately dispatched Paw, pensionary of Holland, as their ambassador extraordinary to London, and ordered him to lay before the parliament the narrative which Tromp had sent of the late rencounter. They entreated them, by all the bands of their common religion and common liberties, not to precipitate themselves into hostile measures, but to appoint commissioners, who should examine every circumstance of the action, and clear up the truth, which lay in obscurity. And they pretended that they had given no orders to their admiral to offer any violence to the English, but would severely punish him, if they found, upon inquiry, that he had been guilty of an action which they so much disapproved. The imperious parliament would hearken to none of these reasons or remon- strances. Elated by the numerous successes which they had obtained over their domestic ene- mies, they thought that every thing must yield to their fortunate arms ; and they gladly seized the opportunity, which they sought, of making war upon the States. They demanded that, without any farther delay or inquiry, reparation should be made for all the damages which the
1652. THE COMMONWEALTH. 231
English had sustained. And when this demand was not complied with, they dispatched orders for commencing war against the United Pro- vinces.
Blake sailed northwards with a numerous fleet, and fell upon the herring busses, which were escorted by twelve men of war. All these he either took or dispersed. Tromp followed him with a fleet of above a hundred sail. When these two admirals were 'within sight of each other, and preparing for battle, a furious storm attacked them. Blake took shelter in the English har- bours. The Dutch fleet was dispersed, and re- ceived great damage.
Sir George Ayscue, though he commanded only forty ships, according to the English ac- counts, engaged, near Plymouth, the famous de Ruiter, who had under him fifty ships of war, with thirty merchantmen. The Dutch ships were in- deed of inferior force to the English. De Ruiter, the only admiral in Europe who has attained a re- nown equal to that of the greatest general, de- fended himself so well, that Ayscue gained no advantage over him. Night parted them in the greatest heat of the action. De Ruiter next day sailed off with his convoy. The English fleet had been so shattered in the fight, that it was not able to pursue.
Near the coast of Kent, Blake, seconded by Bourne and Pen, met a Dutch squadron, nearly equal in numbers, commanded by De Witte and
232 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1652.
de Ruiter. A battle was fought, much to the disadvantage of the Dutch. Their rear admiral was boarded and taken. Two other vessels were sunk, and one blown up. The Dutch next day made sail towards Holland.
The English were not so successful in the Mediterranean. Van Galen, with much superior force, attacked captain Badily, and defeated him. He bought, however, his victory with the loss of his life.
Sea-fights are seldom so decisive as to disable the vanquished from making head in a little time against the victors. Tromp, seconded by de Ruiter, met, near the Goodwins, with Blake, whose fleet was inferior to the Dutch, but who resolved not to decline the combat. A furious battle com- menced, where the admirals on both sides, as well as the inferior officers and seamen, exerted great bravery. In this action the Dutch had the advantage. Blake himself was wounded. The Garland and Bonaventure were taken. Two ships were burned, and one sunk; and night came opportunely to save the English fleet. After this victory, Tromp, in a bravado, fixed a broom to his main-mast ; as if he were resolved to sweep the sea entirely of all English vessels.
Great preparations were made in England, in order to wipe off this disgrace. A gallant fleet of eighty sail was fitted out. Blake commanded, and Dean under him, together with Monk, who had been sent for from Scotland. When the
1652. THE COMMONWEALTH. 233
English lay off Portland, they descried, near break of day, a Dutch fleet of seventy-six vessels sailing up the channel, along with a convoy of 300 merchantmen, who had received orders to wait at the isle of Rhe, till the fleet should arrive to escort them. Tromp, and, under him, de Ruiter, commanded the Dutch. This battle was the most furious that had yet been fought be- tween these warlike and rival nations. Three days was the combat continued with the utmost rage and obstinacy ; and Blake, who was victor, gained not more honour than Tromp, who was vanquished. The Dutch admiral made a skilful retreat, and saved all the merchant ships, except thirty. He lost, however, eleven ships of war, had 2000 men slain, and near 1500 taken prison- ers. The English, though many of their ships were extremely shattered, had but one sunk. Their slain were not much inferior in number to those of the enemy.
All these successes of the English were chiefly owing to the superior size of their vessels ; an advantage which all the skill and bravery of the Dutch admirals could not compensate. By means of ship-money, an imposition which had been so much complained of, and in some respects with reason, the late king had put the navy into a situa- tion which it had never attained in any former reign ; and he ventured to build ships of a size Avhich was then unusual. But the misfortunes which the Dutch met with in battle, were small
V
234 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 108*3
in comparison of those which their trade sustained from the English. Their whole commerce by the channel was cut off: even that to the Baltic was much infested by English privateers. Their fisheries were totally suspended. A great num- ber of their ships, above 1600, had fallen into the hands of the enemy. And all this distress they suffered, not for any national interests or necessity; but from vain points of honour and personal resentments, of which it was difficult to give a satisfactory account to the public. They resolved, therefore, to gratify the pride of the parliament, and to make some advances towards peace. They met not, however, with a favour- able reception ; and it was not without pleasure that they learned, the dissolution of that haughty assembly, by the violence of Cromwel ; an event from which they expected a more prosperous turn to their affairs.
DISSOLUTION OF THE PARLIAMENT.
The zealous republicans in the parliament had not been the chief or first promoters of the war ; but when it was once entered upon, they endea- voured to draw from it every possible advantage. On all occasions they set up the fleet in opposi- tion to the army, and celebrated the glory and successes of their naval armaments. They in- sisted on the intolerable expence to which the
1659. THE COMMONWEALTH. 235
nation was subjected, and urged the necessity of diminishing it, by a reduction of the land forces. They had ordered some regiments to serve on board the fleet, in the quality of marines. And Cromwel, by the whole train of their proceedings, evidently saw that they had entertained a jea- lousy of his power and ambition, and were re- solved to bring him to a subordination under their authority. Without scruple or delay he resolved to prevent them.
On such firm foundations was built the credit of this extraordinary man, that though a great master of fraud and dissimulation, he judged it superfluous to employ any disguise in conducting this bold enterprise. He summoned a general council of officers ; and immediately found that they were disposed to receive whatever impressions he was pleased to give them. Most of them were his creatures, had owed their advancement to his favour, and relied entirely upon him for their fu- ture preferment. The breach being already made between the military and civil powers, when the late king was seized at Holdenby; the general officers regarded the parliament as at once their creature and their rival ; and thought that they themselves were entitled to share among them those offices and riches, of which its members had so long kept possession. Harrison, Rich, Overton, and a few others who retained some principle, were guided by notions so extravagant, that they were easily deluded into measures the
236 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1653.
most violent and most criminal. And the whole army had already been guilty of such illegal and atrocious actions, that they could entertain no farther scruple with regard to any enterprise which might serve their selfish or fanatical pur- poses.
In the council of officers it was presently voted to frame a remonstrance to the parliament. After complaining of the arrears due to the army, they there desired the parliament to reflect how many years they had sitten, and what professions they had formerly made of their intentions to new-model the representative, and establish suc- cessive parliaments, who might bear the burthen of national affairs, from which they themselves would gladly, after so much danger and fatigue, be at last relieved. They confessed that the par- liament had achieved great enterprises, and had surmounted mighty difficulties ; yet was it an injury, they said, to the rest of the nation to be excluded from bearing any part in the service of their country. It was now full time for them to give place to others ; and they therefore desired them, after settling a council who might execute the laws during the interval, to summon a new parliament, and establish that free and equal go- vernment, which they had so long promised to the people.
The parliament took this remonstrance in ill part, and made a sharp reply to the council of officers. The officers insisted on their advice ;
1653. THE COMMONWEALTH. 237
and by mutual altercation and opposition the breach became still wider between the army and the commonwealth. Cromwel, finding matters ripe for his purpose, called a council of officers, in order to come to a determination with regard to the public settlement. As he had here many friends, so had he also some opponents. Har- rison having assured the council that the general sought only to pave the way for the government of Jesus and his saints, major Streator briskly re- plied, that Jesus ought then to come quickly: for if he delayed it till after Christmas, he would come too late ; he would find his place occupied. While the officers were in debate, colonel In- goldsby informed Cromwel, that the parliament was sitting, and had come to a resolution not to dissolve themselves, but to fill up the house by new elections ; and was at that very time engaged in deliberations with regard to this expedient. Cromwel in a rage immediately hastened to the house, and carried a body of 300 soldiers along with him. Some of them he placed at the door, some in the lobby, some on the stairs. He first addressed himself to his friend St. John, and told him that he had come with a purpose of doing what grieved him to the very soul, and what he had earnestly with tears besought the Lord not to impose upon him: but there was a necessity, in order to the glory of God and good of the nation. He sat down for some time, and heard the debate. He beckoned Harrison, and told him that he now
238 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1653.
judged the parliament ripe for a dissolution. " Sir," said Harrison, " the work is very great " and dangerous; I desire you seriously to con- " sider, before you engage in it." " You say " well," replied the general; and thereupon sat still about a quarter of an hour. When the question was ready to be put, he said again to Harrison, " This is the time: I must do it." And suddenly starting up, he loaded the parlia- ment with the vilest reproaches, for their tyranny, ambition, oppression, and robbery of the public. Then stamping with his foot, which was a signal for the soldiers to enter; " For shame," said he to the parliament, " get you gone ; give place to " honester men ; to those who will more faith - " fully discharge their trust. You are no longer " a parliament: I tell you, you are no longer a " parliament. The Lord has done with you : he " has chosen other instruments for carrying on " his work." Sir Harry Vane exclaiming against this proceeding, he cried with a loud voice, " O ! " sir Harry Vane, sir Harry Vane ! the Lord de- " liver me from sir Harry Vane !" Taking hold of Martin by the cloke, " Thou art a whore- " master," said he. To another, " Thou art an " adulterer." To a third, " Thou art a drunk- " ard and a glutton:" " And thou an extor- " tioner," to a fourth. He commanded a soldier to seize the mace. " What shall we do with " this bauble? here, take it away. It is you," said he, addressing himself to the house, u that
1053. THE COMMONWEALTH. 239
" have forced me upon this. I have sought the '* Lord night and day, that he would rather slay " me than put me upon this work." Having commanded the soldiers to clear the hall, he him- self went out the last, and ordering the doors to be locked, departed to his lodgings in Whitehall. In this furious manner, which so well denotes his genuine character, did Cromwel, without the least opposition, or even murmur, annihilate that famous assembly which had filled all Europe with the renown of its actions, and with astonishment at its crimes, and whose commencement was not more ardently desired by the people than was its final dissolution. All parties now reaped success- ively the melancholy pleasure of seeing the in- juries which they had suffered, revenged on their enemies; and that too by the same arts which had been practised against them. The king had, in some instances, stretched his prerogative be- yond its just bounds ; and aided by the church, had well nigh put an end to all the liberties and privileges of the nation. The presbyterians checked the progress of the court and clergy, and excited, by cant and hypocrisy, the populace, first to tumults, then to war, against the king, the peers, and all the royalists. No sooner had they reached the pinnacle of grandeur, than the inde- pendents, under the appearance of still greater sanctity, instigated the army against them, and reduced them to subjection. The independents, amidst their empty dreams of liberty, or rather of
240 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1653.
dominion, were oppressed by the rebellion of their own servants, and found themselves at once ex- posed to the insults of power and hatred of the people. By recent, as well as all ancient, example, it was become evident that illegal violence, with whatever pretences it may be covered, and what- ever object it may pursue, must inevitably end at last in the arbitrary and despotic government of a single person.
1G53. THE COMMONWEALTH. att
CHAP. LXI.
Cromwel's birth and private life Barebone's parliament ....
Cromwel made protector .... Peace with Holland A new
parliament Insurrection of the royalists .... State of
Europe .... War with Spain .... Jamaica conquered .... Success and death of admiral Blake Domestick admini- stration of Cromwel .... Humble petition and advice . . .
Dunkirk taken Sickness of the protector . . . His death
.... and character.
CROMWEL'S BIRTH AND PRIVATE LIFE.
Oliver Cromwel, in whose hands the dissolu- tion of the parliament had left the whole power, civil and military, of three kingdoms, was born at Huntingdon, the last year of the former century, of a good family ; though he himself, being the son of a second brother, inherited but a small estate from his father. In the course of his edu- cation he had been sent to the university; but his genius was found little fitted for the calm and elegant occupations of learning, and he made small proficiencies in his studies. He even threw himself into a dissolute and disorderly course of life; and he consumed in gaming, drinking1, de- bauchery, and country riots, the more early years of his youth, and dissipated part of his patrimony. All of a sudden the spirit of reformation seized him ; he married, affected a grave and composed behaviour, entered into all the zeal and rigour of
VOL. VIII. R
242 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1653.
the puritanical party, and offered to restore to every one whatever sums he had formerly gained by gaming. The same vehemence of temper, which had transported him into the extremes of pleasure, now distinguished his religious habits. His house was the resort of all the zealous clergy of the party ; and his hospitality, as well as his liberalities to the silenced and deprived ministers, proved as chargeable as his former debaucheries. Though he had acquired a tolerable fortune by a maternal uncle, he found his affairs so injured by his expences, that he was obliged to take a farm at St. Ives, and apply himself, for some years, to agriculture as a profession. But this expedient served rather to involve him in farther debts and difficulties. The long prayers which he said to his family in the morning, and again in the after- noon, consumed his own time and that of his ploughmen ; and he reserved no leisure for the care of his temporal affairs. His active mind, superior to the low occupations to which he was condemned, pre}'ed upon itself; and he indulged his imagination in visions, illuminations, revela- tions ; the great nourishment of that hypochon- driacal temper, to which he was ever subject. Urged by his wants and his piety, he had made a party with Hambden, his near kinsman, who was pressed only by the latter motive, to transport himself into New England, now become the re- treat of the more zealous among the puritanical party; and it was an order of council which
l653. THE COMMONWEALTH. 2-13
obliged them to disembark and remain in Eng*- land. The earl of Bedford, who possessed a largo estate iri the Fen Country, near the isle of Ely, having undertaken to drain these morasses, was obliged to apply to the king ; and by the powers of the prerogative, he got commissioners ap<- pointed, who conducted that work, and divided the new-acquired land among the several pro prietors. He met with opposition from many, among whom Cromwel distinguished himself; and this was the first public opportunity which he had met with of discovering the factious zeal and ob- stinacy of his character.
From accident and intrigue he was chosen by the town of Cambridge member of the long par- liament. His domestic affairs were then in great disorder ; and he seemed not to possess any talents which could qualify him to rise in that public sphere into which he was now at last entered. His person was ungraceful, his dress slovenly, his voice untuneable, his elocution homely, tedious, obscure, and embarrassed. The fervour of his spirit frequently prompted him to rise in the house ; but he was not heard with attention : his name, for above two years, is not to be found oftener than twice in any committee ; and those committees, into which he was adrriitted, were chosen for affairs which would more interest the zealots than the men of business. In comparison of the eloquent speakers and fine gentlemen of the house, he was entirely overlooked ; and his friend 8
244 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1653.
Hambden alone was acquainted with the depth of his genius, and foretold that, if a civil war should ensue, he would soon rise to eminence and di- stinction.
Cromwel himself seems to have been conscious where his strength lay ; and partly from that mo- tive, partly from the uncontrollable fury of his zeal, he always joined that party which pushed every thing to extremities against the king. He was active in promoting the famous remonstrance, which was the signal for all the ensuing commo- tions ; and when, after a long debate, it was car- ried by a small majority, he told lord Falkland, that if the question had been lost, he was re- solved next day to have converted into ready money the remains of his fortune, and immedi- ately to have left the kingdom. Nor was this resolution, he said, peculiar to himself: many others of his party he knew to be equally deter- mined.
He was no less than forty-three years of age, when he first embraced the military profession ; and by force of genius, without any master, he soon became an excellent officer ; though perhaps he never reached the fame of a consummate com- mander. He raised a troop of horse; fixed his quarters in Cambridge; exerted great severity towards that university, which zealously adhered to the royal party ; and showed himself a man who would go all lengths in favour of that cause which he had espoused. He would not allow hi$
1653. THE COMMONWEALTH. 245
soldiers to perplex their heads with those subtle- ties of righting by the king's authority against his person, and of obeying his majesty's commands signified by both houses of parliament : he plainly told them that, if he met the king in battle, he would fire a pistol in his face as readily as against any other man. His troop of horse he soon aug- mented to a regiment ; and he first instituted that discipline and inspired that spirit which rendered the parliamentary armies in the end victorious. " Your troops," said he to Hambden, according to his own account"1, " are most of them old de- " cayed serving men and tapsters, and such kind " of fellows ; the king's forces are composed of " gentlemen's younger sons and persons of good " quality. And do you think that the mean " spirits of such base and low fellows as ours will " ever be able to encounter gentlemen that have " honour and courage and resolution in them? " You must get men of spirit, and take it not ill " that I say, of a spirit that is likely to go as far " as gentlemen will go, or else I am sure you will " still be beaten, as you have hitherto been, in " every encounter." He did as he proposed. He enlisted the sons of freeholders and farmers. He carefully invited into his regiment all the zea- lous fanatics throughout England. When they were collected in a body, their enthusiastic spirit still rose to a higher pitch. Their colonel, from
■ Conference held at Whitehall.
5*4(5 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1653,
his own natural character, as well as from policy, was sufficiently inclined to increase the flame. He preached, he prayed, he fought, he punished, he rewarded. The wild enthusiasm, together with valour and discipline, still propagated itself; and all men cast their eyes on so pious and so success- ful a leader. From low commands he rose with great rapidity to he really the first, though in ap- pearance only the second, in the army, By fraud and violence, he soon rendered himself the first in the state. In proportion to the increase of his authority, his talents always seemed to expand themselves ; and he displayed every day new abi- lities, which had lain dormant till the very emerg- ence by which they were called forth into action. All Europe stood astonished to see a nation so turbulent and unruly, who, for some doubtful en- croachments on their privileges, had dethroned and murdered an excellent prince, descended from a long line of monarchs, now at last subdued and reduced to slavery by one, who, a few years be- fore, was no better than a private gentleman, whose name was not known in the nation, and who was little regarded even in that low sphere to which he had always been confined.
The indignation, entertained by the people, against an authority, founded on such manifest usurpation, was not so violent as might naturally be expected. Congratulatory addresses, the first of the kind, were made to Cromwel by the fleet, by the army, even by many of the chief corpora-
1653. THE COMMONWEALTH. 247
tions and counties of England ; but especially by the several congregations of saints, dispersed throughout the kingdom11. The royalists, though they could not love the man who had embrued his hands in the blood of their sovereign, expect- ed more lenity from him, than from the jealous and imperious republicans, who had hitherto go- verned. The presbyterians were pleased to see those men, by whom they had been outwitted and expelled, now in their turn expelled and outwit- ted by their own servant; and they applauded him for this last act of violence upon the parlia- ment. These two parties composed the bulk of the nation, and kept the people in some tolerable temper. All men likewise, harassed with wars and factions, were glad to see any prospect of settlement. And they deemed it less ignominious to submit to a person of such admirable talents and capacity than to a few ignoble enthusiastic hypocrites, who, under the name of a republic, had reduced them to a cruel subjection.
The republicans, being dethroned by Crom- wel, were the party whose resentment he had the greatest reason to apprehend. That party, be- sides the independents, contained two sets of men, who are seemingly of the most opposite prin- ciples, but who were then united by a similitude of genius and of character. The first and most numerous were the millenarians, or fifth monarchy
■ See Milton's State Papers.
2-48 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1C5.J.
men, who insisted, that, dominion being founded in grace, all distinction in magistracy must be abolished, except what arose from piety and holi- ness ; who expected suddenly the second coming of Christ upon earth; and who pretended, that the saints in the mean while, that is", themselves, were alone entitled to govern. The second were the deists, who had no other object than political liberty, who denied entirely the truth of revela- tion, and insinuated, that all the various sects, so heated against each other, were alike founded in folly and in error. Men of such daring geniuses were not contented with the ancient and legal forms of civil government ; but challenged a de- gree of freedom beyond what they expected ever to enjoy under any monarchy. Martin, Challo- ner, Harrington, Sidney, Wildman, Nevil, were esteemed the heads of this small division.
BAREBONE'S PARLIAMENT,
The deists were perfectly hated by Cromwel, be- cause he had no hold of enthusiasm, by which he could govern or over-reach them ; he therefore treated them with great rigour and disdain, and usually denominated them the heathens. As the milienarians had a great interest in the army, it was much more important for him to gain their confidence ; and their size of understanding afford- ed him great facility in deceiving them. Of late
1653. THE COMMONWEALTH. 24i)
years it had been so usual a topic of conversation to discourse of parliaments and councils and se- nates, and the soldiers themselves had been so much accustomed to enter into that spirit, that Crom- wel thought it requisite to establish something which might bear the face of a commonwealth. He supposed that God, in his providence, had thrown the whole right, as well as power, of go- vernment into his hands ; and without any more ceremony, by the advice of his council of officers, he sent summons to a hundred and twenty -eight persons of different towns and counties of Eng- land, to five of Scotland, to six of Ireland. He pretended, by his sole act and deed, to devolve upon these the whole authority of the state. This legislative power they were to exercise during fifteen months, and they were afterwards to choose the same number of persons, who might succeed them in that high and important office.
There were great numbers at that time, who made it a principle always to adhere to any power which was uppermost, and to support the esta- blished government. This maxim is not peculiar to the people of that age ; but what may be esteemed peculiar to them, is, that there prevailed a hypocritical phrase foF expressing so prudential a conduct : it was called a waiting upon provi- dence. When providence, therefore, was so kind as to bestow on these men, now assembled toge- ther, the supreme authority, they must have been very ungrateful, if, in their turn, they had been
250 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1653.
wanting in complaisance towards her. They im- mediately voted themselves a parliament ; and having their own consent, as well as that of Oliver Cromwel, for their legislative authority, the}^ now proceeded very gravely to the exercise of it.
In this notable assembly were some persons of the rank of gentlemen ; but the far greater part were low mechanics; fifth monarchy men, ana- baptists, antinomians, independents ; the very dregs of the fanatics. They began with seeking God by prayer : this office was performed by eight or ten gifted men of the assembly; and with so much success, that, according to the confession of all, they had never before, in any of their de- votional exercises, enjoyed so much of the holy spirit as was then communicated to them °. Their hearts were, no doubt, dilated when they consi- dered the high dignity, to which they supposed themselves exalted. They had been told by Cromwel, in his first discourse, that he never looked to see such a day, when Christ should be so owned p. They thought it, therefore, their
• Pari. Hist. vol. xx. p. 182. * These are his expressions. " Indeed I have but one word more " to say to you, though in that perhaps I shall shew my weak- * ness : it is by way of encouragement to you in this work j give " me leave to begin thus : I confess I never looked to have seen " such a day as this, it may be nor you neither, when Jesus " Christ should be so owned as he is at this day and in this work. " Jesus Christ is owned this day by your call, and you own him " by your willingness to appear for him, and you manifest this " (as far as poor creatures can do) to be a day of the power of
1&53. THE COMMONWEALTH. ^251
duty to proceed to a thorough reformation, and to pave the way for the reign of the Redeemer, and for that great work which, it was expected, the Lord was to bring forth among them. All fanatics being consecrated by their own fond imaginations, naturally bear an antipathy to the ecclesiastics, who claim a peculiar sanctity, de- rived merely from their office and priestly cha- racter. This parliament took into consideration the abolition of the clerical function, as savouring of popery ; and the taking away of tithes, which they called a relict of Judaism. Learning also and the universities were deemed heathenish and unnecessary : the common law was denominated a badge of the conquest and of Norman slavery; and they threatened the lawyers with a total abrogation of their profession. Some steps were even taken towards an abolition of the chancery*1,
H Christ. I know you will remember that scripture, he makes his " people willing m the day of his power. God manifests it to be " the day of the power of Christ, having through so much blood f* and so much trial as has been upon this nation, he makes this " one of the greatest mercies, next to his own son, to have his " people called to the supreme authority. God hath owned his " son, and hath owned you, and hath made you to own him. I '* confess, I never looked to have seen such a day: I did not :" I suppose at this passage he cried : for he was very much given to weeping, and could at any time shed abundance of tears. The rest of the speech may be seen among .Milton's State Papers, page 106. It is very curious, and full of the same obscurity, confusion, embarrassment, and absurdity, which appear in almost all Oliver's productions.
i Whitlocke, p. 543. 548.
232 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1653.
the highest court of judicature in the kingdom ; and the Mosaical law was intended to be esta- blished as the sole system of English jurispru- dence r.
Of all the extraordinary schemes adopted by these legislators, they had not leisure to finish any, except that which established the legal so- lemnization of marriage by the civil magistrate alone, without the interposition of the clergy. They found themselves exposed to the derision of the public. Among the fanatics of the house, there was an active member, much noted for his long prayers, sermons, and harangues. He was a leather-seller in London : his name Praise-god Barebone* This ridiculous name, which seems to have been chosen by some poet or allegorist to suit so ridiculous a personage, struck the fancy of the people ; and they commonly affixed to this assembly the appellation of Barebone's parlia- ment*.
r Conference held at Whitehall. * It was usual for the pretended saints at that time to change their names from Henry, Edward, Anthony, William, which they regarded as heathenish, into others more sanctified and godly : even the new Testament names, James, Andrew, John, Peter, were not held in such regard as those which were bor- rowed from the Old Testament, Hezekiah, Habbakuk, Joshua, Zerobabel. Sometimes a whole godly sentence was adopted as a name. Here are the names of a jury said to be enclosed in the county of Sussex about that time.
Accepted, Trevor of Norsham. Redeemed, Compton of Battle. Faint not, Hewit of Heathfield.
1653. THE COMMONWEALTH. 233
The Dutch ambassadors endeavoured to enter into negotiation with this parliament ; but, though protestants and even presbyterians, they met with a bad reception from those who pretended to a sanctity so much superior. The Hollanders were regarded as worldly-minded men, intent only on commerce and industry ; whom it was fitting the saints should first extirpate, ere they undertook that great work, to which they believed them- selves destined by providence, of subduing Anti- Make Peace, Heaton of Hare.
God Reward, Smart of Fivehurst.
Standfast on High, Stringer of Crowhurst.
Earth, Adams of Warble ton.
Called, Lower of the same.
Kill Sin, Pimple of Witham.
Return, Spelman of Wading.
Be Faithful, Joiner of Briding.
Fly Debate, Roberts of the same.
Fight the good Fight of Faith, White of Emer.
More Fruit, Fowler of East Hadley.
Hope for, Bending of the same.
Graceful, Harding of Lewes.
Weep not, Billing of the same.
Meek, Brewer of Okeham.
See Broome's Travels in England, p. 27Q. " Cromwel," says Cleveland, " hath beat up his drums clean through the Old Testa- u ment. You may learn the genealogy of our Saviour by the " names of his regiment. The muster-master has no other list " than the first chapter of St. Matthew." The brother of this Praise-god Barebone had for name, If Christ had not died for you, you had been damned Barebone, But the people, tired of this long name, retained only the last word, and commonly gave him the appellation ofDamrid Barebone,
254 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l65:i.
christ, the man of sin, and extending to the utter- most bounds of the earth the kingdom of the Re- deemer'. The ambassadors rinding themselves proscribed, not as enemies of England, but of Christ, remained in astonishment, and knew not which was most to be admired, the implacable spirit or egregious folly of these pretended saints.
Cromwel began to be ashamed of his legisla- ture. If he ever had any design in summoning so preposterous an assembly beyond amusing the populace and the army, he had intended to alarm the clergy and lawyers ; and he had so far suc- ceeded as to make them desire any other govern- ment, which might secure their professions, now brought in danger by these desperate fanatics. Cromwel himself was dissatisfied, that the parlia- ment, though they had derived all their authority from him, began to pretend power from the Lord u, and to insist already on their divine com- mission. He had been careful to summon in his writs several persons entirely devoted to him. By concert, these met early ; and it was mentioned by some among them, that the sitting of this par- liament any longer would be of no service to the nation. They hastened, therefore, to Cromwel, along with Rouse, their speaker; and, by a formal deed or assignment, restored into his hands that
'Thurloe, vol. i. p. 273. 591. Also Stubbe, p. pi, Q2, " Thurloe, vol, i. p. 3Q3.
16:,3. THE COMMONWEALTH. 255
supreme authority which they had so lately re- ceived from him. General Harrison and about twenty more remained in the house; and that they might prevent the reign of the saints from coming to an untimely end, they placed one Moyer in the chair, and began to draw up protests. They were soon interrupted by colonel White, with a party of soldiers. He asked them what they did there? " We are seeking the Lord," said they. " Then you may go elsewhere," replied he: " for to my certain knowledge, he " has not been here these many years."
CROMWEL MADE PROTECTOR.
The military being now in appearance, as well as in reality, the sole power which prevailed in the nation, Cromwel thought fit to indulge a new fancy : for he seems not to have had any deliber- ate plan in all these alterations. Lambert, his creature, who, under the appearance of obsequi- ousness to him, indulged an unbounded ambition, proposed in a council of officers to adopt another scheme of government, and to temper the liberty of a commonwealth by the authority of a single person, who should be known by the appellation of protector. Without delay, he prepared what was called the instrument of government^ contain- ing the plan of this new legislature ; and, as it was supposed to be agreeable to the general, it
256 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1653.
was immediately voted by the council of officers. Cromwel was declared protector ; and with great solemnity installed in that high office.
So little were these men endowed with the spirit of legislation, that they confessed, or rather boasted, that they had employed only four days in drawing this instrument, by which the whole government of three kingdoms was pretended to be regulated and adjusted to all succeeding ge- nerations. There appears no difficulty in believ- ing them ; when it is considered how crude and undigested a system of civil polity they endea- voured to establish. The chief articles of the in- strument are these: A council was appointed, which was not to exceed twenty-one, nor be less than thirteen persons. These were to enjoy their office during life or good behaviour ; and in case of a vacancy, the remaining members named three, of whom the protector chose one. The protector was appointed supreme magistrate of the commonwealth : in his name was all justice to be administered ; from him were all magistracy and honours derived ; he had the power of par- doning all crimes, excepting murder and treason ; to him the benefit of all forfeitures devolved. The right of peace, war, and alliance, "* rested in him ; but in these particulars he was to act by the advice and with the consent of his council. The power of the sword was vested in the pro- tector jointly with the parliament, while it was sitting, or with the council of state in the inter-
1052. THE COMMONWEALTH. 257
vals. He was obliged to summon a parliament every three years, and allow them to sit five months, without adjournment, prorogation, or dissolution. The bills, which they passed, were to be presented to the protector for his assent ; but if within twenty days it were not obtained, they were to become laws by the authority alone of parliament. A standing army for Great Bri- tain and Ireland was established, of 20,000 foot and 10,000 horse; and funds were assigned for their support. These were not to be diminished without consent of the protector; and in this article alone he assumed a negative. During the intervals of parliament, the protector and council had the power of enacting laws, which were to be valid till the next meeting of parliament. The chancellor, treasurer, admiral, chief governors of Ireland and Scotland, and the chief justices of both the benches, must be chosen with the appro- bation of parliament ; and in the intervals, with the approbation of the council, to be afterwards ratified by parliament. The protector was to enjoy his office during life; and on his death, the place was immediately to be supplied by the council. This was the instrument of government enacted by the council of officers, and solemnly sworn to by Oliver Cromwel. The council of state, named by the instrument, were fifteen men entirely devoted to the protector, and by reason of the opposition among themselves in party and
VOL. VIII. s
25S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1653.
principles, not likely ever to combine against liim.
Cromwel said that he accepted the dignity of protector, merely that he might exert the duty of a constable, and preserve peace in the nation. Affairs indeed were brought to that pass, by the furious animosities of the several factions, that the extensive authority and even arbitrary power of some first magistrate was become a necessary evil, in order to keep the people from relapsing into blood and confusion. The independents were too small a party ever to establish a popular government, or entrust the nation, where they had so little interest, with the free choice of its representatives. The presbyterians had adopted the violent maxims of persecution ; incompatible at all times with the peace of society, much more with the wild zeal of those numerous sects which prevailed among the people. The royalists were so much enraged by the injuries which they had suffered, that the other prevailing parties would never submit to them, who, they knew, were enabled merely by the execution of the ancient laws, to take severe vengeance upon them. Plad Cromwel been guilty of no crime but this tem- porary usurpation, the plea of necessity and public good, which he alleged, might be allow- ed in every view, a reasonable excuse for his conduct.
During the variety of ridiculous and dis-
1653. THE COMMONWEALTH. 259
tracted scenes, which the civil government exhi- bited in England, the military force was exerted with vigour, conduct, and unanimity ; and never did the kingdom appear more formidable to all foreign nations. The English fleet, consisting of an hundred sail, and commanded by Monk and Dean, and under them by Pen and Lawson, met, near the coast of Flanders, with the Dutch fleet, equally numerous, and commanded by Tromp. The two republics were not inflamed by any na- tional antipathy, and their interests very little interfered : yet few battles have been disputed with more fierce and obstinate courage than were those many naval combats, which were fought during this short, but violent, war. The desire of remaining sole lords of the ocean animated these states to an honourable emulation against each other. After a battle of two days, in the first of which Dean was killed, the Dutch, inferior in the size of their ships, were obliged, with great loss, to retire into their harbours. Blake, to- wards the end of the fight, joined his countrymen with eighteen sail. The English fleet lay off the coast of Holland, and totally interrupted the commerce of that republic.
The ambassador, whom the Dutch had sent over to England, gave them hopes of peace. But as they could obtain no cessation of hostilities, the States, unwilling to suffer any longer the loss and dishonour of being blockaded by the enemy, 2
260 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1654.
made the utmost efforts to recover their injured honour. Never on any occasion did the power and vigour of that republic appear in a more con- spicuous light. In a few weeks, they had re- paired and manned their fleet ; and the}^ equip- ped some ships of a larger size than any which they had hitherto sent to sea. Tromp issued out, determined again to fight the victors, and to die rather than to yield the contest. He met with the enemy, commanded by Monk ; and both sides immediately rushed into the combat. Tromp, gallantly animating his men, with his sword drawn, was shot through the heart with a musquet ball. This event alone decided the battle in favour of the English. Though near thirty ships of the Dutch were sunk and taken, they little regard- ed this loss compared with that of their brave admiral.
PEACE WITH HOLLAND.
Meanwhile the negotiations of peace were continually advancing. The States, overwhelmed with the expence of the war, terrified by their losses, and mortified by their defeats, were ex- tremely desirous of an accommodation with an enemy whom they found, by experience, too powerful for them. The king having shown an inclination to serve on board their fleet ; though they expressed their sense of the honour intended
1(554. THE COMMONWEALTH. 2Gl
them, they declined an offer which might inflame the quarrel with the English commonwealth. The great obstacle to the peace was found not to be any animosity on the part of the English ; but on the contrary a desire too earnest of union and confederacy. Cromwel had revived the chimeri- cal scheme of a coalition with the United Pro- vinces ; a total conjunction of government, pri- vileges, interests, and councils. This project appeared so wild to the States, that they won- dered any man of sense could ever entertain it ; and they refused to enter into conferences with regard to a proposal, which could serve only to delay any practicable scheme of accommodation. The peace was at last signed by Cromwel, now invested with the dignity of protector; and it proves sufficiently, that the war had been impo- litic, since, after the most signal victories, no terms more advantageous could be obtained. A defensive league was made between the two re- publics. They agreed each of them to banish the enemies of the other ; those who had been con- cerned in the massacre of Amboyna were to be punished, if any remained alive; the honour of the flag was yielded to the English ; eighty-five thousand pounds were stipulated to be paid by the Dutch East India company for losses which the English company had sustained ; and the island of Polerone in the East Indies was promised to be ceded to the latter.
Cromwel, jealous of the connexions between
262 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1654.
the royal family and that of Orange, insisted on a separate article ; that neither the young prince nor any of his family should ever be invested with the dignity of stadtholder. The province of Holland, strongly prejudiced against that office, which they esteemed dangerous to liberty, se- cretly ratified this article. The protector, know- ing that the other provinces would not be induced to make such a concession, was satisfied with this security.
The Dutch war being successful, and the peace reasonable, brought credit to Cromwel's administration. An act of justice, which he exer- cised at home, gave likewise satisfaction to the people ; though the regularity of it may perhaps appear somewhat doubtful. Don Pantaleon Sa, brother to the Portuguese ambassador, and joined with him in the same com mission w, fancying him- self to be insulted, came upon the exchange, armed and attended by several servants. By mis- take, he fell on a gentleman, whom he took for the person that had given him the offence ; and having butchered him with many wounds, he and all his attendants took shelter in the house of the Portuguese ambassador, who had connived at this base enterprise x. The populace surrounded the house, and threatened to set fire to it. Cromwel sent a guard, who seized all the criminals. They were brought to trial : and notwithstanding the
w Thurloe, vol. ii. p. 429. * Ibid. vol. i. p. 616.
1054. THE COMMMONWEALTH. 2(>3
opposition of the ambassador, who pleaded the privileges of his office, don Pantaleon was exe- cuted on Tower-hill. The laws of nations were here plainly violated : but the crime committed by the Portuguese gentleman was to the last de- gree atrocious ; and the vigorous chastisement of it, suiting so well to the undaunted character of Cromwel, was universally approved of at home and admired among foreign nations. The situa- tion of Portugal obliged that court to acquiesce ; and the ambassador soon after signed with the protector a treaty of peace and alliance, which was very advantageous to the English commerce. .
Another act of severity, but necessary in his situation, was, at the very same time, exercised by the protector, in the capital punishment of Gerard and Vowel, two royalists, who were ac- cused of conspiring against his life. He had erected a high court of justice for their trial ; an infringement of the ancient laws, which at this time was become familiar, but one to which no custom or precedent could reconcile the nation. Juries were found altogether unmanageable. The restless Lilburn, for new offences, had been brought to a new trial ; and had been acquitted with new triumph and exultation. If no other method of conviction had been devised during this illegal and unpopular government, all its ene- mies were assured of entire impunity.
264 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1(554.
A NEW PARLIAMENT. September 3.
The protector had occasion to observe the pre- judices entertained against his government, by the disposition of the parliament, which he sum- moned on the third of September, that day of the year on which he gained his two great victories of Dunbar and Worcester, and which he always regarded as fortunate for him. It must be con- fessed, that, if we are left to gather Cromwel's intentions from his instrument of government, it is such a motley piece, that we cannot easily con- jecture, whether he seriously meant to establish a tyranny or a republic. On one hand, a first magistrate, in so extensive a government, seemed necessary both for the dignity and tranquillity of the state ; and the authority, which he assumed as protector, was, in some respects, inferior to the prerogatives, which the laws entrusted and still entrust to the king. On the other hand, the le- gislative power, which he reserved to himself, and council, together with so great an army, inde- pendent of the parliament, were bad prognostics of his intention to submit to a civil and legal con- stitution. But if this were not his intention, the method in which he distributed and con- ducted the elections, being so favourable to li- berty, forms an inconsistency which is not easily accounted for. He deprived of their right of election all the small boroughs, places the most
1654. THE COMMONWEALTH. 265
exposed to influence and corruption. Of 400 members, which represented England, 270 were chosen by the counties. The rest were elected by London, and the more considerable corpora- tions. The lower populace too, so easily guided or deceived, were excluded from the elections : an estate of 200 pounds value was necessary to entitle any one to a vote. The elections of this parliament were conducted with perfect freedom; and, excepting that such of the royalists as had borne arms against the parliament and all their sons were excluded, a more fair representation of the people could not be desired or expected. Thirty members were returned from Scotland ; as many from Ireland.
The protector seems to have been disappoint- ed, when he found that all these precautions, which were probably nothing but covers to his ambition, had not procured him the confidence of the public. Though Cromwel's administration was less odious to every party than that of any other party, yet was it entirely acceptable to none. The royalists had been instructed by the king to remain quiet, and to cover themselves under the appearance of republicans ; and they found in this latter faction such inveterate hatred against the protector, that they could not wish for more zealous adversaries to his authority. It was maintained by them, that the pretence of liberty and a popular election was but a new artifice of this great deceiver, in order to lay asleep the de-
'206 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1654.
luded nation, and give himself leisure to rivet their chains more securely upon them : that in the instrument of government he openly declared his intention of still retaining the same mercenary army, by whose assistance he had subdued the ancient established government, and who would with less scruple obey him, in overturning, when- ever he should please to order them, that new system, which he himself had been pleased to model : that being sensible of the danger and un- certainty of all military government, he endea- voured to intermix some appearance, and but an appearance, of civil administration, and to balance the army by a seeming consent of the people : that the absurd trial, which he had made, of a parliament, elected by himself, appointed perpe- tually to elect their successors, plainly proved, that he aimed at nothing but temporary expe- dients, was totally averse to a free republican government, and possessed not that mature and deliberate reflection, which could qualify him to act the part of a legislator: that his imperious character, which had betrayed itself in so many incidents, could never seriously submit to legal limitations; nor would the very image of popular government be longer upheld than while con- formable to his arbitrary will and pleasure : and that the best policy was to oblige him to take off the mask at once; and either submit entirely to that parliament, which he had summoned, or, by totally rejecting its authority, leave himself no
1054. THE COMMONWEALTH. 267
resource but in his seditious and enthusiastic army.
In prosecution of these views, the parliament, having heard the protector's speech, three hours longy, and having chosen Lenthal for their speaker, immediately entered into a discussion of the pretended instrument of government, and of that authority which Cromwel, by the title of protector, had assumed over the nation. The greatest liberty was used in arraigning this new dignity ; and even the personal character and conduct of Cromwel, escaped not without cen- sure. The utmost that could be obtained by the officers and by the court party, for so they were called, was to protract the debate by arguments and long speeches, and prevent the decision of a question, which, they were sensible, would be carried against them by a great majority. The protector, surprised and enraged at this refractory spirit in the parliament, which however he had so much reason to expect, sent for them to the painted chamber, and with an air of great author- ity inveighed against their conduct. He told them that nothing could be more absurd than for them to dispute his title; since the same instru- ment of government which made them a parlia- ment, had invested him with the protectorship ; that some points in the new constitution were supposed to be fundamentals, and were not on
1 Thurloe, vol. ii. p. 5813.
268 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1654-
any pretence to be altered or disputed; that among these were the government of the nation by a single person and a parliament, their joint authority over the army and militia, the succes- sion of new parliaments and liberty of conscience ; and that with regard to these particulars, there was reserved to him a negative voice, to which, in the other circumstances of government, he confessed himself no- wise entitled.
The protector now found the necessity of ex- acting a security which, had he foreseen the spirit of the house, he would with better grace have re- quired at their first meeting2. He obliged the members to sign a recognition of his authority, and an engagement not to propose or consent to any alteration in the government, as it was settled in a single person and a parliament; and he placed guards at the door of the house, who al- lowed none but subscribers to enter. Most of the members, after some hesitation, submitted to this condition ; but retained the same refractory spirit which they had discovered in their first debates. The instrument of government was taken in pieces, and examined, article by article, with the most scrupulous accuracy : very free topics were advanced vvith the general approbation of the house : and during the whole course of their pro- ceedings, they neither sent up one bill to the protector, nor took any notice of him. Being
* Thurloe, vol. ii. p. 620.
1(555. THE COMMONWEALTH. 269
informed that conspiracies were entered into be- tween the members and some malcontent officers, he hastened to the dissolution of so dangerous an assembly. By the instrument of government, to which he had sworn, no parliament could be dis- solved till it had sitten five months ; but Crom- wel pretended, that a month contained only twenty-eight days, according to the method of computation practised in paying the fleet and army. The full time, therefore, according to this reckoning, being elapsed, the parliament was ordered to attend the protector, who made them a tedious, confused, angry harangue, and dis- missed them. Were we to judge of Cromwel's capacity by this, and indeed by all his other com- positions, we should be apt to entertain no very favourable idea of it. But in the great variety of human geniuses, there are some which, though they see their object clearly and distinctly in ge- neral, yet, when they come to unfold its parts by discourse or writing, lose that luminous con- ception which they had before attained. All ac- counts agree in ascribing to Cromwel, a tiresome, dark, unintelligible elocution, even when he had no intention to disguise his meaning : yet no man's actions were ever, in such a variety of difficult incidents, more decisive and judicious.
The electing of a discontented parliament is a proof of a discontented nation : the angry and abrupt dissolution of that parliament is always sure to increase the general discontent. The
2;o HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1655.
members of this assembly, returning to their counties, propagated that spirit of mutiny which they had exerted in the house. Sir Harry Vane and the old republicans, who maintained the in- dissoluble authority of the long parliament, en- couraged the murmurs against the present usurp- ation ; though they acted so cautiously as to give the protector no handle against them. Wildman and some others of that party carried still far- ther their conspiracies against the protector's authority. The royalists, observing this general ill-will towards the establishment, could no longer be retained in subjection ; but fancied that every one who was dissatisfied like them, had also em- braced the same views and inclinations. They did not consider that the old parliamentary party, though many of them were displeased with Cromwel, who had dispossessed them of their power, were still more apprehensive of any suc- cess to the royal cause ; whence, besides a cer- tain prospect of the same consequence, they had so much reason to dread the severest vengeance for their past transgressions.
INSURRECTION OF THE ROYALISTS.
In concert with the king a conspiracy was en- tered into by the royalists throughout England, and a day of general rising appointed. Informa- tion of this design was conveyed to Cromwel.
1655 THE COMMONWEALTH. 271
The protector's administration was extremely vi- gilant. Thurloe, his secretary, had spies every where. Manning, who had access to the king's family, kept a regular correspondence with him. And it was not difficult to obtain intelligence of a confederacy, so generally diffused among a party who valued themselves more on zeal and courage, than on secresy and sobriety. Many of the royalists were thrown into prison. Others, on the approach of the day, were terrified with the danger of the undertaking, and remained at home. In one place alone the conspiracy broke into ac- tion. Penruddoc, Groves, Jones, and other gen- tlemen of the west, entered Salisbury with about 200 horse ; at the very time when the sheriff and judges were holding the assizes. These they made prisoners ; and they proclaimed the king. Contrary to their expectations, they received no accession of force ; so prevalent was the terror of the established government. Having in vain wandered about for some time, they were totally discouraged ; and one troop of horse was able at last to suppress them. The leaders of the con- spiracy, being taken prisoners, were capitally pu- nished. The rest were sold for slaves, and trans- ported to Barbadoes.
The easy subduing of this insurrection, which, by the boldness of the undertaking, struck at first a great terror into the nation, was a singular felicity to the protector; who could not, without
272 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1655.
danger, have brought together any considerable body of his mutiuous army, in order to suppress it. The very insurrection itself he regarded as a fortunate event; since it proved the reality of those conspiracies, which his enemies, on every occasion, represented as mere fictions, invented to colour his tyrannical severities. He resolved to keep no longer any terms with the royalists, who, though they were not perhaps the most im- placable of his enemies, were those whom he could oppress under the most plausible pretences, and who met with least countenance and pro- tection from his adherents. He issued an edict, with the consent of his council, for exacting the tenth penny from that whole party ; in order, as he pretended, to make them pay the expences to which their mutinous disposition continually exposed the public. Without regard to composi- tions, articles of capitulation, or acts of indem- nity, all the royalists, however harassed with former oppressions, were obliged anew to redeem themselves by great sums of money ; and many of them were reduced by these multiplied disasters to extreme poverty. Whoever was known to be disaffected, or even lay under any suspicion, though no guilt could be proved against him, was exposed to the new exaction.
In order to raise this imposition, which com- monly passed by the name of decimation, the protector instituted twelve major-generals; and
1(555. THE COMMONWEALTH. 273
divided the whole kingdom of England into so many military jurisdictions*. These men, assist- ed by commissioners, had power to subject whom they pleased to decimation, to levy all the taxes imposed by the protector and his council, and to imprison any person who should be exposed to their jealousy or suspicion ; nor was there any appeal from them but to the protector himself and his council. Under colour of these powers, which were sufficiently exorbitant, the major-ge- nerals exercised an authority still more arbitrary, and acted as if absolute masters of the property and person of every subject. All reasonable men now concluded, that the very masque of liberty was thrown aside, and that the nation was for ever subject to military and despotic government, exercised not in the legal manner of European nations, but according to the maxims of eastern tyranny. Not only the supreme magistrate owed his authority to illegal force and usurpation : he had parcelled out the people into so many sub- divisions of slavery, and had delegated to his inferior ministers the same unlimited authority which he himself had so violently assumed.
STATE OF EUROPE.
A government totally military and despotic is almost sure, after some time, to fall into impo- 1 Pari. Hist. vol. xx. p. 433. VOL. VIII. T
2J4 HISTORY OF ENGLANa 1655.
tence and languor: but when it immediately succeeds a legal constitution, it may, at first, to foreign nations, appear very vigorous and active, and may exert with more unanimity that power, spirit, and riches, which had been acquired under a better form. It seems now proper, after so long an interval, to look abroad to the general state of Europe, and to consider the measures which Eng- land at this time embraced in its negotiations with the neighbouring princes. The moderate temper and unwarlike genius of the two last princes, the extreme difficulties under which they laboured at home, and the great security which they enjoyed from foreign enemies, had rendered them negli- gent of the transactions on the continent ; and England, during their reigns, had been in a man- ner overlooked in the general system of Europe. The bold and restless genius of the protector led him to extend his alliances and enterprises to every part of Christendom ; and partly from the ascendant of his magnanimous spirit, partly from the situation of foreign kingdoms, the weight of England, even under its most legal and bravest princes, was never more sensibly felt than during this unjust and violent usurpation.
A war of thirty years, the most signal and most destructive that had appeared in modern annals, was at last finished in Germany b; and by the treaty of Westphalia, were composed those fatal quarrels which had been excited by the pa- Ma 1 648.
1655. THE COMMONWEALTH. 275
latine's precipitate acceptance of the crown of Bohemia. The young palatine was restored to part of his dignities and of his dominions0. The rights, privileges, and authority, of the several members of the Germanic body were fixed and ascertained : sovereign princes and free states were in some degree reduced to obedience under laws : and by the valour of the heroic Gustavus, the enterprises of the active Richelieu, the in- trigues of the artful Mazarine, was in part effect- ed, after an infinite expence of blood and trea- sure, what had been fondly expected and loudly demanded from the feeble efforts of the pacific James, seconded by the scanty supplies of his jealous parliaments.
Sweden, which had acquired by conquest large dominions in the north of Germany, was engaged in enterprises which promised her, from her success and valour, still more extensive acqui- sitions on the side both of Poland and of Den- mark. Charles X. who had mounted the throne of that kingdom after the voluntary resignation of Christina, being stimulated by the fame of Gustavus as well as by his own martial disposi- tion, carried his conquering arms to the south of the Baltic, and gained the celebrated battle of Warsaw, which had been obstinately disputed
c This prince, during the civil wars, had much neglected his uncle, and payed court to the parliament : he accepted of a pen? sion of 80001. a-year from them, and took a place in their assem- bly of divines. 2
276 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1655.
during the space of three days. The protector, at the time his alliance was courted by every power in Europe, anxiously courted the alliance of Sweden ; and he was fond of forming a confe- deracy with a protestant power of such renown, even though it threatened the whole north with conquest and subjection.
The transactions of the parliament and pro- tector with France had been various and compli- cated. The emissaries of Richelieu had furnished fuel to the flame of rebellion, when it first broke out in Scotland; but after the conflagration had diffused itself, the French court, observing the materials to be of themselves sufficiently com- bustible, found it unnecessary any longer to ani- mate the British malcontents to an opposition of their sovereign. On the contrary, they offered their mediation for composing these intestine disorders ; and their ambassadors, from decency, pretended to act in concert with the court of England, and to receive directions from a prince with whom their master was connected with so near an affinity. Meanwhile Richelieu died, and soon after him the French king, Louis XIII. leav- ing his son an infant four years old, and his wi- dow, Anne of Austria, regent of the kingdom. Cardinal Mazarine succeeded Richelieu in the ministry; and the same general plan of policy, though by men of such opposite characters, was still continued in the French counsels. The esta- blishment of royal authority, the reduction .of the
1655* THE COMMONWEALTH. 277
Austrian family, were pursued with ardour and success; and every year brought an accession of force and grandeur to the French monarchy. Not only battles were won, towns and fortresses taken ; the genius too of the nation seemed gra- dually to improve, and to compose itself to the spirit of dutiful obedience and of steady enter- prise. A Conde\ a Turenne, were formed ; and the troops, animated by their valour, and guided by their discipline, acquired every day a greater ascendant over the Spaniards. All of a sudden, from some intrigues of the court, and some dis- contents in the courts of judicature, intestine commotions were excited, and every thing re- lapsed into confusion. But these rebellions of the French, neither ennobled by the spirit of li- berty, nor disgraced by the fanatical extrava- gance which distinguished the British civil wars, were conducted with little bloodshed, and made but a small impression on the minds of the people. Though seconded by the force of Spain, and conducted by the prince of Cond6, the mal- contents, in a little time, were either expelled or subdued ; and the French monarchy, having lost a few of its conquests, returned with fresh vigour to the acquisition of new dominion.
The queen of England and her son, Charles, during these commotions, passed most of their time at Paris; and notwithstanding their near connexion of blood, received but few civilities, and still less support, from the French court.
•ITS HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1655.
Had the queen regent been ever so much in- clined to assist the English prince, the disorders of her own affairs would, for a long time, have rendered such intentions impracticable. The ba- nished queen had a moderate pension assigned her ; but it was so ill payed, and her credit ran so low, that, one morning, when the cardinal de Retz waited on her, she informed him that her daugh- ter, the princess Henrietta, was obliged to lie abed, for want of a fire to warm her. To such a condition was reduced, in the midst of Paris, a queen of England, and daughter of Henry IV. of France !
The English parliament, however, having as- sumed the sovereignty of the state, resented the countenance, cold as it was, which the French court gave to the unfortunate monarch. On pretence of injuries, of which the English mer- chants complained, they issued letters of reprisal upon the French; and Blake went so far as to attack and seize a whole squadron of ships, which were carrying supplies to Dunkirk, then closely besieged by the Spaniards. That town, disap- pointed of these supplies, fell into the hands of the enemy. The French ministers soon found it necessary to change their measures. They treated Charles with such affected indifference, that he thought it more decent to withdraw, and prevent the indignity of being desired to leave the king- dom. He went first to Spaw, thence he retired to Cologne; where he lived two years on a small
1655. THE COMMONWEALTH. 2/9
pension, about 6000 pounds a-year, payed him by the court of France, and on some contributions sent him by his friends in England. In the ma- nagement of his family, he discovered a disposi- tion to order and oeconomy ; and his temper, cheerful, careless, and sociable, was more than a sufficient compensation for that empire, of which his enemies had bereaved him. Sir Ed- ward Hyde, created lord chancellor, and the marquis of Ormond, were his chief friends and confidents.
If the French ministry had thought it pru- dent to bend under the English parliament, they deemed it still more necessary to pay deference to the protector, when he assumed the reins of go- vernment. Cardinal Mazarine, by whom all the councils of France were directed, was artful and vigilant, supple and patient, false and intriguing ; desirous rather to prevail by dexterity than vio- lence, and placing his honour more in the final success of his measures than in the splendour and magnanimity of the means which he employed. Cromwel, by his imperious character, rather than by the advantage of his situation, acquired an ascendant over this man ; and every proposal made by the protector, however unreasonable in itself, and urged with whatever insolence, met with a ready compliance from the politic and timid cardinal. Bourdeaux was sent over to Eng- land as minister; and all circumstances of re- spect were paid to the daring usurper, who had
SOO HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1655.
imbrued his hands in the blood of his sove- reign, a prince so nearly related to the royal fa- mily of France. With indefatigable patience did Bourdeaux conduct this negotiation, which Crom- wel seemed entirely to neglect; and though privateers, with English commissions, committed daily depredations on the French commerce, Ma- zarine was content, in hopes of a fortunate issue, still to submit to these indignities 1
The court of Spain, less connected with the unfortunate royal family, and reduced to greater distress than the French monarchy, had been still more forward in her advances to the prosperous parliament and protector. Don Alonzo de Car- denas, the Spanish envoy, was the first public mi" nister who recognized the authority of the new republic ; and in return for this civility, Ascham was sent envoy into Spain by the parliament. No sooner had this minister arrived at Madrid, than some of the banished royalists, inflamed by that inveterate hatred which animated the English fac- tions, broke into his chamber, and murdered him together with his secretary. Immediately they took sanctuary in the churches ; and, assisted by the general favour, which every where attended the royal cause, were enabled, most of them, to make their escape. Only one of the criminals
d Thurloe, vol. iii. p. 103. 6lQ. 653. In the treaty, which was signed after long negotiation, the protector's name was inserted before the French king's in that copy which remained in Eng- land. Thurloe, vol. vi. p. 110". See farther, vol. vii. p. 1/8.
11355. THE COMMONWEALTH. 281
suffered death; and the parliament seemed to rest satisfied with this atonement.
Spain, at this time, assailed every where hy vigorous enemies from without, and labouring under many internal disorders, retained nothing of her former grandeur, except the haughty pride of her counsels, and the hatred and jea- lousy of her neighbours. Portugal had rebelled, and established her monarchy in the house of Braganza: Catalonia, complaining of violated privileges, had revolted to France : Naples was shaken with popular convulsions : the Low Coun- tries were invaded with superior forces, and seemed ready to change their master : the Span- ish infantry, anciently so formidable, had been annihilated by Conde in the fields of Rocroy : and though the same prince, banished France, sustained, by his activity and valour, the falling fortunes of Spain, he could only hope to protract, not prevent, the ruin with which that monarchy was yisibly threatened.
Had Cromwell understood and regarded the interests of his country, he would have supported the declining condition of Spain against the dan- gerous ambition of France, and preserved that ba- lance of power, on which the greatness and secur- ity of England so much depend. Had he studied only his own interests, he would have maintained an exact neutrality between those great mon- archies; nor would he have hazarded his ill-ac- quired and unsettled power, by provoking foreign
282 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1655.
enemies, who might lend assistance to domestic faction, and overturn his tottering throne. But his magnanimity undervalued danger: his active disposition, and avidity of extensive glory, made him incapable of repose : and as the policy of men is continually warped by their temper, no sooner was peace made with Holland, than he began to deliberate what new enemy he should invade with his victorious arms.
WAR WITH SPAIN.
The extensive empire and yet extreme weakness of Spain in the West Indies ; the vigorous cour- age and great naval power of England ; were cir- cumstances, which, when compared,N excited the ambition of the enterprising protector, and made him hope that he might, by some gainful con- quest, render for ever illustrious that dominion which he had assumed over his country. Should he fail of these durable acquisitions, the Indian treasures, which must every year cross the ocean to reach Spain, were, he thought, a sure prey to the English navy, and would support his military force, without his laying new burthens on the discontented people. From France a vigorous resistance must be expected : no plunder, no conquests could be hoped for : the progress of his arms, even if attended with success, must there be slow and gradual: and the advantages ac-
1655. THE COMMONWEALTH, 28.1
quired, however real, would be still less striking to the multitude, whom it was his interest to al- lure. The royal family, so closely connected with the French monarch, might receive great assist- ance from that neighbouring kingdom ; and an army of French protestants, landed in England, would be able, he dreaded, to unite the most op- posite factions against the present usurpation6.
These motives of policy were probably se<- conded by his bigoted prejudices ; as no human mind ever contained so strange a mixture of sa- gacity and absurdity as that of this extraordinary personage. The Swedish alliance, though much contrary to the interests of England, he had con- tracted merely from his zeal for protestantism f ; and Sweden being closely connected with France, he could not hope to maintain that confederacy, , in which he so much prided himself, should a rupture ensue between England and this latter kingdom g. The Hugonots, he expected, would meet with better treatment, while he engaged in a close union with their sovereign h. And as the Spaniards were much more papists than the
e See the account of the negotiations with France and Spain, by Thurloe, vol. i. p. 759.
1 He proposed to Sweden a general league and confederacy of all the protestants. Whitlocke, p. 620. Thurloe, vol. vii. p. ] . In order to judge of the maxims by which he conducted his fo- reign politics, see farther Thurloe, vol. iv. p. 295. 343. 443, vol. vii. p. 174.
« Thurloe, vol. i. p. 759. h Id. ibid.
364 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1655.
French, were much more exposed to the old puritanical hatred1, and had even erected the bloody tribunal of the inquisition, whose rigours they had refused to mitigate on Cromwel's soli- citationk; he hoped that a holy and meritorious war with such idolaters could not fail of pro- tection from heaven1. A preacher likewise, in- spired, as was supposed, by a prophetic spirit, bid him go and prosper; calling him a stone cut out of the mountains without hands, that would break the pride of the Spaniard, crush Antichrist, and make way for the purity of the Gospel over the whole worldm.
Actuated equally by these bigoted, these am- bitious, and these interested motives, the pro- tector equipped two considerable squadrons ; and while he was making those preparations, the neighbouring states, ignorant of his intentions, remained in suspence, and looked with anxious expectation on what side the storm should dis- charge itself. One of these squadrons, consist- ing of thirty capital ships, was sent into the Me- diterranean under Blake, whose fame was now spread over Europe. No English fleet, except during the Crusades, had ever before sailed in those seas ; and from one extremity to the other,
1 Thurloe, vol. i. p. J5Q. k Id. ibid. Don Alonzo said, that the Indian trade and the in- quisition were his master's two eyes, and the protector insisted upon the putting out both of them et once.
1 Carrington, p. 191. ro Bates.
1655. THE COMMONWEALTH. 265
there was no naval force, Christian or Maho- metan, able to resist them. The Roman pontiff, whose weakness and whose pride equally provoke attacks, dreaded invasion from a power which professed the most inveterate enmity against him, and which so little regulated its movements by the usual motives of interest and prudence. Blake, casting anchor before Leghorn, demanded and obtained from the duke of Tuscany repara- tion for some losses which the English commerce had formerly sustained from him. He next sailed to Algiers, and compelled the dey to make peace, and to restrain his piratical subjects from farther violences on the English. He presented himself before Tunis; and having there made the same demands, the dey of that republic bade him look to the castles of Porto Farino and Goletta, and do his utmost. Blake needed not to be roused by such a bravado : he drew his ships close up to the castles, and tore them in pieces with his artil- lery. He sent a numerous detachment of sailors in their long-boats into the harbour, and burned every ship which lay there. This bold action, which its very temerity, perhaps, rendered safe, was executed with little loss, and rilled all that part of the world with the renown of English valour.
286 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1655.
JAMAICA CONQUERED.
The other squadron was not equally successful. It was commanded by Pen, and carried on board 4000 men, under the command of Venables. About 5000 more joined them from Barbadoes and St. Christopher's. Both these officers were inclined to the king's service11; and it is pre- tended that Cromwel was obliged to hurry the soldiers on board, in order to prevent the exe- cution of a conspiracy which had been formed among them in favour of the exiled family0. The ill success of this enterprise may justly be ascribed, as much to the injudicious schemes of the protector, who planned it, as to the bad exe- cution of the officers, by whom it was conducted. The soldiers were the refuse of the whole army : the forces, inlisted in the West Indies, were the most profligate of mankind: Pen and Venables were of incompatible tempers : the troops were not furnished with arms fit for such an expedi- tion : their provisions were defective both in quantity and quality : all hopes of pillage, the best incentive to valour among such men, were refused the soldiers and seamen : no directions or intelligence were given to conduct the officers in their enterprise : and at the same time they were
■ Clarendon. • Vita D. Berwici, p. 124.
1655. THE COMMONWEALTH. 287
tied down to follow the advice of commissioners who disconcerted them in all their projects p.
It was agreed by the admiral and general to attempt St. Domingo, the only place of strength in the island of Hispaniola. On the approach of the English, the Spaniards in a fright deserted their houses, and fled into the woods. Contrary to the opinion of Venables, the soldiers were dis- embarked without guides ten leagues distant from the town. They wandered four days through the woods without provisions, and, what was still more intolerable in that sultry climate, without water. The Spaniards recovered spirit and at- tacked them. The English discouraged with the bad conduct of their officers, and scarcely alive from hunger, thirst, and fatigue, were unable to resist. An inconsiderable number of the enemy put the whole army to rout, killed 600 of them, and chased the rest on board their vessels.
The English commanders, in order to atone as much as possible for this unprosperous attempt, bent their course to Jamaica, which was surren- dered to them without a blow. Pen and Venables returned to England;, ;?nd were both of them sent to the Tower by the protector, who though com- monly master of his fiery temper, was thrown into a violent passion at this disappointment. He had made a conquest of greater importance than he was himself at that time aware of; yet was it much
p Burchet's Naval History. See also Carte's Collection, vol. ifc p. 46, 47. Thurloe, voL Hi. p. 505.
288 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1656.
inferior to the vast projects which he had formed. He gave orders, however, to support it by men and money; and that island has ever since re- mained in the hands of the English ; the chief acquisition which they owe to the enterprising spirit of Cromwel.
As soon as the news of this expedition, which was an unwarrantable violation of treaty, arrived in Europe, the Spaniards declared war against England, and seized all the ships and goods of English merchants, of which they could make themselves masters. The commerce with Spain, so profitable to the English, was cut off; and near 1500 vessels, it is computed*1, fell in a few years into the hands of the enemy. Blake, to whom Montague was now joined in command, after re- ceiving new orders, prepared himself for hostili- ties against the Spaniards.
Several sea officers, having entertained scru- ples of conscience with regard to the justice of the Spanish war, threw up their commissions, and retired r; no commands, they thought, of their superiors could justify a war, which was contrary to the principles of natural equity, and which the civil magistrate had no right to order. Indivi- duals, they maintained, in resigning to the pub- lic their natural liberty, could bestow on it only what they themselves were possessed of, a right of performing lawful actions, and could invest it
q Thurloe, vol. iv. p. 135. World's Mistake in Oliver Crom- wel, in the Harl. Miscel. vol. i.
r Thurloe, vol. iv. p. 570. 589.
1656. THE COMMONWEALTH. 28g
with no authority of commanding what is contrary to the decrees of heaven. Such maxims, though they seem reasonable, are perhaps too perfect for human nature; and must be regarded as one effect, though of the most innocent and even honourable kind, of that spirit, partly fanatical, partly republican, which predominated in Eng- land.
Blake lay some time off Cadiz, in expecta- tion of intercepting the plate fleet, but was at last obliged, for want of water, to make sail towards Portugal. Captain Stayner, whom he had left on the coast with a squadron of seven vessels, came in sight of the galleons, and immediately set sail to pursue them. The Spanish admiral ran his ship ashore : two others followed his ex- ample : the English took two ships valued at near two millions of pieces of eight. Two galleons were set on fire; and the marquis of Badajox, viceroy of Peru, with his wife and his daughter, betrothed to the young duke of Medina Celi, were destroyed in them. The marquis himself might have escaped ; but seeing these unfortu- nate women, astonished with the danger, fall in a swoon, and perish in the flames, he rather chose to die with them, than drag out a life embittered with the remembrance of such dismal scenes8. When the treasures gained by this enterprise ar-
• Thurloe, vol. v. p. 433. VOL. VIII. U
290 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1656.
rived at Portsmouth, the protector, from a spirit of ostentation, ordered them to be transported by land to London.
The next action against the Spaniards was more honourable, though less profitable to the nation. Blake having heard that a Spanish fleet of sixteen ships, much richer than the former, had taken shelter in the Canaries, immediately made sail towards them. He found them in the bay of Santa Cruz, disposed in a formidable pos- ture. The bay was secured with a strong castle, well provided with cannon, besides seven forts in several parts of it, all united by a line of commu- nication, manned with musqueteers. Don Diego Diaques, the Spanish admiral, ordered all his smaller vessels to moor close to the shore, and posted the larger galleons farther off, at anchor, with their broadsides to the sea.
Blake was rather animated than daunted with this appearance. The wind seconded his cour- age, and blowing full into the bay, in a moment brought him among the thickest of his enemies. After a resistance of four hours, the Spaniards yielded to English valour, and abandoned their ships, Avhich were set on fire, and consumed with all their treasure. The greatest danger still remained to the English. They lay under the fire of the castles and all the forts, which must in a little time have torn them in pieces. But the wind suddenly shifting, carried them out of the bay; where they left the Spaniards in astonish-
1656. THE COMMONWEALTH. 291
ment at the happy temerity of their audacious victors.
DEATH OF ADMIRAL BLAKE.
This was the last and greatest action of the gal- lant Blake. He was consumed with a dropsy and scurvy, and hastened home, that he might yield up his breath in his native country, which he had so much adorned by his valour. As he came within sight of land he expired*. Never man so zealous for a faction was so much respected and esteemed even by the opposite factions. He was by principle an inflexible republican ; and the late usurpations, amidst all the trust and caresses which he received from the ruling powers, were thought to be very little grateful to him. It is still our duty, he said to the seamen, to fight for our country, into what hands soever the government may fall. Disinterested, generous, liberal ; ambitious only of true glory, dreadful only to his avowed ene- mies ; he forms one of the most perfect charac- ters of the age, and the least stained with those errors and violences which were then so predomi- nant. The protector ordered him a pompous fu- neral at the public charge: but the tears of his countrymen were the most honourable panegyric on his memory.
* 20th of April, 1657.
292 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1650.
The conduct of the protector in foreign affairs, though imprudent and impolitic, was full of vi- gour and enterprise, and drew a consideration to his country, which, since the reign of Elizabeth, it seemed to have totally lost. The great mind of this successful usurper was intent on spreading the renown of the English nation; and while he struck mankind with astonishment at his extraor- dinary fortune, he seemed to ennoble, instead of debasing, that people whom he had reduced to subjection. It was his boast, that he would render the name of an Englishman as much feared and revered as ever was that of a Roman; and as his countrymen found some reality in these preten- sions, their national vanity being gratified, made them bear with more patience all the indignities and calamities under which they laboured.
DOMESTIC ADMINISTRATION OF CROMWEL.
It must also be acknowledged, that the protector, in his civil and domestic administration, displayed as great regard both to justice and clemency, as his usurped authority, derived from no law, and founded only on the sword, could possibly per- mit. All the chief offices in the courts of judica- ture were filled with men of integrity : amidst the virulence of faction, the decrees of the judges were upright and impartial : and to every man, but himself, and to himself, except where neces-
THE COMMONWEALTH. 293
sity required the contrary, the law was the great rule of conduct and behaviour. Vane and Lil- burn, whose credit with the republicans and level- lers he dreaded, were indeed for some time con- fined to prison : Cony, who refused to pay illegal taxes, was obliged by menaces to depart from his obstinacy: high courts of justice were erected to try those who had engaged in conspiracies and insurrections against the protector's authority, and whom he could not safely commit to the verdict of juries. But these irregularities were deemed inevitable consequences of his illegal au- thority. And though often urged by his officers, as is pretended u, to attempt a general massacre of the royalists, he always with horror rejected such sanguinary counsels.
In the army was laid the sole basis of the pro- tector's power ; and in managing it consisted the chief art and delicacy of his government. The soldiers were held in exact discipline ; a policy which both accustomed them to obedience, and made them less hateful and burthensome to the people. He augmented their pay ; though the public necessities sometimes obliged him to run in arrears to them. Their interests, they were sensible, were closely connected with those of their general and protector. And he entirely commanded their affectionate regard, by his abi- lities and success in almost every enterprise which
• Clarendon, Life of Dr. Berwick, &c.
2£)4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 165(5.
he had hitherto undertaken. But all military go- vernment is precarious; much more where it stands in opposition to civil establishments ; and still more where it encounters religious prejudices. By the wild fanaticism which he had nourished in the soldiers, he had seduced them into measures for which, if openly proposed to them, they would have entertained the utmost aversion. But this same spirit rendered them more difficult to be go- verned, and made their caprices terrible even to that hand which directed their movements. So often taught, that the office of king was an usurp- ation upon Christ, they were apt to suspect a protector not to be altogether compatible with that divine authority Harrison, though raised to the highest dignity, and possessed of Cromwel's confidence, became his most inveterate enemy as soon as the authority of a single person was esta- blished, against which that usurper had always made such violent protestations. Overton, Rich, Okey, officers of rank in the army, were actuated with like principles, and Cromwel was obliged to deprive them of their commissions. Their in- fluence, which was before thought unbounded among the troops, seemed from that moment to be totally annihilated.
The more effectually to curb the enthusiastic and seditious spirit of the troops, Cromwel esta- blished a kind of militia in the several counties. Companies of infantry and cavalry were inlisted under proper officers, regular pay distributed
1656. THE COMMONWEALTH. 295
among them, and a resource by that means pro- vided both against the insurrections of the royal- ists, and mutiny of the army.
Religion can never be deemed a point of small consequence in civil government : but during this period, it may be regarded as the great spring of men's actions and determinations. Though transported, himself, with the most frantic whim- sies, Cromwel had adopted a scheme for regulat- ing this principle in others, which was sagacious and political. Being resolved to maintain a na- tional church, yet determined neither to admit episcopacy nor presbytery, he established a num- ber of commissioners, under the name of tryers, partly laymen, partly ecclesiastics, some presby- terians, some independents. These presented to all livings, which were formerly in the gift of the crown; they examined and admitted such per- sons as received holy orders ; and they inspected the lives, doctrine, and behaviour of the clergy. Instead of supporting that union between learn- ing and theology, which has so long been at- tempted in Europe, these tryers embraced the lat- ter principle in its full purity, and made it the sole object of their examination. The candidates were no more perplexed with questions concern- ing their progress in Greek and Roman erudi- tion; concerning their talent for profane arts and sciences : the chief object of scrutiny regarded their advances in grace, and fixing the critical moment of their conversion.
296 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1656.
With the pretended saints of all denomina- tions Cromwel was familiar and easy. Laying aside the state of protector, which, on other oc- casions, he well knew how to maintain, he insinu- ated to them, that nothing but necessity could ever oblige him to invest himself with it. He talked spiritually to them ; he sighed, he weeped, he canted, he prayed. He even entered with them into an emulation of ghostly gifts; and these men, instead of grieving to be outdone in their own way, were proud that his highness, by his princely example, had dignified those practices in which they themselves were daily occupied *.
If Cromwel might be said to adhere to any particular form of religion, they were the inde- pendents who could chiefly boast of his favour; and it may be affirmed, that such pastors of that sect, as were not passionately addicted to civil liberty, were all of them devoted to him.
The presbyterian clergy also, saved from the
T Cromwel followed, though but in part, the advice which he received from general Harrison, at the time when the intimacy and endearment most strongly subsisted betwixt them. " Let " the waiting upon Jehovah," said that military saint, " be the " greatest and most considerable business you have every day : " reckon it so, more than to eat, sleep, and counsel together. " Run aside sometimes from your company, and get a word with " the Lord. Why should not you have three or four precious " souls always standing at your elbow, with whom you might ** now and then turn into a corner ? I have found refreshment " and mercy in such a way."
Milton's State Papers, p. 12.
1656. THE COMMONWEALTH. 297
ravages of the anabaptists and millenarians, and enjoying their establishments and tithes, were not averse to his government ; though he still enter- tained a great jealousy of that ambitious and restless spirit by which they were actuated. He granted an unbounded liberty of conscience to all but catholics and prelatists ; and by that means he both attached the wild sectaries to his person, and employed them in curbing the domi- neering spirit of the presbyterians. " I am the H only man," he was often heard to say, " who " has known how to subdue that insolent sect, " which can suffer none but itself."
The protestant zeal which possessed the pres- byterians and independents, was highly gratified by the haughty manner in which the protector so successfully supported the persecuted protestants throughout all Europe. Even the duke of Savoy, so remote a power, and so little exposed to the naval force of England, was obliged, by the au- thority of France, to comply with his mediation, and to tolerate the protestants of the vallies, against whom that prince had commenced a fu- rious persecution. France itself was constrained to bear not only with the religion, but even, in some instances, with the seditious insolence of the hugonots ; and when the French court ap- plied for a reciprocal toleration of the catholic religion in England, the protector, who arrogated in every thing the superiority, would hearken to no such proposal. He had entertained a project
29S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1656.
of instituting a college in imitation of that at Rome, for the propagation of the faith ; and his apostles, in zeal, though not in unanimity, had certainly been a full match for the catholics.
Cromwel retained the church of England in Constraint ; though he permitted its clergy a little more liberty than the republican parliament had formerly allowed. He was pleased that the superior lenity of his administration should in every thing be remarked. He bridled the royal- ists, both by the army which he retained, and by those secret spies which he found means to inter- mix in all their counsels. Manning being de- tected and punished with death, he corrupted sir Richard Willis, who was much trusted by chan- cellor Hyde and all the royalists ; and by means of this man he was let into every design and con- spiracy of the party. He could disconcert any project, by confining the persons who were to be the actors in it ; and as he restored them after- wards to liberty, his severity passed only for the result of general jealousy and suspicion. The secret source of his intelligence remained still unknown and unsuspected.
Conspiracies for an assassination he was chiefly afraid of; these being designs which no prudence or vigilance could evade. Colonel Titus, under the name of Allen, had written a spirited dis- course, exhorting every one to embrace this me- thod of vengeance ; and Cromwel knew that the inflamed minds of the royal party were sufficiently
1656. THE COMMONWEALTH. 299.
disposed to put the doctrine in practice against him. He openly told them, that assassinations were base and odious, and he never would com- mence hostilities by so shameful an expedient ; but if the first attempt or provocation came from them, he would retaliate to the uttermost. He had instruments, he said, whom he could em- ploy ; and he never would desist till he had to- tally exterminated the royal family. This me- nace, more than all his guards, contributed to the security of his person *.
There was no point about which the protector was more solicitous than to procure intelligence. This article alone, it is said, cost him sixty thou- sand pounds a-year. Postmasters both at home and abroad, were in his pay : carriers were searched or bribed : secretaries and clerks were corrupted : the greatest zealots in all parties were often those who conveyed private information to him: and nothing could escape his vigilant enquiry. Such at least is the representation made by historians of Cromwel's administration : but it must be confessed, that if we may judge by those volumes of Thurloe's papers, which have been lately pub- lished, this affair, like many others, has been greatly magnified. We scarcely find by that collection, that any secret counsels of foreign states, except those of Holland, which are not
* See note [K] vol. X.
$00 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1656.
expected to be concealed, were known to the protector.
The general behaviour and deportment of this man, who had been raised from a very private station, who had passed most of his youth in the country, and who was still constrained so much to frequent bad company, was such as might befit the greatest monarch. He maintained a dignity without either affectation or ostentation ; and supported with all strangers that high idea with which his great exploits and prodigious fortune had impressed them. Among his ancient friends he could relax himself; and by trifling and amusement, jesting and making verses, he feared not exposing himself to their most familiar ap- proaches2. With others, he sometimes pushed matters to the length of rustic buffoonery ; and he would amuse himself by putting burning coals into the boots and hose of the officers who at- tended him* Before the king's trial, a meeting was agreed on between the chiefs of the repub- lican party and the general officers, in order to concert the model of that free government which they were to substitute in the room of the mo- narchical constitution, now totally subverted. After debates on this subject, the most important that could fall under the discussion of human creatures, Ludlow tells us, that Cromwel, by way
* Whitlocke, p. 647. ' Bates.
1656. THE COMMONWEALTH. 301
of frolic, threw a cushion at his head ; and when Ludlow took up another cushion, in order to return the compliment, the general ran down stairs, and had almost fallen in the hurry. When the high court of justice was signing the warrant for the execution of the king, a matter, if possi- ble, still more serious, Cromwel, taking the pen in his hand, before he subscribed his name, be- daubed with ink the face of Martin, who sat next him. And the pen being delivered to Martin, he practised the same frolic upon Cromwel b. He frequently gave feasts to his inferior officers ; and when the meat was set upon the table, a signal was given ; the soldiers rushed in upon them ; and with much noise, tumult, and confusion, ran away with all the dishes, and disappointed the guests of their meal c.
That vein of frolic and pleasantry which made a part, however inconsistent, of Cromwel's cha- racter, was apt sometimes to betray him into other inconsistencies, and to discover itself even where religion might seem to be a little concern- ed. It is a tradition, that one day, sitting at table, the protector had a bottle of wine brought him, of a kind which he valued so highly, that he must needs open the bottle himself : but in at- tempting it, the cork-screw dropt from his hand. Immediately his courtiers and generals flung themselves on the floor to recover it. Cromwel
b Trial of the Regicides. c Bates.
302 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1656.
burst out a-laughing. Should any fool, said he, put in his head at the door, he would fancy, from your posture, that you were seeking the Lord; and you are only seeking a cork-screw.
Amidst all the unguarded play and buffoonery of this singular personage, he took the opportu- nity of remarking the characters, designs, and weaknesses of men ; and he would sometimes push them by an indulgence in wine, to open to him the most secret recesses of their bosom. Great regularity however, and even austerity of manners, were always maintained in his court ; and he was careful never by any liberties to give offence to the most rigid of the godly. Some state was upheld ; but with little expence, and without any splendour. The nobility, though courted by him, kept at a distance, and disdain- ed to intermix with those mean persons who were the instruments of his government. Without departing from oeconomy, he was generous to those who served him ; and he knew how to find out and engage in his interests every man pos- sessed of those talents which any particular em- ployment demanded. His generals, his admirals, his judges, his ambassadors, were persons who contributed, all of them in their several spheres, to the security of the protector, and to the ho- nour and interest of the nation.
Under pretence of uniting Scotland and Ire- land in one commonwealth with England, Crom- wel had reduced those kingdoms to a total sub-
1656. THE COMMONWEALTH. 303
jection; and he treated them entirely as con- quered provinces. The civil administration of Scotland was placed in a council, consisting mostly of English, of which lord Broghil was president. Justice was administered by seven judges, four of whom were English. In order to curb the tyrannical nobility, he both abolished all vassalage d, and revived the office of justice of peace, which king James had introduced, but was not able to support0. A long line of forts and garrisons was maintained throughout the kingdom. An army of 10,000 menf kept every thing in peace and obedience; and neither the banditti of the mountains, nor the bigots of the low countries, could indulge their inclination to turbulence and disorder. He courted the presby- terian clergy ; though he nourished that intestine enmity which prevailed between the resolutioners and protesters ; and he found that very little po- licy was requisite to foment quarrels among theo- logians. He permitted no church assemblies; being sensible that from thence had proceeded many of the past disorders. And, in the main, the Scots were obliged to acknowledge, that never before, while they enjoyed their irregular factious liberty, had they attained so much happiness as at present, when reduced to subjection under a foreign nation.
4 Whitlocke, p. 570. * Thurloe, vol. iy, p. 57.
' Thurloe, vol. vi. p. 557.
304 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 165(5.
The protector's administration of Ireland was more severe and violent. The government of that island was first entrusted to Fleetwood, a no- torious fanatic, who had married Ireton's widow ; then to Henry Cromwel, second son of the pro- tector, a young man of an amiable, mild dis- position, and not destitute of vigour and capa- city. About five millions of acres, forfeited either by popish rebels or by the adherents of the king, were divided, partly among the adven- turers, who had advanced money to the parlia- ment, partly among the English soldiers, who had arrears due to them. Examples of a more sud- den and violent change of property are scarcely to be found in any history. An order was even issued to confine all the native Irish to the pro- vince of Connaught, where they would be shut up by rivers, lakes, and mountains ; and could not, it was hoped, be any longer dangerous to the English government : but this barbarous and ab- surd policy, which, from an impatience of attain- ing immediate security, must have depopulated all the other provinces, and rendered the English estates of no value, was soon abandoned as im- practicable.
NEW PARLIAMENT.
Cromwel began to hope that, by his administra- tion, attended with so much lustre and success
1656. THE COMMONWEALTH. 305
abroad, so much order and tranquillity at home, lie had now acquired such authority as would enable him to meet the representatives of the nation, and would assure him of their dutiful compliance with his government. He summon- ed a parliament ; but not trusting altogether to the good-will of the people, he used every art which his new model of representation allowed him to employ, in order to influence the elections, and fill the house with his own creatures. Ire-* land, being entirely in the hands of the army, chose few but such officers as were most accept- able to him. Scotland showed a like compliance; and as the nobility and gentry of that kingdom regarded their attendance on English parliaments as an ignominious badge of slavery, it was, on that account, more easy for the officers to prevail in the elections. Notwithstanding all these pre- cautions, the protector still found that the ma- jority would not be favourable to him. He set guards, therefore, on the door, who permitted none to enter but such as produced a warrant from his council ; and the council rejected about a hundred, who either refused a recognition of the protector's government, or were on other accounts obnoxious to him. These protested against so egregious a violence, subversive of all liberty ; but every application for redress was neglected both by the council and the parlia- ment.
The majority of the parliament, by means of vol. vin. x
306 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1656.
these arts and violences, was now at last either friendly to the protector, or resolved, by their compliance, to adjust, if possible, this military government to their laws and liberties. They voted a renunciation of all title in Charles Stuart, or any of his family ; and this was the first act, dignified with the appearance of national consent, which had ever had that tendency. Colonel Jephson, in order to sound the inclinations of the house, ventured to move, that the parliament should bestow the crown on Cromwel ; and no surprise or reluctance was discovered on the oc- casion. When Cromwel afterwards asked Jephson what induced him to make such a motion ; "As " long," said Jephson, " as I have the honour " to sit in parliament, I must follow the dictates f? of my own conscience, whatever offence I may " be so unfortunate as to give you." " Get thee " gone," said Cromwel, giving him a gentle blow on the shoulder, " get thee gone, for a " mad fellow, as thou art."
In order to pave the way to this advancement, for which he so ardently longed, Cromwel re- solved to sacrifice his major-generals, whom he knew to be extremely odious to the nation. That measure was also become necessary for his own security. All government, purely military, fluc- tuates perpetually between a despotic monarchy and a despotic aristocracy, according as the au- thority of the chief commander prevails, or that of the officers next him in rank and dignity. The
l<556. THE COMMONWEALTH. 307
major-generals, being possessed of so much di- stinct jurisdiction, began to establish a separate title to power, and had rendered themselves form- idable to the protector himself; and for this incon- venience, though he had not foreseen it, he well knew, before it was too late, to provide a proper remedy. Claypole, his son-in-law, who possessed his confidence, abandoned them to the pleasure of the house; and though the name was still retained, it was agreed to abridge, or rather entirely an- nihilate, the power of the major-generals.
At length, a motion in form was made by alderman Pack, one of the city members, for investing the protector with the dignity of King. This motion, at first, excited great disorder, and divided the whole house into parties. The chief opposition came from the usual adherents of the protector, the major-generals, and such officers as depended on them. Lambert, a man of deep intrigue, and of great interest in the army* had long entertained the ambition of succeeding Cromwel in the protectorship ; and he foresaw, that, if the monarchy were restored, hereditary right would also be established, and the crown be transmitted to the posterity of the prince first elected. He pleaded, therefore, conscience ; and rousing all those civil and religious jealousies against kingly government, which had been so industriously encouraged among the soldiers, and which served them as a pretence for so many 2
308 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 16^7.
violences, he raised a numerous, and still more formidable, party against the motion.
CROWN OFFERED TO CROMWEL. 1657.
Otf the other hand, the motion was supported by every one who was more particularly devoted to the protector, and who hoped, by so acceptable a measure, to pay court to the prevailing au- thority. Many persons also, attached to their country, despaired of ever being able to subvert the present illegal establishment ; and were de- sirous, by fixing it on ancient foundations, to induce the protector, from views of his own safety, to pay a regard to the ancient laws and liberties of the kingdom. Even the royalists imprudently joined in the measure ; and hoped that, when the question regarded only persons, not forms of government, no one would any longer balance between the ancient royal family and an ignoble usurper, who, by blood, treason, and perfidy, had made his way to the throne. The bill was voted by a considerable majority ; and a committee was appointed to reason with the protector, and to overcome those scruples which he pretended against accepting so liberal an offer.
The conference lasted for several days. The committee urged, that all the statutes and cus-
165;. THE COMMONWEALTH. 309
toms of England were founded on the supposition of regal authority, and could not, without ex- treme violence, be adjusted to any other form of government : that a protector, except during the minority of a king, was a name utterly un- known to the laws ; and no man was acquainted with the extent or limits of his authority : that if it wrere attempted to define every part of his jurisdiction, many years, if not ages, would be required for the execution of so complicated a work ; if the whole power of the king were at once transferred to him, the question was plainly about a name, and the preference was indis- putably due to the ancient title : that the English constitution was more anxious concerning the form of government than concerning the birth- right of the first magistrate, and had provided, by an express law of Henry VII. for the security of those who act in defence of the king in being, by whatever means he might have acquired pos- session : that it was extremely the interest of all his highness's friends to seek the shelter of this statute ; and even the people in general were desirous of such a settlement, and in all juries were with great difficulty induced to give their verdict in favour of a protector : that the great source of all the late commotions had been the jealousy of liberty ; and that a republic, together with a protector, had been established, in order to provide farther securities for the freedom of the constitution; but that by experience the remedy had been found insufficient, even dan-
310 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1657.
gerous and pernicious ; since every undeterminate power, such as that of a protector, must be arbitrary ; and the more arbitrary, as it was contrary to the genius and inclination of the people.
The difficulty consisted not in persuading Cromwel. He was sufficiently convinced of the solidity of these reasons ; and his inclination, as well as judgment, was entirely on the side of the committee. But how to bring over the soldiers to the same way of thinking, was the question. The office of king had been painted to them in such horrible colours, that there were no hopes of reconciling them suddenly to it, even though bestowed upon their general, to whom they were so much devoted. A contradiction, open and direct, to all past professions, would make them pass, in the eyes of the whole nation, for the most shameless hypocrites, inlisted, by no other than mercenary motives, in the cause of the most perfidious traitor. Principles, such as they were, had been encouraged in them by every con- sideration, human and divine; and though it was easy, where interest concurred, to deceive them by the thinnest disguises, it might be found dangerous at once to pull off the masque, and to shew them in a full light the whole crime and deformity of their conduct. Suspended between these fears and his own most ardent desires, Cromwel protracted the time, and seemed still to oppose the reasonings of the committee ; in hopes that by artifice he might be able to recon-
1657. THE COMMONWEALTH. 311
cile the refractory minds of the soldiers to his new dignity.
While the protector argued so much in con- tradiction both to his judgment and inclination, it is no wonder that his elocution, always con- fused, embarrassed, and unintelligible, should be involved in tenfold darkness, and discover no glimmering of common sense or reason. An exact account of this conference remains, and may be regarded as a great curiosity i The members of the committee, in their reasonings, discover judgment, knowledge, elocution : lord Broghil, in particular, exerts himself on this memorable occasion. But what a contrast, when we pass to the protector's replies ! After so singular a manner does nature distribute her talents, that in a nation abounding with sense and learning, a man who, by superior personal merit alone, had made his way to supreme dig- nity, and had even obliged the parliament to make him a tender of the crown, was yet in- capable of expressing himself on this occasion, but in a manner which a peasant of the most ordinary capacity would justly be ashamed of8.
8 We shall produce any passage at random : for his discourse is all of a piece. " I confess, for it behoves me to deal plainly " with you, 1 must confess, I would say, I hope, I may be un- *■ derstood in this j for indeed I must be tender what I say to " such an audience as this j I say I would be understood, that in " this argument I do not make parallel betwixt men of a different " mind, and a parliament, which shall have their desires. I " know there is no comparison, nor can it be urged upon m«
312 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1657-
CROMWEL REJECTS THE CROWN,
The opposition which Cromwel dreaded, was not that which came from Lambert and his ad- herents, whom he now regarded as capital ene-
*( that my words have the least colour that way, because the par- " liament seems to give liberty to me to say any thing to you; " as that, that is a tender of my humble reasons and judgment " and opinion to them : and if I think they are such, and will be " such to them, and are faithful servants, and will be so to the " supreme authority, and the legislative, wheresoever it is : if, I " say, I should not tell you knowing their minds to be so, J " shoiild not be faithful, if I should not tell you so, to the end ** you may report it to the parliament : I shall say something for " myself, for my own mind, I do profess it, I am not a man " scrupulous about words or names of such things I have not : " but as I have the word of God, and I hope I shall ever have it, " for the rule of my conscience, for my informations j so truly " men that have been led in dark paths, through the providence " and dispensation of God ; why surely it is not to be objected " to a man ; for who can love to walk in the dark ? But pro- " vidence does so dispose. And though a man may impute his " own folly and blindness to providence sinfully, yet it must be " at my peril ; the case may be that it is the providence of God " that doth lead men in darkness ; I must needs say, that I have " had a great deal of experience of providence, and though it is " no rule without or against the word, yet it is a very good ex- " positor of the word in many cases." Conference at Whitehall. The great defect in Oliver's speeches, consists not in his want of elocution, but in his want of ideas. The sagacity of his ac- tions, and the absurdity of his discourse, form the most pro- digious contrast that ever was known. The collection of all his speeches, letters, sermons (for he also wrote sermons), would make a great curiosity, and with a few exceptions, might justly pass for one of the most nonsensical books in the world.
1657, THE COMMONWEALTH. 313
mies, and whom he was resolved, on the first occasion, to deprive of all power and authority : it was that which he met with in his own family, and from men, who, by interest as well as in- clination, were the most devoted to him. Fleet- wood had married his daughter : Desborow his sister : yet these men, actuated by principle alone, could by no persuasion, artifice, or en- treaty, be induced to consent that their friend and patron should be invested with regal dignity. They told him, that if he accepted of the crown, they would instantly throw up their commissions, and never afterwards should have it in their power to serve himh. Colonel Pride procured a petition against the office of king, signed by a majority of the officers, who were in London and the neighbourhood. Several persons, it is said, had entered into an engagement to murder the protector within a few hours after he should have accepted the offer of the parliament. Some sudden mutiny in the army was justly dreaded. And upon the whole, Cromwel, after the agony and perplexity of long doubt, was at last obliged to refuse that crown, which the representatives of the nation, in the most solemn manner, had tendered to him. Most historians are inclined to blame his choice ; but he must be allowed the best judge of his own situation. And in such complicated subjects, the alteration of a very
h Thurloe, vol. vi. p. 261.
314 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1657.
minute circumstance, unknown to the spectator, will often be sufficient to cast the balance, and render a determination, which, in itself, may be uneligible, very prudent, or even absolutely ne- cessary to the actor.
A dream or prophecy, lord Clarendon men- tions, which he affirms (and he must have known the truth) was universally talked of almost from the beginning of the civil wars, and long before Cromwel was so considerable a person as to be- stow upon it any degree of probability. In this prophecy it was foretold, that Cromwel should be the greatest man in England, and would nearly, but never would fuliy, mount the throne. Such a prepossession probably arose from the heated imagination either of himself or of his followers ; and as it might be one cause of the great progress which he had already made, it is not an unlikely reason which may be assigned for his refusing at this time any farther elevation.
The parliament, when the regal dignity was rejected by Cromwel, found themselves obliged to retain the name of a commonwealth and pro- tector ; and as the government was hitherto a manifest usurpation, it was thought proper to sanctify it by a seeming choice of the people and their representatives. Instead of the instrument of government, which was the work of the general officers alone, humble petition and advice was framed, and offered to the protector by the par- liament. This was represented as the great basis
1657. THE COMMONWEALTH. 3r5
of the republican establishment, regulating and limiting the powers of each member of the con- stitution, and securing the liberty of the people to the most remote posterity. By this deed the authority of protector was in some particulars enlarged : in others, it was considerably di- minished. He had the power of nominating his successor ; he had a perpetual revenue assigned him, a million a year for the pay of the fleet and army, three hundred thousand pounds for the support of civil government ; and he had au- thority to name another house, who should enjoy their seats during life, and exercise some func- tions of the former house of peers. But he abandoned the power assumed in the intervals of parliament, of framing laws with the consent of his council ; and he agreed, that no members of either house should be excluded but by the con- sent of that house of which they were members. The other articles were in the main the same as in the instrument of government. The instrument of government Cromwel had formerly extolled as the most perfect work of human invention : he now represented it as a rotten plank, upon which no man could trust himself without sinking. Even the humble petition and advice, which he extolled in its turn, appeared so lame and imperfect, that it was found requisite, this very session, to mend it by a supplement ; and after all, it may be re- garded as a crude and undigested model of government. It was, however, accepted for the
316 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1657.
voluntary deed of the whole people in the three united nations ; and Cromwel, as if his power had just commenced from this popular consent, was anew inaugurated in Westminster Hall, after the most solemn and most pompous manner.
The parliament having adjourned itself, the protector deprived Lambert of all his com- missions ; but still allowed him a considerable pension of 2000 pounds a year, as a bribe for his future peaceable deportment. Lambert's autho- rity in the army, to the surprise of every body, was found immediately to expire with the loss of his commission. Packer and some other officers, whom Cromwel suspected, were also displaced.
Richard, eldest son of the protector, was brought to court, introduced into public business, and thenceforth regarded by many as his heir in the protectorship ; though Cromwel sometimes employed the gross artifice of flattering others with hopes of the succession. Richard was a person possessed of the most peaceable, inof- fensive, unambitious character, and had hitherto lived contentedly in the country on a small estate which his wife had brought him. All the activity which he discovered, and which never was great, was however exerted to beneficent purposes : at the time of the king's trial, he had fallen on his knees before his father, and had conjured him, by every tie of duty and humanity, to spare the life of that monarch. Cromwel had two daugli- ters unmarried : one of them he now gave in
1658. THE COMMONWEALTH. 317
marriage to the grandson and heir of his great friend, the earl of "Warwic, with whom he had, in every fortune, preserved an uninterrupted in- timacy and good correspondence. The other he married to the viscount Fauconberg, of a family formerly devoted to the royal party. He was ambitious of forming connexions with the no- bility ; and it was one chief motive for his de- siring the title of king, that he might replace every thing in its natural order, and restore to the ancient families, the trust and honour of which he now found himself obliged, for his own safety, to deprive them.
The parliament was again assembled ; con- sisting, as in the times of monarchy, of two houses, the commons and the other house. Cromwel, during the interval, had sent writs to his house of peers, which consisted of sixty members. They were composed of five or six ancient peers, of several gentlemen of fortune and distinction, and of some officers who had risen from the meanest stations. None of the ancient peers, however, though summoned by writ, would deign to accept of a seat, which they must share with such companions as were assigned them. The protector endeavoured at lirst to maintain the appearance of a legal magistrate. He placed no guard at the door of either house : but soon found how incompatible liberty is with military usurpations. By bringing so great a
318 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1058.
number of his friends and adherents into the other house, he had lost the majority among the national representatives. In consequence of a clause in the humble petition and advice, the commons assumed a power of re-admitting those members whom the council had formerly ex- cluded. Sir Arthur Hazelrig and some others, whom Cromwel had created lords, rather chose to take their seat with the commons. An incon- testable majority now declared themselves against the protector ; and they refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of that other house which he had established. Even the validity of the humble petition and advice was questioned; as being voted by a parliament which lay under force, and which was deprived, by military violence, of a considerable number of its members. The pro- tector, dreading combinations between the par- liament and the malcontents in the army, resolved to allow no leisure for forming any conspiracy against him ; and, with expressions of great dis- pleasure, he dissolved the parliament. When urged by Fleetwood and others of his friends, not to precipitate himself into this rash measure, he swore, by the living God, that they should not sit a moment longer.
These distractions at home were not able to take off the protector's attention from foreign affairs ; and in all his measures he proceeded with the same vigour and enterprise, as if secure of
1658. . THE COMMONWEALTH. 319
the duty and attachment of the three kingdoms. His alliance with Sweden he still supported ; and he endeavoured to assist that crown in its suc- cessful enterprises, for reducing all its neighbours to subjection, and rendering itself absolute master of the Baltic. As soon as Spain declared war against him, he concluded a peace and an alliance with France, and united himself in all his councils with that potent and ambitious kingdom. Spain, having long courted in vain the friendship of the successful usurper, was reduced at last to apply to the unfortunate prince. Charles formed a league with Philip, removed his small court to Bruges in the Low Countries, and raised four regiments of his own subjects, whom he employed in the Spanish service. The duke of York, who had, with applause, served some campaigns in the French army, and who had merited the particular esteem of marshal Turenne, now joined his bro- ther, and continued to seek military experience under don John of Austria, and the prince of Conde.
DUNKIRK TAKEN,
The scheme of foreign politics, adopted by the protector, was highly imprudent, but was suitable to that magnanimity and enterprise, with which he was so signally endowed. He was particularly desirous of conquest and dominion on the con-
320 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1653.
tinent ' ; and he sent over into Flanders six thou- sand men under Reynolds, who joined the French army commanded by Turenne. In the former campaign, Mardyke was takeri, and put into the hands of the English. Early this campaign, siege was laid to Dunkirk; and when the Spanish army advanced to relieve it, the combined armies of France and England marched out of their trenches, and fought the battle of the Dunes, where the Spaniards were totally defeated k. The Valour of the English was much remarked on this
1 He aspired to get possession of Elsinore and the passage of the Sound. See World's Mistake in Oliver Crornxoel. He also en- deavoured to get possession of Bremen. Thurloe, vol. vi. p. 478.
k It was remarked by the saints of that time, that the battle was fought on a day which was held for a fast in London, so that as Fleetwood said (Thurloe, vol. vii. p. 159.), while we were praying, they were fighting, and the Lord hath given a signal answer. The Lord has not only owned us in our work there, but in our waiting upon him in a way of prayer, which is indeed our old experienced approved way in all streights and dif- ficulties. Cromwel's Letter to Blake and Montague, his brave admirals, is remarkable for the same spirit. Thurloe, vol. iv. p. 744. You have, says he, as I verily believe and am persuaded, a plentiful stock of prayers going for you daily, sent up by the soberest and most approved ministers and Christians in this nation, and, notwithstanding some discouragements, very much wrestling of faith for you, which are to us, and I trust will be to you, matter of great encouragement. But notwithstanding all this, it will be good for you and us to deliver up ourselves and all our affairs to the disposition of our all-wise Father, who not only out of prerogative, but because of his goodness, wisdom, and truth, ought to be resigned unto by his creatures, especially those who are children of his begetting through the spirit, &c.
1(538. THE COMMONWEALTH^ 32l
occasion. Dunkirk, being soon after surren- dered, was by agreement delivered to Cromwel. He committed the government of that important place to Lockhart, a Scotchman of abilities, who had married his niece, and was his ambassador at the court of France.
This acquisition was regarded by the protector as the means only of obtaining farther advan- tages. He was resolved to concert measures with the French court for the final conquest and par- tition of the Low Countries1. Had he lived much longer, and maintained his authority in England, so chimerical, or rather so dangerous a project would certainly have been carried into execution. And this first and principal step towards more extensive conquest, which France, during a whole century, has never yet been able, by an infinite expence of blood and treasure, fully to attain, had at once been accomplished by the enterprising, though unskilful, politics of Cromwel.
During these transactions, great demonstra- tions of mutual friendship and regard passed between the French king and the protector. Lord Fauconberg, Cromwel's son-in-law, was dis- patched to Louis, then in camp before Dunkirk ; and was received with the regard usually paid to foreign princes by the French court m. Ma- zarine sent to London his nephew Mancini, along
1 Thurloe, vol. i. p. 762. ■ Ibid. vol. vii. p. 151. 158.
VOL. VIII. Y
322 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1658.
with the duke of Crequi ; and expressed his regret, that his urgent affairs should deprive him of the honour which he had long wished for, of paying, in person, his respects to the greatest man in the world n.
The protector reaped little satisfaction from the success of his arms abroad : the situation in which he stood at home, kept him in perpetual uneasiness and inquietude. His administration, so expensive both by military enterprizes and secret intelligence, had exhausted his revenue, and involved him in a considerable debt. The royalists, he heard, had renewed their con- spiracies for a general insurrection ; and Ormond was secretly come over with a view of concerting measures for the execution of this project. Lord Fairfax, sir William Waller, and many heads of the presbyterians, had secretly entered into the engagement. Even the army was infected with the general spirit of discontent ; and some sudden and dangerous eruption was every moment to be dreaded from it. No hopes remained, after his violent breach with the last parliament, that he should ever be able to establish, with general consent, a legal settlement, or temper the military
■ In reality the cardinal had not entertained so high an idea of Cromwel. He used to say, that he was a fortunate madman. Vie de Cromwel, par Raguenet. See also Carte's Collection, vol. ii. p. 81. Gumble's Life pf Monk, p. 93, World's Mistake in O. Cromwel.
l<558. THE COMMONWEALTH. 323
with any mixture of civil authority. All his arts and policy were exhausted ; and having so often, by fraud and false pretences, deceived every party, and almost every individual, he could no longer hope, by repeating the same professions, to meet with equal confidence and regard.
However zealous the royalists, their con- spiracy took not effect : "Willis discovered the whole to the protector. Ormond was obliged to fly, and he deemed himself fortunate to have escaped so vigilant an administration. Great numbers were thrown into prison. A high court of justice was anew erected for the trial of those criminals whose guilt was most apparent. Not- withstanding the recognition of his authority by the last parliament, the protector could not as yet trust to an unbiassed jury. Sir Henry Slingsbyr and Dr. Huet, were condemned and beheaded. Mordaunt, brother to the earl of Peterborow, narrowly escaped. The numbers for his con- demnation and his acquittal were equal ; and just as the sentence was pronounced in his favour, colonel Pride, who was resolved to condemn him, came into court. Ashton, Storey, and Bestley, were hanged in different streets of the city.
The conspiracy of the Millenarians in the army struck Cromwel with still greater appre- hensions. Harrison and the other discarded officers of that party could not remain at rest. Stimulated equally by revenge, by ambition, and by conscience, they still harboured in their breast %
324 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 1658.
some desperate project ; and there wanted not officers in the army, who, from like motives, were disposed to second all their undertakings. The levellers and agitators had been encouraged by Cromwei to interpose with their advice in all political deliberations ; and he had even pre- tended to honour many of them with his intimate friendship, while he conducted his daring enter- prizes against the king and the parliament. It was a usual practice with him, in order to fami- liarize himself the more with the agitators, who were commonly corporals or Serjeants, to take them to bed with him, and there, after prayers and exhortations, to discuss together their pro- jects and principles, political as well as religious. Having assumed the dignity of protector, he excluded them from all his* councils, and had neither leisure nor inclination to indulge' them any farther in their wonted familiarities. Among those who were enraged at this treatment was Sexby, an active agitator, who now employed against him all that restless industry which had formerly been exerted in his favour. He even went so far as to enter into a correspondence with Spain; and Cromwei, who knew the distempers of the army, was justly afraid of some mutiny, to which a day, an hour, an instant, might pro- vide leaders.
Of assassinations likewise he was apprehensive, from the zealous spirit which actuated the sol- diers. Sindercome had undertaken to murder
1658. THE COMMONWEALTH. 325
him ; and, by the most unaccountable accidents, had often been prevented from executing his bloody purpose. His design was discovered ; but the protector could never find the bottom of the enterprise, nor detect any of his accomplices. He was tried by a jury; and notwithstanding the general odium attending that crime, notwithstand« ing the clear and full proof of his guilt, so little conviction prevailed of the protector's right to the supreme government, it was with the utmost dif- ficulty0 that this conspirator was condemned. When every thing was prepared for his execution, he was found dead ; from poison, as is supposed, which he had voluntarily taken.
The protector might better have supported those fears and apprehensions which the public dis- tempers occasioned, had he enjoyed any domestic satisfaction, or possessed any cordial friend of his own family, in whose bosom he could safely have unloaded his anxious and corroding cares. But Fleetwood, his son-in-law, actuated by the wildest zeal, began to estrange himself from him ; and was enraged to discover that Cromwel, in all his enterprises, had entertained views of promoting his own grandeur, more than of encouraging piety and religion, of which he made such fervent professions. His eldest daughter, married to Fleet- wood, had adopted republican principles so vehe- ment, that she could not with patience behold
• Thurloe, vol. vi. p. 53.
326 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1658.
power lodged in a single person, even in her indulgent father. His other daughters were no less prejudiced in favour of the royal cause, and regretted the violences and iniquities into which, they thought, their family had so unhappily been transported. Above all, the sickness of Mrs. Claypole, his peculiar favourite, a lady endued with many humane virtues and amiable accom- plishments, depressed his anxious mind, and poi- soned all his enjoyments. She had entertained a high regard for Dr. Huet lately executed ; and being refused his pardon, the melancholy of her temper, increased by her distempered body, had prompted her to lament to her father all his san- guinary measures, and urge him to compunction for those heinous crimes into which his fatal ambi- tion had betrayed him. Her death, which fol- lowed soon after, gave new edge to every word which she had uttered.
All composure of mind was now for ever fled from the protector: He felt that the grandeur which he had attained with so much guilt and cou- rage, could not ensure him that tranquillity which it belongs to virtue alone, and moderation, fully to ascertain. Overwhelmed with the load of public affairs, dreading perpetually some fatal accident in his distempered government, seeing nothing around him but treacherous friends or enrasred enemies, possessing the confidence of no party,, resting his title on no principle, civil or religious, he found his power to depend on so delicate a
1658. THE COMMMONWEALTH. 327
poise of factions and interests, as the smallest event was able, without any preparation, in a moment to overturn. Death too, which with such signal intrepidity he had braved in the field, being incessantly threatened by the poinards of fanatical or interested assassins, was ever present to his terrified apprehension, and haunted him in every scene of business or repose. Each action of his life betrayed the terrors under which he laboured. The aspect of strangers was uneasy to him : with a piercing and anxious eye he sur- veyed every face to which he was not daily ac- customed. He never moved a step without strong guards attending him : he wore armour under his clothes, and farther secured himself by offensive weapons, a sword, falchion, and pistols, which he always carried about him. He returned from no place by the direct road, or by the same way which he went. Every journey he performed with hurry and precipitation. Seldom he slept above three nights together in the same chamber: and he never let it be known beforehand what chamber he intended to choose, nor entrusted himself in any which was not provided with back doors, at which centinels were carefully placed. Society terrified him, while he reflected on his numerous, unknown, and implacable enemies : solitude asto- nished him, by withdrawing that protection which he found so necessary for his security.
328 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1C58.
SICKNESS OF THE PROTECTOR.
His body also, from the contagion of his anxi- ous mind, began to be affected ; and his health seemed sensibly to decline. He was seized with a slow fever, which changed into a tertian ague. For the space of a week, no dangerous symp- toms appeared ; and in the intervals of the fits he was able to walk abroad. At length the fever increased, and he himself began to entertain some thoughts of death, and to cast his eye towards that future existence, whose idea had once been intimately present to him ; though since, in the hurry of affairs, and in the shock of wars and factions, it had, no doubt, been considerably obliterated. He asked Goodwin, one of his preachers, if the doctrine were true, that the elect could never fall or suffer a final reprobation. *' Nothing more certain," replied the preacher. " Then am I safe," said the protector: " for I " am sure that once I was in a state of grace."
His physicians were sensible of the perilous condition to which his distemper had reduced him : but his chaplains, by their prayers, visions, and revelations, so buoyed up his hopes, that he began to believe his life out of all danger. A favourable answer, it was pretended, had been returned by heaven to the petitions of all the godly ; and he relied on their asseverations much
1658. THE COMMONWEALTH. 32g
more than on the opinion of the most experienced physicians. " I tell you," he cried with confid- ence to the latter, " I tell you, I shall not die of ' this distemper : I am well assuredof my recovery. ' It is promised by the Lord, not only to my f supplications, but to those of men who hold a ' stricter commerce and more intimate correspond- 1 ence with him. Ye may have skill in your pro- ' fession ; but nature can do more than all the ' physicians in the world, and God is far above ' nature p." Nay, to such a degree of madness did their enthusiastic assurances mount, that, upon a fast day, which was observed on his ac- count both at Hampton Court and at Whitehall, they did not so much pray for his health, as give thanks for the undoubted pledges which they had received of his recovery. He himself was over-, heard offering up his addresses to heaven ; and so far had the illusions of fanaticism prevailed over the plainest dictates of natural morality, that he assumed more the character of a mediator interceding for his people, than that of a cri- minal, whose atrocious violation of social duty had, from every tribunal, human and divine, merited the severest vengeance.
p Bates: See also Thurloe, vol. vii. p. 355. 416.
330 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1658.
HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER.
Meanwhile all the symptoms began to wear a more fatal aspect ; and the physicians were obliged to break silence, and to declare, that the protector could not survive the next fit with which he was threatened. The council was alarmed. A deputation was sent to know his will with regard to his successor. His senses were gone, and he could not now express his inten- tions. They asked him whether he did not mean that his eldest son, Richard, should succeed him in the protectorship. A simple affirmative was, or seemed to be, extorted from him. Soon after, on the 3d of September, that very day which he had always considered as the most fortunate for him, he expired. A violent tempest, which im- mediately succeeded his death, served as a sub- ject of discourse to the vulgar. His partisans, as well as his enemies, were fond of remarking this event ; and each of them endeavoured, by forced inferences, to interpret it as a confirmation of their particular prejudices.
The writers, attached to the memory of this wonderful person, make his character with re- gard to abilities, bear the air of the most extra- vagant panegyric : his enemies form such a re- presentation of his moral qualities as resembles the most virulent invective. Both of them, it
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1658. THE COMMONWEALTH. 33i
must be confessed, are supported by such strik- ing circumstances in his conduct and fortune as bestow on their representation a great air of probability. " What can be more extraordinary," it is said% " than that a person of private birth " and education, no fortune, no eminent qua- " lities of body, which have sometimes, nor shin- " ing talents of mind, which have often, raised " men to the highest dignities, should have the " Courage to attempt, and the abilities to exe- " cute, so great a design as the subverting one of fl the most ancient and best established mon- " archies in the world? That he should have " the power and boldness to put his Prince and li master to an open and infamous death ? Should M banish that numerous and strongly allied fami- " ly ? Cover all these temerities under a seeming " obedience to a parliament, in whose service he " pretended to be retained? Trample too upon " that parliament in their turn, and scornfully " expel them as soon as they gave him ground of " dissatisfaction ? Erect in their place the domi- " nion of the saints, and give reality to the most " visionary idea, which the heated imagination " of any fanatic was ever able to entertain? " Suppress again that monster *in its infancy, " and openly set up himself above all things that " ever were called sovereign in England? Over- " come first all his enemies by arms, and all " his friends afterwards by artifice ? Serve all
Cowley's Discourses : This passage is altered in some par- ticulars from the original.
•332 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 16.58.
H parties patiently for a while, and command " them victoriously at last ? Overrun each corner " of the three nations, and subdue with equal 4i facility, both the riches of the south, and the " poverty of the north? Be feared and courted 11 by all foreign princes, and be adopted a brother " to the gods of the earth ? Call together parlia- ** ments with a word of his pen, and scatter *' them again with the breath of his mouth? Re- " duce to subjection a warlike and discontented " nation, by means of a mutinous army? Com- " mand a mutinous army by means of seditious " and factious officers ? Be humbly and daily *' petitioned, that he would be pleased, at the At rate of millions a year, to be hired as master " of those who had hired him before to be " their servant? Have the estates and lives of " three nations as much at his disposal as was u once the little inheritance of his father, and " be as noble and liberal in the spending of them ? " And lastly (for there is no end of enumerating " every particular of his glory), with one word " bequeath all this power and splendour to his " posterity ? Die possessed of peace at home, " and triumph abroad ? Be buried among kings, " and with more than regal solemnity ; and leave " a name behind him not to be extinguished " but with the whole world ; which as it was too " little for his praise, so might it have been for " his conquests, if the short line of his mortal " life could have stretched out to the extent of " his immortal designs ?"
1658. THE COMMONWEALTH. 833
My intention is not to disfigure this picture, drawn by so masterly a hand : I shall only en- deavour to remove from it somewhat of the marvellous ; a circumstance, which, on all occa- sions, gives much ground for doubt and suspicion. It seems to me, that the circumstance of Crom- wel's life, in which his abilities are principally discovered, is his rising from a private station, in opposition to so many rivals, so much advanced before him, to a high command and authority in the army. His great courage, his signal military talents, his eminent dexterity and address, were all requisite for this important acquisition. Yet will not this promotion appear the effect of super- natural abilities, when we consider, that Fair- fax himself, a private gentleman, who had not the advantage of a seat in parliament, had, through the same steps, attained even a superior rank, and, if endued with common capacity and penetration, had been able to retain it. To incite such an army to rebellion against the par- liament, required no uncommon art or industry : to have kept them in obedience had been the more difficult enterprise. When the breach is once formed between the military and civil powers, a supreme and absolute authority, from that mo- ment, is devolved on the general ; and if he be afterwards pleased to employ artifice or policy, it may be regarded, on most occasions, as great condescension, if not as superfluous caution.
334 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1653.
That Cromwel was ever able really to blind or over-reach either the king or the republicans, does not appear : as they possessed no means of resist- ing the force under his command, they were glad to temporise with him, and, by seeming to be deceived, wait for opportunities of freeing them- selves from his dominion. If he seduced the military fanatics, it is to be considered, that their interests and his evidently concurred, that their ignorance and low education exposed them to the grossest imposition, and that he himself was at bottom as frantic an enthusiast as the worst of them, and, in order to obtain their con- fidence, needed but to display those vulgar and ridiculous habits, which he had early ac- quired, and on which he set so high a value. An army is so forcible, and at the same time so coarse a weapon, that any hand, which wields it, may, without much dexterity, perform any operation, and attain any ascendant, in human society.
The domestic administration of Cromwel, though it discovers great abilities, was conducted without any plan either of liberty or arbitrary power: perhaps, his difficult situation admitted of neither. His foreign enterprises, though full of intrepidity, were pernicious to national interest, and seem more the result of impetuous fury or narrow prejudices, than of cool foresight and de- liberation. An eminent personage, however, he was in many respects, and even a superior genius ;
1658. THE COMMONWEALTH. 335
but unequal and irregular in his operations. And though not defective in any talent, except that of elocution, the abilities, which in him were most admirable, and which most contributed to his marvellous success, were the magnanimous resolution of his enterprises, and his peculiar dex- terity in discovering the characters, and prac- tising on the weaknesses, of mankind.
If we survey the moral character of Cromwel with that indulgence which is due to the blindness and infirmities of the human species, we shall not be inclined to load his memory with such violent reproaches as those which his enemies usually throw upon it. Amidst the passions and preju- dices of that period, that he should prefer the parliamentary to the royal cause, will not appear extraordinary ; since, even at present, some men of sense and knowledge are disposed to think that the question, with regard to the justice of the quarrel, may be regarded as doubtful and un- certain. The murder of the king, the most atro- cious of all his actions, was to him covered under a mighty cloud of republican and fanatical illu- sions ; and it is not impossible, but he might be- lieve it, as many others did, the most meritorious action that he could perform. His subsequent usurpation was the effect of necessity, as well as of ambition ; nor is it easy to see, how the various factions could at that time have been restrained, without a mixture of military and arbitrary au- thority. The private deportment of Cromwel, as
33fl HISTORY OF ENGLAND. IfiSfc
a son, a husband, a father, a friend, is exposed to no considerable censure, if it does not rather merit praise. And, upon the whole, his character does not appear more extraordinary and unusual by the mixture of so much absurdity with so much penetration, than by his tempering such violent ambition and such enraged fanaticism with so much regard to justice and humanity.
Cromwel was in the fifty-ninth year of his age when he died. He was of a robust frame of body, and of a manly, though not of an agreeable aspect. He left only two sons, Richard and Henry ; and three daughters, one married to ge- neral Fleetwood, another to lord Fauconberg, a third to lord Rich. His father died when he was young. His mother lived till after he was pro- tector; and, contrary to her orders, he buried her with great pomp in Westminster Abbey. She could not be persuaded that his power or person was ever in safety. At every noise which she heard, she exclaimed, that her son was murdered; and was never satisfied that he was alive, if she did not receive frequent visits from him. She was a decent woman ; and by her frugality and in- dustry, had raised and educated a numerous family upon a small fortune. She had even been obliged to set up a brewery at Huntingdon, which she managed to good advantage. Hence Crom- wel, in the invectives of that age, is often stig- matized with the name of the brewer. Ludlow, by way of insult, mentions the great accession,
1650. THE COMMONWEALTH. 337
which he would receive to his royal revenues upon his mother's death, who possessed a jointure of sixty pounds a year upon his estate. She was of a good family, of the name of Stuart; remotely allied, as is by some supposed, to the royal family.
VOL. VIII.
338 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1658.
CHAPTER LXIL
Richard acknowledged protector .... A parliament .... Cabal of Wallingford House .... Richard deposed .... Long par- liament or Rump restored .... Conspiracy of the royalists .... Insurrection .... suppressed .... Parliament expelled .... Committee of safety . . . Foreign affairs . . . General Monk . . . Monk declares for the parliament .... Parliament restored .... Monk enters London, declares for a free parliament .... Se- cluded members restored .... Long parliament dissolved .... New parliament .... The Restoration .... Manners and arts.
All the arts of Cromwel's policy had been so often practised, that they began to lose their effect ; and his power, instead of being confirmed by time and success, seemed every day to become more uncertain and precarious. His friends the most closely connected with him, and his counsel- lors the most trusted, were entering into cabals against his authority; and, with all his penetra- tion into the characters of men, he could not find any ministers on whom he could rely. Men of probity and honour, he knew, would not submit to be the instruments of an usurpation violent and illegal : those who were free from the re- straint of principle, might betray, from interest, that cause, in which, from no better motives,
1658. THE COMMONWEALTH. 339
they had inlisted themselves. Even those on whom he conferred any favour, never deemed the recompense an equivalent for the sacrifices which they made to obtain it : whoever was refused any demand, justified his anger by the specious colours of conscience and of duty. Such difficulties surrounded the protector, that his dying at so critical a time is esteemed by many the most fortunate circumstance that ever attended him ; and it was thought, that all his courage and dexterity could not much longer have extended his usurped administration.
RICHARD ACKNOWLEDGED PROTECTOR.
But when that potent hand was removed, which conducted the government, every one expected a sudden dissolution of the unwieldy and ill-jointed fabric. Richard, a young man of no experience, educated in the country, accustomed to a retired life, unacquainted with the officers and unknown to them, recommended by no military exploits, endeared by no familiarities, could not long, it was thought, maintain that authority, which his father had acquired by so many valorous achieve- ments and such signal successes. And when it was observed, that he possessed only the virtues of private life, which in his situation were so many vices; that indolence, incapacity, irreso- lution, attended his facility and good nature ; the 2
340 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1658.
various hopes of men were excited by the ex- pectation of some great event or revolution. For some time, however, the public was disappointed in this opinion. The council recognised the suc- cession of Richard : Fleetwood, in whose favour, it was supposed, Cromwel had formerly made a will, renounced all claim or pretension to the protectorship : Henry, Richard's brother, who governed Ireland with popularity, ensured him the obedience of that kingdom : Monk, whose authority was well established in Scotland, being much attached to the family of Cromwel, im- mediately proclaimed the new protector: the army, every where, the fleet, acknowledged his title : above ninety addresses, from the counties and most considerable corporations, congratu- lated him on his accession, in all the terms of dutiful allegiance : foreign ministers were for- ward in paying him the usual compliments : and Richard, whose moderate, unambitious character never would have led him to contend for empire, was tempted to accept of so rich an inheritance, which seemed to be tendered to him by the con- sent of all mankind.
A PARLIAMENT.
It was found necessary to call a parliament, in order to furnish supplies, both for the ordinary administration, and for fulfilling those engage-
i65g. THE COMMONWEALTH. 341
ments with foreign princes, particularly Sweden, into which the late protector had entered. In hopes of obtaining greater influence in elections, the ancient right was restored to all the small boroughs ; and the counties were allowed no more than their usual members. The house of peers, or the other house, consisted of the same persons that had been appointed by Oliver.
All the commons, at first, signed, without hesitation, an engagement not to alter the present government. They next proceeded to examine the humble petition and advice; and after great opposition and many vehement debates, it was at length, with much difficulty, carried by the court-party to confirm it. An acknowledgment too of the authority of the other house was ex- torted from them ; though it was resolved not to treat this house of peers with any greater respect than they should return to the commons. A declaration was also made, that the establishment of the other house should no wise prejudice the right of such of the ancient peers as had, from the beginning of the war, adhered to the par- liament. But in all these proceedings, the op- position among the commons was so considerable, and the debates were so much prolonged, that all business was retarded, and great alarm given to the partisans of the young protector.
But there was another quarter from which greater dangers were justly apprehended. The most considerable officers of the army, and even
343 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1659.
Fleetwood, brother-in-law to the protector, were entering into cabals against him. No character in human society is more dangerous than that of the fanatic ; because, if attended with weak judgment, he is exposed to the suggestions of others ; if supported by more discernment, he is entirely governed by his own illusions, which sanctify his most selfish views and passions. Fleetwood was of the former species ; and as he was extremely addicted to a republic, and even to the fifth monarchy or dominion of the saints, it was easy for those, who had insinuated them- selves into his confidence, to instil disgusts against the dignity of protector. The whole republican party in the army, which was still considerable, Fitz, Mason, Moss, Farley, united themselves to that general. The officers too of the same party, whom Cromwel had discarded, Overton, Ludlow, Rich, Okey, Alured, began to appear, and to recover that authority, which had been only for a time suspended. A party like- wise, who found themselves eclipsed in Richard's favour, Sydenham, Kelsey, Berry, Haines, joined the cabal of the others. Even Desborow, the protector's uncle, lent his authority to that fac- tion. But above all, the intrigues of Lambert, who was now roused from his retreat, inflamed all those dangerous humours, and threatened the nation with some great convulsion. The discon- tented officers established their meetings in Fleet- wood's apartments; and because he dwelt in
lf)5g. THE COMMONWEALTH. M3
Wallingford-house, the party received a deno- mination from that place.
CABAL OF WALLINGFORD-HOUSE.
Richard, who possessed neither resolution nor penetration, was prevailed on to give an un- guarded consent for calling a general council of officers, who might make him proposals, as they pretended, for the good of the army. No sooner were they assembled than they voted a remon- strance. They there lamented, that the good old cause, as they termed it, that is, the cause for which they had engaged against the late king, was entirely neglected ; and they proposed as a remedy, that the whole military power should be entrusted to some person, in whom they might all confide. The city militia, influenced by two aldermen, Tichburn and Ireton, expressed the same resolution of adhering to the good old cause.
The protector was justly alarmed at those movements among the officers. The persons in whom he chiefly confided, were, all of them, ex- cepting Broghill, men of civil characters and professions; Fiennes, Thurloe, Whitlocke, Wolsey; who could only assist him with their advice and opinion. He possessed none of those arts which were proper to gain an enthusiastic army. Mur- murs being thrown out against some promotions which he had made, Would you have me, said he,
344 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 165Q.
prefer none but the godly ? Here is Dick Ingoldsby, continued he, who can neither pray nor preach ; yet will I trust him be) ore ye all\ This im- prudence gave great offence to the pretend- ed saints. The other qualities of the protector were correspondent to these sentiments : he was of a gentle, humane, and generous disposition. Some of his party offering to put an end to those intrigues by the death of Lambert, he declared, that he would not purchase power or dominion by such sanguinary measures.
RICHARD DEPOSED. April 22.
The parliament was no less alarmed at the military cabals. They voted that there should be no meeting or general council of officers, except with the protector's consent, or by his orders. This vote brought affairs immediately to a rupture. The officers hastened to Richard, and demanded of him the dissolution of the parlia- ment. Desborow, a man of clownish and brutal nature, threatened him, if he should refuse coin^ pliance. The protector wanted the resolution to deny, and possessed little ability to resist. The parliament was dissolved ; and by the same act, the protector was, by every one, considered as effectually dethroned. Soon after, he signed his demission in form.
Henry, the deputy of Ireland, was endowed
r Ludlow.
\65g. THE COMMONWEALTH. 345
wifh the same moderate disposition as Richard ; but as he possessed more vigour and capacity, it was apprehended that he might make resistance. His popularity in Ireland was great ; and even his personal authority, notwithstanding his youth, was considerable. Had his ambition been very eager, he had, no doubt, been able to create disturbance : but being threatened by sir Hardress Waller, colonel John Jones, and other officers, he very quietly resigned his command, and retired to England. He had once entertained thoughts, which he had not resolution to execute, of pro- claiming the king in Dublin s.
Thus fell suddenly, and from an enormous height, but by a rare fortune, without any hurt or injury, the family of the Cromwels. Richard continued to possess an estate which was mo- derate, and burthened too with a large debt, which he had contracted for the interment of his father. After the restoration, though he re* mained unmolested, he thought proper to travel for some years ; and at Pezenas in Languedoc he was introduced, under a borrowed name, to the prince of Conti. That prince, talking of English affairs, broke out into admiration of Cromwel's courage and capacity. " But as for that poor " pitiful fellow, Richard," said he, " what has " become of him ? How could he be such a " blockhead as to reap no greater benefit from
' Carte's Collections, vol. ii. p. 243.
346 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1659.
" all his father's crimes and successes ?" Richard extended his peaceful and quiet life to an ex- treme old age, and died not till the latter end of queen Anne's reign. His social virtues, more valuable than the greatest capacity, met with a recompense, more precious than noisy fame, and more suitable, contentment and tranquillity.
The council of officers, now possessed of su- preme authority, deliberated what form of go- vernment they should establish. Many of them seemed inclined to exercise the power of the sword in the most open manner : but as it was appre- hended that the people would with great difficulty be induced to pay taxes, levied by arbitrary will and pleasure ; it was agreed to preserve the shadow of civil administration, and to revive the long parliament, which had been expelled by Cromwel. That assembly could not be dissolved, it was asserted, but by their own consent; and violence had interrupted, but was not able to destroy, their right to government. The officers also expected that, as these members had suf- ficiently felt their own weakness, they would be contented to act in subordination to the military commanders, and would thenceforth allow all the authority to remain where the power was so visibly vested.
The officers applied to Lenthal, the speaker, and proposed to him, that the parliament should resume their seats. Lenthal was of a low, timid spirit; and being uncertain what issue might at-
1659. THE COMMONWEALTH. 347
tend these measures, was desirous of evading the proposal. He replied, that he could by no means comply with the desire of the officers ; being en* gaged in a business of far greater importance to himself, which he could not omit on any account, because it concerned the salvation of his own soul. The officers pressed him to tell what it might be. He was preparing, he said, to par- ticipate of the Lord's supper, which he resolved to take next Sabbath. They insisted, that mercy was preferable to sacrifice, and that he could not better prepare himself for that great duty, than by contributing to the public service. All their re- monstrances had no effect. However, on the ap- pointed day, the speaker, being informed that a quorum of the house was likely to meet, thought proper, notwithstanding the salvation of his soul, as Ludlow observes, to join them ; and the house immediately proceeded upon business. The se- cluded members attempted, but in vain, to re- sume their seats among them.
LONG PARLIAMENT OR RUMP RESTORED.
The numbers of this parliament were small, little exceeding seventy members : their authority in the nation, ever since they had been purged by the army, was extremely diminished ; and after their expulsion, had been totally annihilated : but being all of them men of violent ambition ;
348 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l65g.
some of them men of experience and capacity ; they were resolved, since they enjoyed the title of the supreme authority, and observed that some appearance of a parliament was requisite for the purposes of the army, not to act a subordinate part to those who acknowledged themselves their servants. They chose a, council, in which they took care that the officers of Wallingford-house should not be the majority : they appointed Fleet- wood lieutenant-general, but inserted in his commission, that it should only continue during the pleasure of the house : they chose seven per- sons who should nominate to such commands as became vacant : and they voted, that all com- missions should be received from the speaker, and be assigned by him in the name of the house. These precautions, the tendency of which was visible, gave great disgust to the general officers; and their discontent would immediately have broken out into some resolution fatal to the par- liament, had it not been checked by the appre- hensions of danger from the common enemy.
The bulk of the nation consisted of royalists and presbyterians ; and to both these parties the dominion of the pretended parliament had ever been to the last degree odious. When that assembly was expelled by Cromwel, contempt had succeeded to hatred ; and no reserve had been used in expressing the utmost derision against the impotent ambition of these usurpers. Seeing them reinstated in authority, all orders of men
I65p. THE COMMONWEALTH. 349
felt the highest indignation; together with ap- prehensions, lest such tyrannical rulers should exert their power by taking vengeance upon their enemies, who had so openly insulted them. A secret reconciliation, therefore, was made be- tween the rival parties ; and it was agreed, that, burying former enmities in oblivion, all efforts should be used for the overthrow of the rump; so they called the parliament, in allusion to that part of the animal body. The presbyterians, sensible, from experience, that their passion for liberty, however laudable, had carried them into unwarrantable excesses, were willing to lay aside ancient jealousies, and, at all hazards, to restore the royal family. The nobility, the gentry, bent their passionate endeavours to the same enter- prise, by which alone they could be redeemed from slavery. And no man was so remote from party, so indifferent to public good, as not to feel the most ardent wishes for the dissolution of that tyranny which, whether the civil or the military part of it were considered, appeared equally oppressive and ruinous to the nation.
CONSPIRACY OF THE ROYALISTS.
Mordaunt, who had so narrowly escaped on his trial before the high-Court of justice, seemed rather animated than daunted with past danger ; and having, by his resolute behaviour, obtained
330 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l65g.
the highest confidence of the royal party, he was now become the centre of all their conspiracies. In many counties, a resolution was taken to rise in arms. Lord Willoughby of Parham and sir Horatio Townshend undertook to secure Lynne ; general Massey engaged to seize Glocester ; Lord Newport, Littleton, and other gentlemen, con- spired to take possession of Shrewsbury ; sir George Booth, of Chester ; sir Thomas Middleton, of North Wales ; Arundel, Pollar, Granville, Tre- lawney, of Plymouth and Exeter. A day was ap- pointed for the execution of all these enterprises. And the king, attended by the duke of York, had secretly arrived at Calais, with a resolution of putting himself at the head of his loyal sub- jects. The French court had promised to supply him with a small body of forces, in order to coun- tenance the insurrections of the English.
This combination was disconcerted by the infidelity of sir Richard Willis. That traitor con- tinued with the parliament the same correspond- ence which he had begun with Cromwel. He had engaged to reveal all conspiracies, so far as to destroy their effect ; but reserved to himself if he pleased, the power of concealing the con- spirators. He took care never to name any of the old, genuine cavaliers, who had zealously ad- hered, and were resolved still to adhere, to the royal cause in every fortune. These men he esteemed; these he even loved. He betrayed only the new converts among the presbyterians,
1659 THE COMMONWEALTH. 351
or such lukewarm royalists, as, discouraged with their disappointments, were resolved to expose themselves to no more hazards. A lively proof how impossible it is even for the most corrupted minds to divest themselves of all regard to mo- rality and social duty !
Many of the conspirators in the different coun- ties were thrown into prison : others, astonished at such symptoms of secret treachery, left their houses, or remained quiet : the most tempestuous weather prevailed during the whole time appoint- ed for the rendezvouses ; insomuch that some found it impossible to join their friends, and others were dismayed with fear and superstition at an incident so unusual during the summer season. Of all the projects, the only one which took effect was that of sir George Booth for the seizing of Chester. The earl of Derby, lord Herbert of Cherbury, Mr. Lee, colonel Morgan, entered into this enterprise. Sir William Middle- ton joined Booth with some troops from North- Wales ; and the malcontents were powerful enough to subdue all in that neighbourhood who ventured to oppose them. In their declaration they made no mention of the king : they only demanded a free and full parliament.
The parliament was justly alarmed. How com- bustible the materials, they well knew ; and the fire was now fallen among them. Booth was of a family eminently presbyterian ; and his conjunc-
352 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1659,
tion with the royalists they regarded as a dan- gerous symptom. They had many officers whose fidelity they could more depend on than that of Lambert: but there was no one in whose vigilance and capacity they reposed such confidence. They commissioned him to suppress the rebels. He made incredible haste. Booth imprudently ven- tured himself out of the walls of Chester, and exposed, in the open field, his raw troops against these hardy veterans. He was soon routed and taken prisoner. His whole army was dispersed. And the parliament had no farther occupation than to fill all the jails with their open or secret enemies. Designs were even entertained of trans- porting the loyal families to Barbadoes, Jamaica, and the other colonies ; lest they should propagate in England children of the same malignant affec- tions with themselves.
This success hastened the ruin of the parliament. Lambert at the head of a body of troops, was no less dangerous to them than Booth. A thousand pounds, which they sent him to buy a jewel, were employed by him in liberalities to his officers. At his instigation they drew up a petition, and trans- mitted it to Fleetwood, a weak man, and an honest, if sincerity in folly deserve that honourable name. The import of this petition was, that Fleetwood should be made commander in chief, Lambert major-general, Desborow lieutenant-general of the horse, Monk major-general of the foot. To
1659. THE COMMONWEALTH. 353
which a demand was added, that no officer should be dismissed from his command but by a court- martial.
The parliament, alarmed at the danger, im- mediately cashiered Lambert, Desborow, Berry, Clarke, Barrow, Kelsey, Cobbet. Sir Arthur Hazelrig proposed the impeachment of Lambert for high treason. Fleetwood's commission was vacated, and the command of the army was vested in seven persons, of whom that general was one. The parliament voted, that they would have no more general officers. And they declared it high treason to levy any money without consent of par- liament.
0
PARLIAMENT EXPELLED. October 13.
But these votes were feeble weapons in oppo- sition to the swords of the soldiery. Lambert drew some troops together, in order to decide the controversy. Okey, who was leading his regi- ment to the assistance of the parliament, was de- serted by them. Morley and Moss brought their regiments into Palace-yard, resolute to oppose the violence of Lambert. But that artful gene- ral knew an easy way of disappointing them. He placed his soldiers in the streets which lead to Westminster-hall. When the speaker came in his coach, he ordered the horses to be turned, and very civilly conducted him home. The other vol. vnt. A A
354 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1659.
members were in like manner intercepted. And the two regiments in Palace-yard, observing that they were exposed to derision, peaceably retired to their quarters. A little before this bold enter- prise, a solemn fast had been kept by the army ; and it is remarked, that this ceremony was the usual prelude to every signal violence which they committed.
COMMITTEE OF SAFETY.
The officers found themselves again invested with supreme authority, of which they intended for ever to retain the substance, however they might bestow on others the empty shadow or ap- pearance. They elected a committee of twenty- three persons, of whom seven were officers. These they pretended to invest with sovereign authority; and they called them a committee of safety. They spoke every where of summoning a parliament chosen by the people ; but they really took some steps towards assembling a military parliament, composed of officers elected from every regiment in the service t. Throughout the three kingdoms there prevailed nothing but the melancholy fears, to the nobility and gentry, of a bloody massacre and extermination ; to the rest of the people, of perpetual servitude, beneath those sanctified rob- bers, whose union and whose divisions would be
1 Ludlow.
1059. THE COMMONWEALTH. 355
equally destructive, and who, under pretence of superior illuminations, would soon extirpate, if possible, all private morality, as they had already done all public law and justice from the British dominions.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
During the time that England continued in this distracted condition, the other kingdoms of Eu- rope were hastening towards a composure of those differences by which they had so long been agi- tated. The parliament, while it preserved author- ity, instead of following the imprudent politics of Cromwell, and lending assistance to the con- quering Swede, embraced the maxims of the Dutch commonwealth, and resolved, in conjunc- tion with that state, to mediate by force an ac- commodation between the northern crowns. Montague was sent with a squadron to the Baltic, and carried with him as ambassador Algernon Sidney, the celebrated republican. Sidney found the Swedish monarch employed in the siege of Copenhagen, the capital of his enemy ; and was highly pleased, that, with a Roman arrogance, he could check the progress of royal victories, and display in so signal a manner the superiority of freedom above tyranny. With the highest in- dignation, the ambitious prince was obliged to submit to the imperious mediation of the two coin- 2
356 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l65g.
mon wealths. " It is cruel," said he, " that laws " should be prescribed me by parricides and " pedlars." But his whole army was enclosed in an ifland, and might be starved by the com- bined squadrons of England and Holland. He was obliged, therefore, to quit his prey, when he had so nearly gotten possession of it; and hav- ing agreed to a pacification with Denmark, he retired into his own country, where he soon after died.
The wars between France and Spain were also concluded by the treaty of the Pyrenees. These animosities had long been carried on between the rival states, even while governed by a sister and brother, who cordially loved and esteemed each other. But politics, which had so long prevailed over these friendly affections, now at last yielded to their influence; and never was the triumph more full and complete. The Spanish Low Countries, if not every part of that monarchy, lay almost entirely at the mercy of its enemy. Broken armies, disordered finances, slow and ir- resolute counsels; by these resources alone were the dispersed provinces of Spain defended against the vigorous power of France. But the queen regent, anxious for the fate of her brother, em- ployed her authority with the cardinal to stop the progress of the French conquests, and put an end to a quarrel which, being commenced by ambition, and attended with victory, was at last concluded with moderation. The young
i65g. THE COMMONWEALTH. 357
monarch of France, though aspiring and warlike in his character, was at this time entirely occupied in the pleasures of love and gallantry, and had passively resigned the reins of empire into the hands of his politic minister. And he remained an unconcerned spectator ; while an opportunity for conquest was parted with, which he never was able, during the whole course of his active reign, fully to retrieve.
The ministers of the two crowns, Mazarine and don Louis de Haro, met at the foot of the Pyrenees, in the isle of Pheasants, a place which was supposed to belong to neither kingdom. The negotiation being brought to an issue by frequent conferences between the ministers, the monarchs themselves agreed to a congress : and these two splendid courts appeared in their full lustre amidst those savage mountains. Philip brought his daughter, Mary Therese, along with him ; and giving her in marriage to his nephew, Louis, en- deavoured to cement by this new tie the incom- patible interests of the two monarchies. The French king made a solemn renunciation of every succession, which might accrue to him in right of his consort ; a vain formality, tooweak to re- strain the ungoverned ambition of princes.
The affairs of England were in so great dis- order, that it was not possible to comprehend that kingdom in the treaty, or adjust measures with a power which was in such incessant fluctuation. The king, reduced to despair by the failure of
35S HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. 1659.
all enterprises for his restoration, was resolved to try the weak resource of foreign succours ; and he went to the Pyrenees at the time when the two ministers were in the midst of their negoti- ations. Don Louis received him with that gener- ous civility peculiar to his nation ; and expressed great inclination, had the low condition of Spain allowed him, to give assistance to the distressed monarch. The cautious Mazarine, pleading the alliance of France with the, English common- wealth, refused even to see him ; and though the king offered to marry the cardinal's niece11, he could, for the present, obtain nothing but empty- professions of respect, and protestations of ser- vices. The condition of that monarch, to all the world, seemed totally desperate. His friends had been baffled in every attempt for his service : The scaffold had often streamed with the blood of the more active royalists : The spirits of many were broken with tedious imprisonments: The estates of all were burthened by the fines and confisca- tions which had been levied upon them : No one durst openly avow himself of that party : And so small did their number seem to a superficial view, that, even should the nation recover its liberty, which was deemed no-wise probable, it was judged uncertain what form of government it would embrace. But amidst all these gloomy prospects, fortune, by a surprising revolution, was now
" K. James's Memoirs.
1659. THE COMMONWEALTH. 33§
paving the way for the king to mount, in peace and triumph, the throne of his ancestors. It was by the prudence and loyalty of general Monk, that this happy change was at last accomplished.
GENERAL MONK.
George Monk, to whom the fate was reserved of re-establishing monarchy, and finishing the bloody dissensions of three kingdoms, was the second son of a family in Devonshire, ancient and ho- nourable, but lately, from too great hospitality and expence, somewhat fallen to decay. He be- took himself, in early youth, to the profession of arms ; and was engaged in the unfortunate ex- peditions to Cadiz and the isle of Rhe\ After England had concluded peace with all her neigh- bours, he sought military experience in the Low Countries, the great school of war to all the European nations ; and he rose to the command of a company under lord Goring. This company consisted of 200 men, of whom a hundred were volunteers, often men of family and fortune, sometimes noblemen who lived upon their own income in a splendid manner. Such a military turn at that time prevailed among the English.
When the sound of war was first heard in this island, Monk returned to England, partly desir- ous of promotion in* his native country, partly disgusted with some ill usage from the States, of
360 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1G59.
which he found reason to complain. Upon the Scottish pacification, he was employed by the earl of Leicester against the Irish rebels; and having obtained a regiment, was soon taken notice of, for his military skill, and for his calm and deliberate valour. Without ostentation, ex- pence, or caresses, merely by his humane and equal temper, he gained the good-will of the soldiery ; who, with a mixture of familiarity and affection, usually called him honest George Monk; an honourable appellation, which they still con- tinued to him, even during his greatest eleva- tion. He was remarkable for his moderation in party ; and while all around him were inflamed into rage against the opposite faction, he fell under suspicion from the candour and tranquillity of his behaviour. When the Irish army was called over into England, surmises of this kind had been so far credited, that he had even been suspended from his command, and ordered to Oxford, that he. might answer the charge laid against him. His established character for truth and sincerity here stood him in great stead ; and upon his earnest protestations and declarations, he was soon restored to his regiment, which he joined at the siege of Nantwich. The day after his ar- rival, Fairfax attacked and defeated the royalists, commanded by Biron ; and took colonel Monk prisoner. He was sent to the Tower, where he endured, about two years, all the rigours of poverty and confinement. The king, however,
165(). THE COMMONWEALTH. 36l
was so mindful as to send him, notwithstanding his own difficulties, a present of 100 guineas ; but it was not till after the royalists were totally subdued, that he recovered his liberty. Monk, however distressed, had always refused the most inviting offers from the parliament : But Crom- wel, sensible of his merit, having solicited him to engage in the wars against the Irish, who were considered as rebels both by king and parliament ; he was not unwilling to repair his broken fortunes by accepting a command which, he flattered himself, was reconcilable to the strictest princi- ples of honour. Having once engaged with the parliament, he was obliged to obey orders ; and found himself necessitated to fight, both against the marquis of Ormond in Ireland, and against the king himself in Scotland. Upon the reduc- tion of the latter kingdom, Monk was left with the supreme command ; and by the equality and justice of his administration, he was able to give contentment to that restless people, now reduced to subjection by a nation whom they hated. No less acceptable was his authority to the officers and soldiers ; and foreseeing, that the good- will of the army under his command might some time be of great service to him, he had, with much care and success, cultivated their friendship.
362 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l65£.
MONK DECLARES FOR THE PARLIAMENT.
The connexions which he had formed with Crom- wel, his benefactor, preserved him faithful to Richard, who had been enjoined by his father to follow in every thing the directions of general Monk. When the long parliament was restored, Monk, who was not prepared for opposition, ac- knowledged their authority, and was continued in his command, from which it would not have been safe to attempt dislodging him. After the army had expelled the parliament, he protested against the violence, and resolved, ashepretend- ed, to vindicate their invaded privileges. Deeper designs, either in the king's favour or his own, were, from the beginning, suspected to be the motives of his actions.
- A rivalship had long subsisted between him and Lambert; and every body saw the reason why he opposed the elevation of that ambitious general, by whose success his own authority, he knew, would soon be subverted. But little friend- ship had ever subsisted between him and the par- liamentary leaders ; and it seemed no-wise pro*- bable, that he intended to employ his industry, and spend his blood, for the advancement of one enemy above another. How early he entertained designs for the king's restoration, we know not with certainty : It is likely, that as soon as Ri-
1659- THE COMMONWEALTH. 3(&
chard was deposed, he foresaw, that without such an expedient, it would be impossible ever to bring the nation to a regular settlement. His elder and younger brothers were devoted to the royal cause : The Granvilles, his near relations, and all the rest of his kindred, were in the same interests : He himself was intoxicated with no fumes of enthusiasm, and had maintained no connexions with any of the fanatical tribe. His early engagements had been with the king, and he had left that service without receiving any dis- gust from the royal family. Since he had inlisted himself with the opposite party, he had been guilty of no violence or rigour, which might render him obnoxious. His return, therefore, to loyalty, was easy and open ; and nothing could be supposed to counterbalance his natural pro- pensity to that measure, except the views of his own elevation, and the prospect of usurping the same grandeur and authority which had been as- sumed by Cromwel. But from such exorbitant, if not impossible projects, the natural tranquil- lity and moderation of his temper, the calmness and solidity of his genius, not to mention his age, now upon the decline, seem to have set him at a distance. Cromwel himself, he always asserted* could not long have maintained his usurpation; and any other person even equal to him in genius, it was obvious, would now find it more difficult
x Gumbel's Life of Monk, p. 93.
364 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1659.
to practise arts, of which every one, from expe- rience, was sufficiently aware. It is more agree- able, therefore, to reason as well as candour, to suppose that Monk, as soon as he put himself in motion, had entertained views of effecting the king's restoration; nor ought any objections, derived from his profound silence even to Charles himself, to be regarded as considerable. His temper was naturally reserved ; his circumstances required dissimulation ; the king, he knew, was Surrounded with spies and traitors; and upon the whole, it seems hard to interpret that conduct, which ought to exalt our idea of his prudence, as a disparagement of his probity.
Sir John Granville, hoping that the general would engage in the king's service, sent into Scotland his younger brother, a clergyman, Dr. Monk, who carried him a letter and invitation from the king. When the doctor arrived, he found that his brother was then holding a coun- cil of officers, and was not to be seen for some hours. In the mean time, he was received and entertained by Price, the general's chaplain, a man of probity, as well as a partisan of the king's. The doctor having an entire confidence in the chaplain, talked very freely to him about the object of his journey, and engaged him, if there should be occasion, to second his applications. At last, the general arrives ; the brothers embrace; and after some preliminary conversation, the doctor opens his business. Monk interrupted
1659- THE COMMONWEALTH. 365
him, to know whether he had ever before to any body mentioned the subject. "To no body," replied his brother, " but to Price, whom I know to be entirely in your confidence." The general, altering his countenance, turned the discourse ; and would enter into no farther confidence with him, but sent him away with the first opportu- nity. He would not trust his own brother the moment he knew that he had disclosed the secret ; though to a man whom he himself could have trusted r.
His conduct in all other particulars was full of the same reserve and prudence ; and no less was requisite for effecting the difficult work which he had undertaken. All the officers in his army, of whom he entertained any suspicion, he imme- diately cashiered : Cobbet, who had been sent by the committee of safety, under pretence of com- municating their resolutions to Monk, but really with a view of debauching his army, he commit- ted to custody : He drew together the several scattered regiments : He summoned an assembly, somewhat resembling a convention of states; and having communicated to them his resolution of marching into England, he received a seasonable, though no great supply of money.
Hearing that Lambert was advancing north- ward with his army, Monk sent Clobery and two other commissioners to London, with large pro-
* Lord Lansdown's defence of general Monk.
m HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1659.
fessions of his inclination to peace, and with offers of terms for an accommodation. His chief aim was to gain time, and relax the preparations of his enemies. The committee of safety fell into the snare. A treaty was signed by Monk's com- missioners ; but he refused to ratify it, and com- plained that they had exceeded their powers. He desired, however, to enter into a new negotiation at Newcastle. The committee willingly accepted this fallacious offer.
Meanwhile these military sovereigns found themselves surrounded on all hands with inextri- cable difficulties. The nation had fallen into total anarchy ; and by refusing the payment of all taxes, reduced the army to the greatest neces- sities. While Lambert's forces were assembling at Newcastle, Hazelrig and Morley took posses- sion of Portsmouth, and declared for the parlia- ment. A party, sent to suppress them, was per- suaded by their commander tojoin in the same de- claration. The city apprentices rose in a tumult, and demanded a free parliament. Though they were suppressed by colonel Hewson, a man who from the profession of a cobler had risen to a Ijigh rank in the army, the city still discovered symptoms of the most dangerous discontent. It even established a kind of separate government, and assumed the supreme authority within itself* Admiral Lawson with his squadron came into the river, and declared for the parliament. Hazelrig and Morley, hearing of this important event,
1(559- THE COMMONWEALTH. n6?
left Portsmouth, and advanced towards London. The regiments near that city being solicited by their old officers, who had been cashiered by the committee of safety, revolted again to the parlia- ment. Desborow's regiment, being sent by Lam- bert to support his friends, no sooner arrived at St. Alban's, than it declared for the same as- sembly.
Fleetwood's hand was found too weak and un- stable to support this ill-founded fabric, which, every where around" him, was falling into ruins. When he received intelligence of any mur- murs among the soldiers, he would prostrate himself in prayer, and could hardly be prevailed with to join the troops. Even when among them, he would, in the midst of any discourse, invite them all to prayer, and put himself on his knees before them. If any of his friends exhorted him to more vigour, they could get no other answer, than that God had spitten in his face, and would not hear him. Men now ceased to wonder why Lambert had promoted him to the office of general, and had contented himself with the second command in the army.
PARLIAMENT RESTORED. December 26.
Lenthal, the speaker, being invited by the of- ficers, again assumed authority, and summoned together the parliament, which twice before had
368 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 105q.
been expelled with so much reproach and igno- miny. As soon as assembled, they repealed their act against the payment of excise and customs ; they appointed commissioners for assigning quar- ters to the army ; and, without taking any notice of Lambert, they sent orders to the forces under his command immediately to repair to those quar- ters which were appointed them.
Lambert was now in a very disconsolate con- dition. Monk, he saw, had passed the Tweed at Coldstream, and was advancing upon him. His own soldiers deserted him in great multitudes, and joined the enemy. Lord Fairfax too, he heard, had raised forces behind him, and had possessed himself of York, without declaring his purpose. The last orders of the parliament so entirely stripped him of his army, that there re- mained not with him above a hundred horse : All the rest went to their quarters with quietness and resignation; and he himself was, some time after, arrested and committed to the Tower. The other officers, who had formerly been cashiered by the parliament, and who had resumed their commands, that they might subdue that assembly, were again cashiered and confined to their houses. Sir Harry Vane and some members, who had con- curred with the commitee of safety, were ordered into a like confinement. And the parliament now seemed to be again possessed of more absolute authority than ever, and to be without any dan- ger of opposition or control.
1660. THE COMMONWEALTH. 3G9
The republican party was at this time guided by two men, Hazelrig and Vane, who were of opposite characters, and mortally hated each other. Hazelrig, who possessed greater authority in the parliament, was haughty, imperious, precipitate, vain-glorious ; without civility, without prudence; qualified only by his noisy, pertinacious obstinacy to acquire an ascendency in public assemblies. Vane was noted, in all civil transactions, for temper, insinuation, address, and a profound judg- ment ; in all religious speculations, for folly and extravagance. He was a perfect enthusiast ; and fancying that he was certainly favoured with in- spiration, he deemed himself, to speak in the language of the times, to be a man above ordi* nances, and, by reason of his perfection, to be unlimited and unrestrained by any rules, which govern inferior mortals. These whimsies, min- gling with pride, had so corrupted his excellent understanding, that sometimes he thought him- self the person deputed to reign on earth for a thousand years over the whole congregation of the faithful \
Monk, though informed of the restoration of the parliament, from whom he received no orders, still advanced with his army, which was near 6000 men : The scattered forces in England were above five times more numerous. Fairfax, who had resolved to declare for the king, not being able to make the general open his intentions, re- ■ Clarendon*
VOL. VIII. B B
3-0 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. \660.
retired to his own house in Yorkshire. In all counties through which Monk passed, the prime gentry flocked to him with addresses ; expressing their earnest desire, that he would be instrumental in restoring the nation to peace and tranquillity, and to the enjoyment of those liberties, which by law were their birth-right, but of which, during so many years, they had been fatally bereaved : And that, in order to this salutary purpose, he would prevail, either for the restoring of those members who had been secluded before the king's death, or for the election of a new parliament, who might legally, and by general consent, again govern the nation. Though Monk pretended not to favour these addresses, that ray of hope, which the knowledge of his character and situation afforded, mightily animated all men. The tyranny and the anarchy, which now equally oppressed the kingdom ; the experience of past distractions, the dread of future convulsions, the indignation against military usurpation, against sanctified hypocrisy: All these motives had united every party, except the most desperate, into ardent wishes for the king's restoration, the only remedy for all these fatal evils.
Scot and Robinson were sent as deputies by the parliament, under pretence of congratulating the general, but in reality to serve as spies upon him. The city dispatched four of their principal citizens to perform like compliments; and at the same time to confirm the general in his inclination to a
1660. THE COMMONWEALTH. $71
free parliament, the object of all men's prayers and endeavours. The authority of Monk could scarcely secure the parliamentary deputies from those insults, which the general hatred and con- tempt towards their masters drew from men of every rank and denomination.
MONK ENTERS LONDON. February 6.
Monk continued his march with few interruptions till he reached St. Albans. He there sent a mes- sage to the parliament ; desiring them to remove from London those regiments, which, though they now professed to return to their duty, had so lately offered violence to that assembly. This message was unexpected, and exceedingly per- plexed the house. Their fate, they found, must still depend on a mercenary army ; and they were as distant as ever from their imaginary sovereignty. However, they found it necessary to comply. The soldiers made more difficulty. A mutiny arose among them. One regiment, in particular, quartered in Somerset-house, expressly refused to yield their place to the northern army.* But those officers who would gladly, on such an oc- casion, have inflamed the quarrel, were absent or in confinement ; and for want of leaders, the soldiers were at last, with great reluctance, oblig- ed to submit. Monk with his army took quarters in Westminster. 2
.172 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. X6G0.
The general was introduced to the house; and thanks were given him by Lenthalforthe eminent services which he had done his country. Monk was a prudent not an eloquent speaker. He told the house, that the services, which he had been enabled to perform, were no more than his duty, and merited not such praises as those with which they were pleased to honour him : That among many persons of greater worth, who bore their commission, he had been employed as the instru- ment of providence for effecting their restoration ; but he considered this service as a step only to more important services, which it was their part to render to the nation : That while on his march, he observed all ranks of men, in all places, to be in earnest expectation of a settlement, after the violent convulsions, to which they had been ex- pose^ ; and to have no prospect of that blessing but from the dissolution of the present parliament and from the summoning of a new one, free and full, who, meeting without oaths or engagements, might finally give contentment to the nation : That applications had been made to him for that purpose ; but that, he, sensible of his duty, had still told the petitioners, that the parliament itself, which was no>v free, and would soon be full, was the best judge of all these measures, and that the whole community ought to acquiesce in their determination : That though he expressed himself in this manner to the people, he must now freely inform the house, that the fewer engagements
1660. THE COMMONWEALTH. 373
were exacted, the more comprehensive would their plan prove, and the more satisfaction would it give to the nation : And that it was sufficient for public security, if the fanatical party and the royalists were excluded ; since the principles of these factions were destructive either of govern- ment or of liberty.
This speech, containing matter which was both agreeable and disagreeable to the house as well as to the nation, still kept every one in suspence, and upheld that uncertainty, in which it seemed the general's interest to retain the public. But it was impossible for the kingdom to remain long in this doubtful situation : The people, as well as the parliament, pushed matters to a decision. During the late convulsions, the payment of taxes had been interrupted ; and though the parliament, upon their assembling, renewed the ordinances for impositions, yet so little reverence did the people pay to those legislators, that they gave very slow and unwilling obedience to their commands. The common-council of London flatly refused to sub- mit to an assessment required of them ; and de- clared that, till a free and lawful parliament im- posed taxes, they never should deem it their duty to make any payment. This resolution, if yielded to, would immediately have put an end to the do- minion of the parliament : They were determined, therefore, upon this occasion, to make at once a full experiment of their own power, and of their general's obedience.
374 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
Monk received orders to march into the city ; to seize twelve persons, the most obnoxious to the parliament ; to remove the posts and chains from all the streets ; and to take down and break the portcullises and gates of the city : And very few hours were allowed him to deliberate upon the execution of these violent orders. To the great surprise and consternation of all men, Monk pre- pared himself for obedience. Neglecting the entreaties of his friends, the remonstrances of his officers, the cries of the people, he entered the city in a military manner ; he apprehended as many as he could of the proscribed persons, whom he sent to the Tower ; with all the circumstances of contempt he broke the gates and portcullises ; and having exposed the city to the scorn and de- rision of all who hated it, he returned intriumph to his quarters in Westminster.
DECLARES FOR A FREE PARLIAMENT.
No sooner had the general leisure to reflect, than he found, that this last measure, instead of being a continuation of that cautious ambiguity, which he had hitherto maintained, was taking party without reserve, and laying himself, as well as the nation, at the mercy of that tyrannical parliament, whose power had long been odious, as their persons contemptible, to all men. He resolved, therefore, before it were too late, to
1660. THE COMMONWEALTH. 375
repair the dangerous mistake into which he had been betrayed, and to show the whole world, still more without reserve, that he meant no longer to be the minister of violence and usurpation. After complaining of the odious service in which he had been employed, he wrote a letter to the house, reproaching them, as well with the new cabals which they had formed with Vane and Lambert, as with the encouragement given to a fanatical petition presented by Praisegod Barebone ; and he required them, in the name of the citizens, soldiers, and whole commonwealth, to issue writs, within a week, for the filling of their house, and to fix the time for their own dissolution and the assembling of a new parliament. Having dis- patched this letter, which might be regarded, he thought, as an undoubted pledge of his sincerity, he marched with his army into the city, and de- sired Allen, the mayor, to summon a common- council at Guildhall. He there made many apo- logies for the indignity which, two days before, he had been obliged to put upon them ; assured them of his perseverance in the measures which he had adopted ; and desired that they might mutually plight their faith for a strict union be- tween city and army, in every enterprise for the happiness and settlement of the commonwealth.
It would be difficult to describe the joy and exultation which displayed itself throughout the city, as soon as intelligence was conveyed of this happy measure, embraced by the general. The
;;/u HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 166Q.
prospect of peace, concord, liberty, justice, broke forth at once, from amidst the deepest darkness in which the nation had ever been involved. The view of past calamities no longer presented dismal prognostics of the future : it tended only to enhance the general exultation for those scenes of happiness and tranquillity, which all men now confidently promised themselves, The royalists, the presbyterians, forgetting all animosities, min- gled in common joy and transport, and vowed never more to gratify the ambition of false and factious tyrants, by their calamitous divisions. The populace, more outrageous in their festivity, made the air resound with acclamations, and illu- minated every street with signals of jollity and triumph, Applauses of the general were every where intermingled with detestation against the parliament. The most ridiculous inventions were adopted, in order to express this latter passion. At every bonfire rumps were roasted, and where these could no longer be found, pieces of flesh were cut into that shape ; and the funeral of the parliament (the populace exclaimed) was cele- brated by these symbols of hatred and derision.
The parliament, though in the agonies of de* spair, made still one effort for the recovery of their dominion, They sent a committee with offers to gain the general. He refused to hear them, except in the presence of some of the secluded members. Though several persons, de- sperate from guilt and fanaticism, promised to
16(50. THE COMMONWEALTH. 377
invest him with the dignity of supreme magistrate, and to support his government, he would not hearken to such wild proposals. Having fixed a close correspondence with the city, and esta- blished its militia in hands whose fidelity could be relied on, he returned with his army to West- minster, and pursued every proper measure for the settlement of the nation. While he still pre- tended to maintain republican principles, be was taking large steps towards the re-establishment of the ancient monarchy.
SECLUDED MEMBERS RESTORED. Feb. 21.
The secluded members, upon the general's invit- ation, went to the house, and finding no longer any obstruction, they entered, and immediately appeared to be the majority : most of the inde- pendents left the place. The restored members first repealed all the ordinances by which they had been excluded : they gave sir George Boothe and his party their liberty and estates: they renewed the general's commission, and enlarged his powers : they fixed an assessment for the support of the fleet and army : and having passed these votes for the present composure of the kingdom, they dissolved themselves, and issued writs for the immediate assembling of a new par- liament. This last measure had been previously concerted with the general, who knew that all
378 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1G6O.
men, however different in affections, expectations, and designs, united in the detestation of the long parliament.
A council of state was established, consisting of men of character and moderation ; most of whom, during the civil wars, had made a great figure among the presbyterians. The militia of the kingdom was put into such hands as would promote order and settlement. These conjoined with Monk's army, which lay united at London, were esteemed a sufficient check on the more numerous, though dispersed army, of whose in- clinations there was still much reason to be diffident. Monk, however, was every day re- moving the more obnoxious officers, and bringing the troops to a state of discipline and obedience.
Overton, governor of Hull, had declared his resolution to keep possession of that fortress till the coming of king Jesus : but when Alured produced the authority of parliament for his de- livering the place to colonel Fairfax, he thought proper to comply.
Montague, who commanded the fleet in the Baltic, had entered into the conspiracy with sir George Boothe ; and pretending want of pro- visions, had sailed from the Sound towards the coast of England, with an intention of supporting that insurrection of the royalists. On his arrival he received the news of Boothe's defeat, and the total failure of the enterprise. The great diffi- culties, to which the parliament was then reduced,
16(50. THE COMMONWEALTH. 379
allowed them no leisure to examine strictly the reasons which he gave for quitting his station ; and they allowed him to retire peaceably to his country-house. The council of state now con- ferred on him, in conjunction with Monk, the command of the fleet j and secured the naval, as well as military force, in hands favourable to the public settlement.
Notwithstanding all these steps which were taking towards the re-establishment of monarchy, Monk still maintained the appearance of zeal for a commonwealth, and hitherto allowed no canal of correspondence between himself and the king to be opened. To call a free parliament, and to restore the royal family, were visibly, in the pre- sent disposition of the kingdom, one and the same measure : yet would not the general declare, otherwise than by his actions, that he had adopted the king's interests ; and nothing but necessity extorted at last the confession from him. His silence, in the commencement of his enterprise, ought to be no objection to his sincerity ; since he maintained the same reserve, at a time, when, consistent with common sense, he could have entertained no other purpose *.
There was one Morrice, a gentleman of De- vonshire, of a sedentary, studious disposition, nearly related to Monk, and one who had always maintained the strictest intimacy with him. With
* See note [L] vol. X,
380 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
this friend alone did Monk deliberate concerning that great enterprise, which he had projected. Sir John Granville, who had a commission from the king, applied to Morrice for access to the general ; but received for answer, that the general desired him to communicate his business to Mor- rice. Granville, though importunately urged, twice refused to deliver his message to any but Monk himself; and this cautious politician, finding him now a person, whose secresy could be safely trusted, admitted him to his presence, and opened to him his whole intentions. Still he scrupled to commit any thing to writing*: he delivered only a verbal message by Granville ; assuring the king of his services, giving advice for his conduct, and exhorting him instantly to leave the Spanish territories, and retire into Holland. He was apprehensive lest Spain might detain him as a pledge for the recovery of Dun- kirk and Jamaica. Charles followed these di- rections, and very narrowly escaped to Breda. Had he protracted his journey a few hours, he had certainly, under pretence of honour and respect, been arrested by the Spaniards.
Lockhart, who was governor of Dunkirk, and no-wise averse to the king's service, was applied to on this occasion. The state of England was set before him, the certainty of the restoration represented, and the prospect of great favour
* Lansdowne, Clarendon.
1660. THE COMMONWEALTH. 381
displayed, if he would anticipate the vows of the kingdom, and receive the king into his fortress. Lockhart still replied, that his commission was derived from an English parliament, and he would not open his gates but in obedience to the same authority b. This scruple, though in the present emergence it approaches towards superstition, it is difficult for us entirely to condemn.
The elections for the new parliament went every where in favour of the king's party. This was one of those popular torrents, where the most indifferent, or even the most averse, are trans- ported with the general passion, and zealously adopt the sentiments of the community to which they belong. The enthusiasts themselves seemed to be disarmed of their fury ; and between despair and astonishment gave way to those measures, which, they found, it would be impossible for them, by their utmost efforts, to withstand. The presbyterians and the royalists, being united, formed the voice of the nation, which, without noise, but with infinite ardour, called for the king's restoration. The kingdom was almost entirely in the hands of the former party ; and some zealous leaders among them began to renew the demand of those conditions, which had been required of the late king in the treaty of New- port : but the general opinion seemed to condemn all those rigorous and jealous capitulations with
k. Bumet.
382 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1C60.
their sovereign. Harassed with convulsions and disorders, men ardently longed for repose, and were terrified at the mention of negotiations or delays, which might afford opportunity to the seditious army still to breed new confusion. The passion too for liberty, having been carried to such violent extremes, and having produced such bloody commotions, began, by a natural move- ment, to give place to a spirit of loyalty and obedience ; and the public was less zealous in a cause, which was become odious on account of the calamities which had so long attended it. After the legal concessions made by the late king, the constitution seemed to be suffi- ciently secured ; and the additional conditions insisted on, as they had been framed during the greatest ardour of the contest, amounted rather to annihilation than a limitation of monarchy. Above all, the general was averse to the mention of conditions ; and resolved that the crown, which he intended to restore, should be conferred on the king entirely free and unencumbered. Without farther scruple, therefore, or jealousy, the people gave their voice in elections for such as they knew to entertain sentiments favourable to monarchy ; and all paid court to a party, which they foresaw, was soon to govern the nation. Though the parliament had voted, that no one should be elected, who had himself, or whose father had borne arms for the late king; little regard was any where paid to this ordinance.
1660. THE COMMONWEALTH. 383
The leaders of the presbyterians, the earl of Manchester, lord Fairfax, lord Robarts, Hollis, sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, Annesley, Lewis, were determined to atone for past transgressions by their present zeal for the royal interests ; and from former merits, successes, and sufferings, they had acquired with their party the highest credit and authority.
The affairs of Ireland were in a condition no less favourable to the king. As soon as Monk declared against the English army, he dispatched emissaries into Ireland, and engaged the officers in that kingdom to concur with him in the same measures. Lord Broghill, president of Munster, and sir Charles Coote, president of Connaught, went so far as to enter into a correspondence with the king, and to promise their assistance for his restoration. In conjunction with sir Theophilus Jones, and other officers, they took possession of the government, and excluded Ludlow, who was zealous for the rump-parliament, but whom they pretended to be in a confederacy with the committee of safety. They kept themselves in readiness to serve the king ; but made no declar- ations, till they should see the turn which affairs took in England.
But all these promising views had almost been blasted by an untoward accident. Upon the ad- mission of the secluded members, the republican party, particularly the late king's judges, were seized with the justest despair, and endeavoured
384 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
to infuse the same sentiments into the army. By themselves or their emissaries, they represented to the soldiers, that all those brave actions, which had been performed during the war, and which were so meritorious in the eyes of the parliament, would no doubt be regarded as the deepest crimes by the royalists, and would expose the army to the severest vengeance. That in vain did that party make professions of moderation and lenity: the king's death, the execution of so many of the nobility and gentry, the sequestration and im- prisonment of the rest, were in their eyes crimes so deep, and offences so personal, as must be prosecuted with the most implacable resentment. That the loss of all arrears, and the cashiering of every officer and soldier, were the lightest punishment which must be expected : after the dispersion of the army, no farther protection re- mained to them, either for life or property, but the clemency of enraged victors. And that, even if the most perfect security could be obtained, it were inglorious to be reduced, by treachery and deceit, to subjection under a foe, who, in the open field, had so often yielded to their superior valour.
After these suggestions had been infused into the army, Lambert suddenly made his escape from the Tower, and threw Monk and the council of state into great consternation. They knew Lambert's vigour and activity; they were ac- acquainted with his popularity in the army ; they
1600. THE COMMONWEALTH. 365
were sensible, that, though the soldiers had lately deserted him, they sufficiently expressed their remorse and their detestation of those, who, by false professions, they found, had so egregiously deceived them. It seemed necessary, therefore, to employ the greatest celerity in suppressing so dangerous a foe : colonel Ingoldsby, who had been one of the late king's judges, but who was now entirely engaged in the royal cause, was dispatched after him. He overtook him at Da- ventry, while he had yet assembled but four troops of horse. One of them deserted him. Another quickly followed the example. He him- self, endeavouring to make his escape, was seized* by Ingoldsby, to whom he made submissions not suitable to his former character of spirit and valour. Okey, Axtel, Cobbet, Crede, and other officers of that party, were taken prisoners with him. All the roads were full of soldiers hastening to join them. In a few days, they had been formidable. And it was thought, that it might prove dangerous for Monk himself to have assem- bled any considerable body of his republican army for their suppression : so that nothing could be more happy than the sudden extinction of this rising flame.
THE RESTORATION.
When the parliament met, they chose sir Har- bottle Grimstone speaker, a man, who, though VOL. VIII. c c
SS6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
he had for some time concurred with the late parliament, had long been esteemed affectionate to the king's service. The great dangers incurred during former usurpations, joined to the extreme caution of the general, kept every one in awe ; and none dared, for some days, to make any mention of the king. The members exerted their spirit chiefly in bitter invectives against the memory of Cromwel, and in execrations against the inhuman murder of their late sovereign. At last, the general, having sufficiently sounded their inclinations, gave directions to Annesley president of the council, to inform them, that one sir John Granville, a servant of the king's, had been sent over by his majesty, and was now at the door with a letter to the commons. The loudest acclamations were excited by this intelligence. Granville was called in : the letter, accompanied with a declaration, greedily read : without one moment's delay, and without a contradictory vote, a committee was appointed to prepare an answer : and in order to spread the same satis- faction throughout the kingdom, it was voted that the letter and declaration should imme- diately be published.
The people, freed from the state of suspense in which they had so long been held, now changed their anxious hope for the unmixt effusions of joy ; and displayed a social triumph and exult- ation, which no private prosperity, even the greatest, is ever able fully to inspire. Traditions
1660. THE COMMONWEALTH. 387
remain of men, particularly of Oughtred, the mathematician, who died of pleasure, when in- formed of this happy and surprising event. The king's declaration was well calculated to uphold the satisfaction inspired by the prospect of public settlement. It offered a general amnesty to all persons whatsoever ; and that without any ex- ception but such as should afterwards be made by parliament : it promised liberty of conscience ; and a concurrence in any act of parliament, which, upon mature deliberation, should be offer- ed for insuring that indulgence : it submitted to the arbitration of the same assembly the in- quiry into all grants, purchases, and alienations : and it assured the soldiers of all their arrears, and promised them, for the future, the same pay which they then enjoyed.
The lords, perceiving the spirit by which the kingdom, as well as the commons, was animated, hastened to reinstate themselves in their ancient authority, and to take their share in the settle- ment of the nation. They found the doors of their house open ; and all were admitted ; even such as had formerly been excluded on account of their pretended delinquency.
The two houses attended ; while the king was proclaimed with great solemnity, in Palace-Yard, at Whitehall, and at Temple-Bar. The commons voted 500 pounds to buy a jewel for Granville, who had brought them the king's gracious mes- sage: a present of 50,000 pounds was conferred 2
3S8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
on the king, 10,000 pounds on the duke of York, 5,000 pounds on the duke of Glocester. A com- mittee of lords and commons was dispatched to invite his majesty to return and take possession of the government. The rapidity with which all these events were conducted, was marvellous, and discovered the passionate zeal and entire una- nimity of the nation. Such an impatience ap- peared, and such an emulation, in lords, and commons, and city, who should make the most lively expressions of their joy and duty ; that, as the noble historian expresses it, a man could not but wonder where those people dwelt, who had done all the mischief, and kept the king so many years from enjoying the comfort and support of such excellent subjects. The king himself said, that it must surely have been his own fault that he had not sooner taken possession of the throne ; since he found every body so zealous in pro- moting his happy restoration.
The respect of foreign powers soon followed the submission of the king's subjects. Spain in- vited him to return to the Low Countries, and embark in some of her maritime towns. France made protestations of afTection and regard, and offered Calais for the same purpose. The States- general sent deputies with a like friendly invita- tion. The king resolved to accept of this last offer. The people of the republic bore him a cordial affection ; and politics no longer restrained their magistrates from promoting and expressing
1660, THE COMMONWEALTH. 38$
that sentiment. As he passed from Breda to the Hague, he was attended by numerous crowds, and was received with the loudest acclamations ; as if themselves, not their rivals in power and commerce, were now restored to peace and se- curity. The States-general in a body, and after- wards the States of Holland apart, performed their compliments with the greatest solemnity : every person of distinction was ambitious of being introduced to his majesty ; all ambassadors and public ministers of kings, princes, or states, re- paired to him, and professed the joy of their masters in his behalf: so that one would have thought, that from the united efforts of Christ- endom had been derived this revolution, which diffused every where such universal satisfaction.
The English fleet came in sight of Scheveling. Montague had not waited for orders from the parliament ; but had persuaded the officers, of themselves, to tender their duty to his majesty. The duke of York immediately went on board, and took the command of the fleet as high admiral.
When the king disembarked at Dover, he was met by the general, whom he cordially embraced. Never subject in fact, probably in his intentions, had deserved better of his king and country. In the space of a few months, without effusion of blood, by his cautious and disinterested conduct alone, he had bestowed settlement on three king- doms, - which had long been torn with the most
Spo HISTORY OF ENGLAND. WW
violent convulsions : and having obstinately re^ fused the most inviting conditions, offered him by the king as well as by every party in the kingdom, he freely restored his injured master to the vacant throne. The king entered London on the 29th of May, which was also his birth-day. The fond imaginations of men interpreted as a happy omen the concurrence of two such joyful periods,
************
At this sera, it may be proper to stop a moment and take a general survey of the age, so far as regards manners, finances, arms, commerce, arts and sciences. The chief use of history is, that it affords materials for disquisitions of this nature ; and it seems the duty of an historian to point out the proper inferences and conclusions.
MANNERS AND ARTS.
No people could undergo a change more sudden and entire in their manners, than did the English nation during this period. From tranquillity, concord, submission, sobriety, they passed in an instant to a state of faction, fanaticism, rebellion, and almost phrenzy. The violence of the English
1660. THE COMMONWEALTH. S91
parties exceeded any thing which we can now imagine : had they continued but a little longer, there was just reason to dread all the horrors of the ancient massacres and proscriptions. The military usurpers, whose authority was founded on palpable injustice, and was supported by no national party, would have been impelled by rage and despair into such sanguinary measures ; and if these furious expedients had been employed on one side, revenge would naturally have pushed the other party, after a return of power, to re- taliate upon their enemies. No social intercourse was maintained between the parties ; no marriages or alliances contracted. The royalists, though oppressed, harassed, persecuted, disdained all affinity with their masters. The more they were reduced to subjection, the greater superiority did they affect above those usurpers, who by vio- lence and injustice had acquired an ascendant over them.
The manners of the two factions were as opposite as those of the most distant nations. " Your friends, the Cavaliers," said a parlia- mentarian to a royalist, " are very dissolute and " debauched." " True," replied the royalist, " they have the infirmities of men : but your " friends, the Roundheads, have the vices of * devils, tyranny, rebellion, and spiritual pride V* Riot and disorder, it is certain, notwithstanding
* Sir Philip W«rwie.
393 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1600.
the good example set tliem by Charles I. pre- vailed very much among his partisans. Being commonly men of birth and fortune, to whom excesses are less pernicious than to the vulgar, they were too apt to indulge themselves in all pleasures, particularly those of the table. Op- position to the rigid preciseness of their an- tagonists increased their inclination to good fellowship ; and the character of a man of plea- sure was affected among them, as a sure pledge of attachment to the church and monarchy. Even when ruined by confiscations and sequestrations, they endeavoured to maintain the appearance of a careless and social jollity. " As much as hope " is superior to fear," said a poor and merry cavalier, " so much is our situation preferable to W that of our enemies. We laugh while they " tremble."
The gloomy enthusiasm which prevailed among the parliamentary party, is surely the most curious spectacle presented by any history ; and the most instructive, as well as entertaining, to a philo- sophical mind. All recreations were in a manner suspended by the rigid severity of the presby- terians and independents. Horse-races and cock- matches were prohibited as the greatest enor- mitiesd. Even bear-baiting was esteemed hea- thenish and unchristian ; the sport of it, not the inhumanity, gave offence. Colonel Hewson, from
* Killing no Murder.
1(560. THE COMMONWEALTH. 3()3
his pious zeal, marched with his regiment into London, and destroyed all the bears which were there kept for the diversion of the citizens. This adventure seems to have given birth to the fiction of Hudibras. Though the English nation be naturally candid and sincere, hypocrisy pre- vailed among them beyond any example in ancient or modern times. The religious hypocrisy, it may be remarked, is of a peculiar nature ; and being generally unknown to the person himself, though more dangerous, it implies less falsehood than any other species of insincerity. The Old Testament, preferably to the New, was the fa- vourite of all the sectaries. The eastern poetical style of that composition made it more easily susceptible of a turn which was agreeable to them.
We have had occasion, in the course of this work, to speak of many of the sects which pre- vailed in England : to enumerate them all would be impossible. The quakers, however, are so con- siderable, at least so singular, as to merit some attention ; and as they renounced by principle the use of arms, they never made such a figure in public transactions as to enter into any part of our narrative.
The religion of the quakers, like most others, began with the lowest vulgar, and, in its progress, came at last to comprehend people of better quality and fashion, George Fox, born at Dray- ton in Lancashire in 1624, was the founder of this sect. He was the son of a weaver, and was himself bound apprentice to a shoe-maker. Feeling
894 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 16&).
a stronger impulse towards spiritual contempla- tions than towards that mechanical profession, he left his master, and went about the country clothed in a leathern doublet, a dress which he long affected, as well for its singularity as its cheap- ness. That he might wean himself from sublunary objects, he broke off all connexions with his friends and family, and never dwelled a moment in one place; lest habit should beget new connexions, and depress the sublimity of his aerial medita- tions. He frequently wandered into the woods, and passed whole days in hollow trees, without Company, or any other amusement than his bible. Having reached that pitch of perfection as to need no other book, he soon advanced to another state of spiritual progress, and began to pay less regard even to that divine composition itself. His own breast, he imagined, was full of the same inspiration which had guided the prophets and apostles themselves ; and by this inward light must every spiritual obscurity be cleared, by this living spirit must the dead letter be animated.
When he had been sufficiently consecrated in his own imagination, he felt that the fumes of self-applause soon dissipate, if not continually supplied by the admiration of others; and he began to seek proselytes. Proselytes were easily gained, at a time when all men's affections were turned towards religion, and when the most ex- travagant modes of it were sure to be most popular. All the forms of ceremony, invented by pride and ostentation, Fox and his disciples, from a supe-
mo. THE COMMONWEALTH. 395
rior pride and ostentation, carefully rejected : even the ordinary rites of civility were shunned, as the nourishment of carnal vanity and self-conceit. They would bestow no titles of distinction : the name of friend was the only salutation with which they indiscriminately accosted every one. To no person would they make a bow, or move their hat, or give any signs of reverence. Instead of ,that affected adulation, introduced into modern tongues, of speaking to individuals as if they were a multitude, they returned to the simplicity of ancient languages ; and thou and thee were the only expressions which, on any consideration, they could be brought to employ.
Dress too, a material circumstance, distin- guished the members of this sect. Every super- fluity and ornament was carefully retrenched: no plaits to their coat, no buttons to their sleeves : no lace, no ruffles, no embroidery. Even a button to the hat, though sometimes useful, yet not being always so, was universally rejeeted by them with horror and detestation.
The violent enthusiasm of this sect, like all high passions, being too strong for the weak nerves to sustain, threw the preachers into convulsions, and shakings, and distortions in their limbs ; and they thence received the appellation of quakers. Amidst the great toleration which was then granted to all sects, and even encouragement given to all in- novations, this sect alone suffered persecution. From the fervour of their zeal, the quakers broke into churches, disturbed public worship, and
39O HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1G60.
harassed the minister and audience with railing and reproaches. When carried before a magi- strate, they refused him all reverence, and treated him with the same familiarity as if he had been their equal. Sometimes they were thrown into mad-houses, sometimes into prisons : sometimes whipped, sometimes pilloryed. The patience and fortitude with which they suffered, begat com- passion, admiration, esteem e. A supernatural spirit was believed to support them under those sufferings, which the ordinary state of humanity, freed from the illusions of passion, is unable to sustain.
The quakers creeped into the army : but as they preached universal peace, they seduced the military zealots from their profession, and would soon, had they been suffered, have put an end, without any defeat or calamity, to the dominion of the saints. These attempts became a fresh ground of persecution, and a new reason for their progress among the people.
Morals with this sect were carried, or affected to be carried, to the same degree of extravagance
e The following story is told by Whitlocke, p. 5QQ. Some quakers at Hasington in Northumberland coming to the minister on the Sabbath-day, and speaking to him, the people fell upon the quakers, and almost killed one or two of them, who going out fell on their knees, and prayed God to pardon the people, who knew not what they did ; and afterwards speaking to the people, so convinced them of the evil they had done in beating them, that the country people fell a quarrelling, and beat one another more than they had before beaten the quakers.
1660, THE COMMONWEALTH. 3tf
as religion. Give a quaker a blow on one cheek, he held up the other : ask his cloke, he gave you his coat also : the greatest interest could not engage him, in any court of judicature, to swear even to the truth : he never asked more for his wares than the precise sum which he was de- termined to accept. This last maxim is laudable, and continues still to be religiously observed by that sect.
No fanatics ever carried farther the hatred to ceremonies, forms, orders, rites, and positive in- stitutions. Even baptism and the Lord's supper, by all other sects believed to be interwoven with the very vitals of Christianity, were disdainfully rejected by them. The very sabbath they pro- faned. The holiness of churches they derided ; and they would give to these sacred edifices no other appellation than that of shops or steeple* houses. No priests were admitted in their sect : every one had received from immediate illumin- ation a character much superior to the sacerdotal. When they met for divine worship, each rose up in his place, and delivered the extemporary in- spirations of the Holy Ghost : women were also admitted to teach the brethren, and were con- sidered as proper vehicles to convey the dictates of the spirit. Sometimes a great many preachers were moved to speak at once : sometimes a total silence prevailed in their congregations.
Some quakers attempted to fast forty days in imitation of Christ; and one of them bravely
898 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 166O.
perished in the experiment f. A female quaker came naked into the church where the protector sat ; being moved by the spirit, as she said, to appear as a sign to the people. A number of them fancied, that the renovation of all things had commenced, and that clothes were to be rejected, together with other superfluities. The sufferings which followed the practice of this doctrine, were a species of persecution not well calculated for promoting it.
James Nay lor was a quaker, noted for blas- phemy, or rather madness, in the time of the protectorship. He fancied that he himself was transformed into Christ, and was become the real saviour of the world ; and in consequence of this frenzy, he endeavoured to imitate many actions of the Messiah related in the evangelists. As he bore a resemblance to the common pictures of Christ, he allowed his beard to grow in a like form : he raised a person from the dead s : he was ministered unto by women h: he entered Bristol mounted on a horse ; I suppose, from the difficulty in that place of finding an ass : his dis- ciples spread their garments before him, and cried, " Hosannah to the highest ; holy, holy " is the Lord God of Sabbaoth." When carried
f Whitlocke, p. 624. ■ Harleian Miscellany, vol. vi. p. 399. One Dorcas Earberry made oath before a magistrate, that she had been dead two days, and that Naylor had brought her to life. " Id. ib.
1660. THE COMMONWEALTH, 399
before the magistrate, he would give no other answer to all questions than " thou hast said it." What is remarkable, the parliament thought that the matter deserved their attention. Near ten days they spent in inquiries and debates about him1. They condemned him to be pilloryed, whipped, burned in the face, and to have his tongue bored through with a red-hot iron. All these severities he bore with the usual patience. So far his delusion supported him. But the sequel spoiled all. He was sent to Bridewell, confined to hard labour, fed on bread and water, and de- barred from all his disciples, male and female. His illusion dissipated, and after some time he was contented to come out an ordinary man, and return to his usual occupations.
The chief taxes in England, during the time of the commonwealth, were the monthly assess- ments, the excise, and the customs. The assess- ments were levied on personal estates, as well as on land k; and commissioners were appointed in each county for rating the individuals. The highest assessment amounted to 120, 000 pounds a-month in England ; the lowest was 35,000. The assessments in Scotland were sometimes 10,000 pounds a-month l ; commonly 6000. Those on Ireland 9000. At a medium, this tax might have afforded about a million a-year. The
1 Thurloe, vol. v. p. 708. * Scobel, p, 419.
1 Thurloe, vol. ii. p. 476.
400 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
excise, during the civil wars, was levied on bread, flesh-meat, as well as beer, ale, strong- waters, and many other commodities. After the king was subdued, bread and flesh-meat were exempted from excise. The customs on exportation were lowered in \656m. In 1650, commissioners were appointed to levy both customs and excises. Cromwel in 1657 returned to the old practice of farming. Eleven hundred thousand pounds were then offered, both for customs and excise, a greater sum than had ever been levied by the commissioners" :' the whole of the taxes during that period might at a medium amount to above two millions a-year ; a sum which, though mo- derate, much exceeded the revenue of any former king0. Sequestrations, compositions, sale of crown and church lands, and of the lands of de- linquents, yielded also considerable sums, but very difficult to be estimated. Church lands are said to have been sold for a million p. None of these were ever valued at above ten or eleven years purchase s. The estates of delinquents amounted to above 200,000 pounds a-year r. Cromwel died more than two millions in debt*; though the parliament had left him in the trea-
■ Scobel, p. 8/6. n Thurloe, vol. vi. p. 425.
• It appears that the hte king's revenue from 1637, to the meeting of the long parliament, was only 900,000 pounds, of which 200,000 may be esteemed illegal.
p Dr. Walker, p. 14. * Thurloe, vol. i. p. 753.
r Thurloe, vol. ii. p. 414, • Ibid. vol. vii. p. 667.
1660. THE COMMONWEALTH. 401
sury above 500, 000 pounds ; and in stores, the value of 700,000 pounds1.
The committee of danger in April 1648 voted to raise the army to 40,000 menu. The same year, the pay of the army was estimated at 80,000 pounds a-monthw. The establishment of the army in 1652, was in Scotland 15,000 foot, 2580 horse, 560 dragoons ; in England, 4700 foot, 2520 horse, garrisons 6154. In all, 31,519, besides officers \ The army in Scotland was afterwards considerably reduced. The army in Ireland was not much short of 20,000 men ; so that, upon the whole, the commonwealth maintained in 1652 a standing army of more than 50,000 men. Its pay amounted to a yearly sum of 1,047,715 pounds ?. Afterwards the protector reduced the establish- ment to 30,000 men, as appears by the Instrument of Government and Humble Petition and Advice. His frequent enterprises obliged him from time to time to augment them. Richard had on foot in England an army of 13,258 men, in Scotland 9506, in Ireland about 10,000 men2. The foot soldiers had commonly a shilling a-day\ The horse had two shillings and six pence ; so that many gentlemen and younger brothers of good
* World's Mistake in Oliver Cromwel.
• Whitlocke, p. 298. w Ibid. p. 378.
* Journal, 2d December 165% 7 Id. ibid.
* Journal, 6th of April 1659.
• Thurloe, vol. i. p. 395, vol. ii. p. 414.
VOL. VIII. P D
402 HISTORY OF ENGLAND* 1660.
family inlisted in the protector's cavalry b. No wonder that such men were averse from the re- establishment of civil government, by which, they well knew, they must be deprived of so gainful a profession.
At the time of the battle of Worcester, the parliament had on foot about 80,000 men, partly militia, partly regular forces. The vigour of the commonwealth, and the great capacity of those members who had assumed the government, never at any time appeared so conspicuous c.
The whole revenue of the public, during the protectorship of Richard, was estimated at 1,868,717 pounds: his annual expences at 2,201,540 pounds. An additional revenue was demanded from parliament d.
The commerce and industry of England in^ creased extremely during the peaceable period of Charles's reign : the trade to the East-Indies and to Guinea became considerable. The Eng- lish possessed almost the sole trade with Spain. Twenty thousand cloths were annually sent to Turkey e. Commerce met with interruption, no doubt, from the civil wars and convulsions which afterwards prevailed; though it soon recovered after the establishment of the commonwealth. The war with the Dutch, by distressing the com-
* Gumble's Life of Monk. c Whitlccke, p. 477.
a Journal, 7th April 1659.
• Strafford's Letters, vol. i. p. 421. 423. 430. 46/.
1660. THE COMMONWEALTH. 403
merce of so formidable a rival, served to en- courage trade in England : the Spanish war was to an equal degree pernicious. All the effects of the English merchants, to an immense value, were confiscated in Spain. The prevalence of de- mocratical principles engaged the country gentle- men to bind their sons apprentices to merchants f; and commerce has ever since been more honour- able in England than in any other. European kingdom. The exclusive companies, which form- erly confined trade, were never expressly abo* lished by any ordinance of parliament during the commonwealth ; but as men payed no regard to the prerogative whence the charters of these com- panies were derived, the monopoly was gradually invaded, and commerce increased by the increase of liberty. Interest in 1650 was reduced to six per cent.
The customs in England, before the civil wars, are said to have amounted to 500,000 pounds a- years: a sum ten times greater than during the best period in queen Elizabeth's reign : but there is probably some exaggeration in this matter.
The post-house in 1653 was farmed at 10,000 pounds a-year, which was deemed a considerable sum for the three kingdoms. Letters paid only about half their present postage.
From 1619 to 1638, there had been coined 6,900,042 pounds. From 1638 to 1657, the coin- Clarendon. * Lewis Robert's Treasure of Traffick. I
404 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. lC6o.
age amounted to 7,733,521 pounds h. Dr. Dave- nant has told us from the registers of the mint, that between 1558 and 1659, there had been coined 19,832,476 pounds in gold and silver.
The first mention of tea, coffee, and cho- colate, is about 1660"1. Asparagus, artichoaks, cauliflower, and a variety of sallads, were about the same time introduced into England k.
The colony of New England increased by means of the puritans, who fled thither, in order to free themselves from the constraint which Laud and the church party had imposed upon them; and, before the commencement of the civil wars, it is supposed to have contained 25,000 souls1. For a like reason, the catholics, afterwards, who found themselves exposed to many hardships, and dreaded still worse treatment, went over to America in great numbers, and settled the colony of Maryland.
Before the civil wars, learning and the fine arts were favoured at court, and a good taste began to prevail in the nation. The king loved pictures, sometimes handled the pencil himself, and was a good judge of the art. The pieces of foreign masters were bought up at a vast price ; and the value of pictures doubled in Europe by the emu- lation between Charles and Philip IV. of Spain,
h Happy future State of England.
1 Anderson, vol. ii. p. 1 11. k Id. Ibid,
1 British empire in America, vol. i. p. 372.
1C60. THE COMMONWEALTH. 405
who were touched with the same elegant passion. Vandyke was caressed and enriched at court. Inigo Jones was master of the king's buildings ; though afterwards persecuted by the parliament, on account of the part which he hadjn rebuilding St. Paul's, and for obeying some orders of council, by which he was directed to pull down houses, in order to make room for that edifice. Laws, who had not been surpassed by any musician before him, was much beloved by the king, who called him the father of music. Charles was a good judge of writing, and was thought by some more anxious with regard to purity of style than became a monarch m. Notwithstanding his nar- row revenue, and his freedom from all vanity, he lived in such magnificence, that he possessed four and twenty palaces, all of them elegantly and completely furnished ; insomuch that, when he removed from one to another, he was not obliged to transport any thing along with him.
Cromwel, though himself a barbarian, was not insensible to literary merit. Usher, notwithstand- ing his being a bishop, received a pension from him. Marvel and Milton were in his service. Waller, who was his relation, wsls caressed by him. That poet always said, that the protector himself was not so wholly illiterate as was commonly ima- gined. He gave a hundred pounds a-year to the divinity professor at Oxford ; and an historian
m Burnet.
406 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
mentions this bounty as an instance of his love of literature0. He intended to have erected a college at Durham for the benefit of the northern counties.
Civil wars, especially when founded on prin- ciples of liberty, are not commonly unfavourable to the arts of eloquence and composition ; or rather, by presenting nobler and more interesting objects, they amply compensate that tranquillity of which they bereave the muses. The speeches of the parliamentary orators during this period are of a strain much superior to what any former age had produced in England ; and the force and compass of our tongue were then first put to trial. It must, however, be confessed, that the wretched fanaticism which so much infected the parlia- mentary party, was no less destructive of taste and science, than of all law and order. Gaiety and wit were proscribed : human learning de- spised : freedom of inquiry detested : cant and hypocrisy alone encouraged. It was an article positively insisted on in the preliminaries to the treaty of Uxbridge, that all play-houses should for ever be abolished. Sir John Davenant, says Whitlocke0, speaking of the year 1658, published an opera, notwithstanding the nicety of the times. All the king's furniture was put to sale : his pictures, disposed of at very low prices, enriched
" Neale's History of the Puritans, vol. iv, p. 123. ° P. 639.
1660s THE COMMONWEALTH. 407
all the collections in Europe : the cartoons, when complete, were only appraised at 300 pounds, though the whole collection of the king's curio- sities was sold at above 50,000 p. Even the royal palaces were pulled in pieces, and the materials of them sold. The very library and medals at St. James's were intended by the generals to be brought to auction, in order to pay the arrears of some regiments of cavalry quartered near Lon- don : but Selden, apprehensive of the loss, en- gaged his friend Whitiocke, then lord-keeper for the commonwealth, to apply for the office of librarian. This expedient saved that valuable collection.
It is, however, remarkable, that the greatest genius by far that shone out in England during this period, was deeply engaged with these fana- tics, and even prostituted his pen in theological controversy, in factious disputes, and in justifying the most violent measures of the party. This was John Milton, whose poems are admirable, though liable to some objections ; his prose writ- ings disagreeable, though not altogether defective in genius. Nor are all his poems equal : his Paradise Lost, his Comus, and a few others, shine out amidst some flat and insipid compositions : even in the Paradise Lost, his capital perform- ance, there are very long passages, amounting to near a third of the work, almost wholly destitute
p Pari. Hist. vol. xix. p. 83.
408 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
of harmony and elegance, nay, of all vigour of imagination. This natural inequality in Milton's genius was much increased by the inequalities in his subject; of which some parts are of them* selves the most lofty that can enter into human conception ; others would have required the most laboured elegance of composition to support them. It is certain, that this author, when in a happy mood, and employed on a noble subject, is the most wonderfully sublime of any poet in any language ; Homer and Lucretius and Tasso not excepted. More concise than Homer, more simple than Tasso, more nervous than Lucretius ; had he lived in a later age, and learned to polish some rudeness in his verses ; had he enjoyed better fortune, and possessed leisure to watch the returns of genius in himself, he had attained the pinnacle of perfection, and borne away the palm of epic poetry.
It is well known, that Milton never enjoyed in his lifetime the reputation which he deserved. His Paradise Lost was long neglected : prejudices against an apologist for the regicides, and against a work not wholly purged from the cant of former times, kept the ignorant world from perceiving the prodigious merit of that performance. Lord Somers, by encouraging a good edition of it, about twenty years after the author's death, first brought it into request ; and Tonson, in his dedication of a smaller edition, speaks of it as a work just be- ginning to be known. Even during the pre-
l6Go. THE COMMONWEALTH. 409
valence of Milton's party, he seems never to have been much regarded ; and Whitlocke q talks of one Milton, as he calls him, a blind man, who was employed in translating a treaty with Sweden into Latin. These forms of expression are amus- ing to posterity, who consider how obscure Whit- locke himself, though lord-keeper and ambassador, and indeed a man of great abilities and merit, has become in comparison of Milton.
It is not strange that Milton received no en- couragement after the restoration : it is more to be admired that he escaped with his life. Many of the cavaliers blamed extremely that lenity to- wards him, which was so honourable in the king, and so advantageous to posterity. It is said, that he had saved Davenant's life during the protector- ship ; and Davenant in return afforded him like protection after the restoration ; being sensible, that men of letters ought always to regard their sympathy of taste as a more powerful band of union, than any difference of party or opinion as a source of animosity. It was during a state of poverty, blindness, disgrace, danger, and old age, that Milton composed his wonderful poem, which not only surpassed all the performances of his cotemporaries, but all the compositions which had flowed from his pen during the vigour of his age and the height of his prosperity. This cir- cumstance is not the least remarkable of all those
q P. 638.
410 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. J660.
which attend that great genius. He died in 1 674-, aged 66.
Waller was the first refiner of English poetry, at least of English rhyme ; but his performances still abound with many faults, and, what is more material, they contain but feeble and superficial beauties. Gaiety, wit, and ingenuity, are their ruling character : they aspire not to the sublime; still less to the' pathetic. They treat of love, without making us feel any tenderness ; and abound in panegyric, without exciting admir- ation. The panegyric, however, on Cromwel, contains more force than we should expect from the other compositions of this poet.
Waller was born to an ample fortune, was early introduced to the court, and lived in the best company. He possessed talents for eloquence as well as poetry ; and till his death, which hap- pened in a good old age, he was the delight of the house of commons. The errors of his life proceeded more from want of courage, than of "honour or integrity. He died in 1687, aged 82.
Cowley is an author extremely corrupted by the bad taste of his age ; but, had he lived even in the purest times of Greece or Rome, he must always have been a very indifferent poet. He had no ear for harmony ; and his verses are only known to be such by the rhyme, which terminates them. In his rugged untuneable numbers are conveyed sentiments the most strained and dis- torted; long-spun allegories, distant allusions,
1660. THE COMMONWEALTH. 411
and forced conceits. Great ingenuity, however, and vigour of thought, sometimes break out amidst those unnatural conceptions : a few ana^- creontics surprise us by their ease and gaiety : his prose writings please, by the honesty and goodness which they express, and even by their spleen and melancholy. This author was much more praised and admired during his lifetime, and celebrated after his death, than the great Milton. He died in 1667, aged 49.
Sir John Denham, in his Cooper's Hill (for none of his other poems merit attention), has a loftiness and vigour, which had not before him been attained by any English poet who wrote in rhyme. The mechanical difficulties of that mea- sure retarded its improvement. Shakespeare, whose tragic scenes are sometimes so wonderfully forcible and expressive, is a very indifferent poet when he attempts to rhyme. Precision and neat- ness are chiefly wanting in Denham. He died in 1688, aged 73.
No English author in that age was more cele- brated both abroad and at home, than Hobbes : in our time, he is much neglected : a lively in- stance, how precarious all reputations founded on reasoning and philosophy ! A pleasant comedy, which paints the manners of the age, and exposes a faithful picture of nature, is a durable work, and is transmitted to the latest posterity. But a system, whether physical or metaphysical, com- monly owes its success to its novelty; and is no
412 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. .1660.
sooner canvassed with impartiality than its weak- ness is discovered. Hobbes's politics are fitted only to promote tyranny, and his ethics to en- courage licentiousness. Though an enemy to religion, he partakes nothing of the spirit of scepticism ; but is as positive and dogmatical as if human reason, and his reason in particular, could attain a thorough conviction in these sub- jects. Clearness and propriety of style are the chief excellencies of Hobbes's writings. In his own person he is represented to have been a man of virtue ; a character no-wise surprising, not- withstanding his libertine system of ethics. Ti- midity is the principal fault with which he is reproached : he lived to an extreme old age, yet could never reconcile himself to the thoughts of death. The boldness of his opinions and sen- timents forms a remarkable contrast to this part of his character. He died in 1679, aged 91.
Harrington's Oceana was well adapted to that age, when the plans of imaginary republics were the daily subjects of debate and conversation; and even in our time, it is justly admired as a work of genius and invention. The idea, how- ever, of a perfect and immortal commonwealth will always be found as chimerical as that of a perfect and immortal man. The style of this author wants ease and fluency ; but the good matter, which his work contains, makes com- pensation. He died in 1677, aged 66.
Harvey is entitled to the glory of having
1660. THE COMMONWEALTH. 413
made, by reasoning alone, without any mixture of accident, a capital discovery in one of the most important branches of science. He had also the happiness of establishing at once his theory on the most solid and convincing proofs ; and posterity has added little to the arguments suggested by his industry and ingenuity. His treatise of the circulation of the blood is farther embellished by that warmth and spirit which so naturally accompany the genius of invention. This great man was much favoured by Charles I. who gave him the liberty of using all the deer in the royal forests for perfecting his discoveries on the generation of animals. It was remarked, that no physician in Europe, who had reached forty years of age, ever, to the end of his life, adopted Harvey's doctrine of the circulation of the blood, and that his practice in London diminished ex- tremely, from the reproach drawn upon him by that great and signal discovery. So slow is the progress of truth in every science, even when not opposed by factious or superstitious prejudices ! He died in 1657, aged 79.
This age affords great materials for history ; but did not produce any accomplished historian. Clarendon, however, will always be esteemed an entertaining writer, even independent of our curiosity to know the facts which he relates. His style is prolix and redundant, and suffocates us by the length of its periods : but it discovers imagination and sentiment, and pleases us at the
414 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1U6O.
same time that we disapprove of it. He is more partial in appearance than in reality : for he seems perpetually anxious to apologise for the king ; but his apologies are often well grounded. He is less partial in his relation of facts, than in his account of characters : he was too honest a man to falsify the former; his affections were easily capable, unknown to himself, of disguising the latter. An air of probity and goodness runs through the whole work ; as these qualities did in reality em bellish the whole life of the author. He died in 1674, aged 66.
These are the chief performances which en- gage the attention of posterity. Those num- berless productions, with which the press then abounded ; the cant of the pulpit, the declam- ations of party, the subtilties of theology, all these have long ago sunk in silence and oblivion. Even a writer, such as Selden, whose learning was his chief excellency ; or Chilling worth, an acute disputant against the papists, will scarcely be ranked among the classics of our language or country.
Charles t^e ^ecotrtu
Chap. LXVII.
This magistrate (Godfrey) had been missing some days j and after much search, and many surmises, his body was found lying in a ditch at Primrose-hill : the marks of strangling were thought to appear about his neck, and some contusions on his breast : his own sword was sticking in the body ; but as no considerable quan- tity of blood ensued on drawing it, it wps concluded, that it had been thrust in after his death, and that he had not killed himself: he had rings on his fingers, and money in his pocket : it was there- fore inferred, that he had not fallen into the hands of robbers. Without farther reasoning, the cry rose, that he had been assassi- nated by the papists, on account of his taking Oates's evidence.
1600. CHARLES II. 415
CHAPTER LXIII.
New ministry .... Act of indemnity .... Settlement of the revenue .... Trial and execution of the regicides .... Dissolu- tion of the convention .... Parliament .... Prelacy restored .... Insurrection of the millenarians .... Affairs of Scotland .... Conference at the Savoy .... Arguments for and against a comprehension .... A new parliament .... Bishops' seats restored .... Corporation act ... . Act of uniformity . . . King's marriage .... Trial of Vane .... and execution .... Presby- terian clergy ejected .... Dunkirk sold to the French .... De- claration of indulgence .... Decline of Clarendon's credit.
CHARLES II.
Charles II. when he ascended the throne of his ancestors, was thirty years of age. He pos- sessed a vigorous constitution, a fine shape, a manly figure, a graceful air ; and though his fea- tures were harsh, yet was his countenance in the main lively and engaging. He was in that period of life, when there • remains enough of youth to render the person amiable, without preventing that authority and regard which attend the years of experience and maturity. Tenderness was ex- cited by the memory of his recent adversities. His present prosperity was the object rather of ad-
416 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
miration than of envy. And as the sudden and surprising revolution, which restored him to his regal rights, had also restored the nation to peace, law, order, and liberty ; no prince ever obtained a crown in more favourable circumstances, or was more blest with the cordial affection and attach- ment of his subjects.
This popularity the king, by his whole de- meanor and behaviour, was well qualified to sup- port and to increase. To a lively wit and quick comprehension, he united a just understanding, and a general observation both of men and things. The easiest manners, the most unaffected polite- ness, the most engaging gaiety, accompanied his conversation and address. Accustomed, during his exile, to live among his courtiers rather like a companion than a monarch, he retained, even while on the throne, that open affability, which was capable of reconciling the most determined republicans to his royal dignity. Totally devoid of resentment, as well from the natural lenity as carelessness of his temper, he insured pardon to the most guilty of his enemies, and left hopes of favour to his most violent opponents. From the whole tenour of his actions and discourse, he seemed desirous of losing the memory of past ani- mosities, and of uniting every party in an affection for their prince and their native country.
1660. CHARLES II. ! 417
NEW MINISTRY.
Into his council were admitted the most emi- nent men of the nation, without regard to former distinctions : the presbyterians, equally with the royalists, shared this honour. Annesley was also created earl of Anglesey; Ashley Cooper lord Ashley ; Denzil Mollis lord Hollis. The earl of Manchester was appointed lord chamberlain, and lord Say, privy-seal. Calamy and Baxter, pres- byterian clergymen, were even made chaplains to the king.
Admiral Montague, created earl of Sandwich, was entitled, from his recent services, to great favour ; and he obtained it. Monk, created duke of Albemarle, had performed such signal services, that, according to a vulgar and malignant observ- ation, he ought rather to have expected hatred and ingratitude : yet was he ever treated by the king with great marks of distinction. Charles's disposition, free from jealousy ; and the prudent behaviour of the general, who never over-rated his merits ; prevented all those disgusts which naturally arise in so delicate a situation. The capacity too of Albemarle was not extensive, and his parts were more solid than shining. Though he had distinguished himself in inferior stations, he was imagined, upon familiar acquaintance, not to be wholly equal to those great achievements,
VOL. VIII. E e
418 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1650.
which fortune, united to prudence, had enabled him to perform ; and he appeared unfit for the court, a scene of life to which he had never been accustomed. Morrice, his friend, was created secretary of state, and was supported more by his patron's credit than by his own abilities or ex- perience.
But the choice which the king at first made of his principal ministers and favourites, was the cir- cumstance which chiefly gave contentment to the nation, and prognosticated future happiness and tranquillity. Sir Edward Hyde, created earl of Clarendon, was chancellor and prime minister : the marquis, created duke of Ormond, was steward of the household : the earl of Southampton, high treasurer : sir Edward Nicholas, secretary of state. These men, united together in friendship, and combined in the same laudable inclinations, sup- ported each other's credit, and pursued the in- terests of the public.
Agreeable to the present prosperity of public affairs, was the universal joy and festivity diffus- ed throughout the nation. The melancholy au- sterity of the fanatics fell into discredit, together with their principles. The royalists, who had ever affected a contrary disposition, found in their recent success new motives for mirth and gaiety ; and it now belonged to them to give repute and fashion to their manners. From past experience it had sufficiently appeared, that gravity was very distinct from wisdom, formality from virtue, and
1660. CHARLES II. 419
hypocrisy from religion. The king himself, who bore a strong propensity to pleasure, served, by his powerful and engaging example, to banish those sour and malignant humours, which had hitherto engendered such confusion. And though the just bounds were undoubtedly passed, when men returned from their former extreme; yet was the public happy in exchanging vices, per- nicious to society, for disorders, hurtful chiefly to the individuals themselves who were guilty of them.
It required some time before the several parts of the state, disfigured by war and faction, could recover their former arrangement: but the par- liament immediately fell into good correspondence with the king, and they treated him with the same dutiful regard which had usually been paid to his predecessors. Being summoned without the king's consent, they received, at first, only the title of a convention ; and it was not till he passed an act for that purpose, that they were called by the ap- pellation of parliament. All judicial proceedings, transacted in the name of the commonwealth or protector, were ratified by a new law. And both houses, acknowledging the guilt of the former re- bellion, gratefully received in their own name, and in that of all the subjects, his majesty's gracious pardon and indemnity.
420 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
ACT OF INDEMNITY.
The king, before his restoration, being afraid of reducing any of his enemies to despair, and at the same time unwilling that such enormous crimes as had been committed should receive a total impu- nity, had expressed himself very cautiously in his declaration of Breda, and had promised an in- demnity to all criminals but such as should be ex- cepted by parliament. He now issued a proclam- ation, declaring that such of the late king's judges as did not yield themselves prisoners within fourteen days should receive no pardon. Nineteen surrendered themselves : some were taken in their flight : others escaped beyond sea.
The commons seem to have been more inclined to lenity than the lords. The upper house, in- flamed by the ill usage which they had received, were resolved, besides the late king's judges, to except every one who had sitten in any high court of justice. Nay, the earl of Bristol moved, that no pardon might be granted to those who had any- wise contributed to the king's death. So wide an exception, in which every one who had served the parliament might be comprehended, gave a general alarm ; and men began to apprehend, that this motion was the effect of some court artifice or intrigue. But the king soon dissipated these fears. He came to the house of peers; and, in
1660. CHARLES II. 421
the most earnest terms, passed the act of general indemnity. He urged both the necessity of the thing, and the obligation of his former promise : a promise, he said, which he would ever regard as sacred ; since to it he probably owed the satis- faction, which at present he enjoyed, of meeting his people in parliament. This measure of the king's was received with great applause and satis- faction.
After repeated solicitations, the act of indem- nity passed both houses, and soon received the royal assent. Those who had an immediate hand in the late king's death, were there excepted : even Cromwel, Ireton, Bradshaw, and others now dead, were attainted, and their estates forfeited. Vane and Lambert, though none of the regicides, were also excepted. St. John and seventeen persons more were deprived of all benefits from this act, if they ever accepted any public employ- ment. All who had sitten in any illegal high court of justice were disabled from bearing offices. These were all the severities which followed such furious civil wars and convulsions.
SETTLEMENT OF THE REVENUE.
The next business was the settlement of the king's revenue. In this work, the parliament had regard to public freedom, as well as to the support of the crown. The tenures of wards and liveries had long
AM HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
been regarded as a grievous burthen by the nobility and gentry : several attempts had been made during the reign of James to purchase this pre- rogative, together with that of purveyance ; and 200,000 pounds a-year had been offered that prince in lieu of them : wardships and purvey- ance had been utterly abolished by the republican parliament : and even in the present parliament, before the king arrived in England, a bill had been introduced, offering him a compensation for the emolument of these prerogatives. A hundred thousand pounds a-year was the sum agreed to ; and half of the excise was settled in perpetuity upon the crown as the fund whence this revenue should be levied. Though that impost yielded more profit, the bargain might be esteemed hard ; and it was chiefly the necessity of the king's situation, which induced him to consent to it. No request of the parliament, during the present joy, could be refused them.
Tonnage and poundage and the other half of the excise were granted to the king during life. The parliament even proceeded so far as to vote that the settled revenue of the crown for all charges should be 1,200,000 pounds a-year; a sum greater than any English monarch had ever before enjoyed. But as all the princes of Europe were perpetually augmenting their military force, and consequently their expence, it became requisite that England, from motives both of honour and security, should bear some proportion to them, and adapt its re-
1660. CHARLES II. 423
venue to the new system of politics which pre- vailed. According to the chancellor's computa- tion, a charge of 800,000 pounds a-year was at present requisite for the fleet and other articles, which formerly cost the crown but eighty thou- sand.
Had the parliament, before restoring the king, insisted on any farther limitations than those which the constitution already imposed ; besides the danger of reviving former quarrels among parties ; it would seem that their precautions had been entirely superfluous. By reason of its slen- der and precarious revenue, the crown in effect was still totally dependent. Not a fourth part of this sum, which seemed requisite for public ex- pences, could be levied without consent of parlia- ment; and any concessions, had they been thought necessary, might, even after the restoration, be extorted by the commons from their necessitous prince. This parliament showed no intention of employing at present that engine to any such pur- poses ; but they seemed still determined not to part with it entirely, or to render the revenues of the crown fixed and independent. Though they voted in general, that 1,200,000 pounds a-year should be settled on the king, they scarcely assigned any funds which could yield two thirds of that sum. And they left the care of fulfilling their engagements to the future consideration of parliament.
In all the temporary supplies which they voted,
424 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l6Go.
they discovered the same cautious frugality. To disband the army, so formidable in itself and so much accustomed to rebellion and changes of government, was necessary for the security both of king and parliament ; yet the commons showed great jealousy in granting the sums requisite for that end. An assessment of 70,000 pounds a- month was imposed ; but it was at first voted to continue only three months:, and all the other sums, which they levied for that purpose, by a poll-bill and new assessments, were still granted by parcels ; as if they were not, as yet, well assured of the fidelity of the hand to which the money was entrusted. Having proceeded so far in the settlement of the nation, the parliament adjourned itself for some time.
TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF THE REGICIDES.
During the recess of parliament, the object, which chiefly interested the public, was the trial and condemnation of the regicides. The general indignation, attending the enormous crime of which these men had been guilty, made their sufferings the subject of joy to the people : but in the peculiar circumstances of that action, in the prejudices of the times, as well as in the behaviour of the criminals, a mind, seasoned with humanity, will find a plentiful source of compassion and in- dulgence. Can any one, without concern for
1660. CHARLES II. 425
human blindness and ignorance, consider the de- meanour of general Harrison, who was first brought to his trial ? With great courage and elevation of sentiment, he told the court, that the pretended crime, of which he stood accused, was not a deed performed in a corner : the sound of it had gone forth to most nations ; and in the singular and marvellous conduct of it had chiefly appeared the sovereign power of heaven. That he himself, agitated by doubts, had often, with passionate tears, offered up his addresses to the divine Ma- jesty, and earnestly sought for light and convic- tion: he had still received assurance of a heavenly sanction, and returned from these devout suppli- cations with more serene tranquillity and satis- faction. That all the nations of the earth were, in the eyes of their Creator, less than a drop of water in the bucket; nor were their erroneous judgments aught but darkness, compared with divine illuminations. That these frequent illapses of the divine spirit he could not suspect to be interested illusions ; since he was conscious, that for no temporal advantage, would he offer injury to the poorest man or woman that trod upon the earth. That all the allurements of ambition, all the terrors of imprisonment, had not been able, during the usurpation of Cromwel, to shake his steady resolution, or bend him to a compliance with that deceitful tyrant. And that when in- vited by him to sit on the right hand of the throne, when offered riches and splendour and dominion,
426 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
he had disdainfully rejected all temptations ; and neglecting the tears of his friends and family, had still, through every danger, held fast his principles and his integrity.
Scot, who was more a republican than a fanatic, had said in the house of commons, a little before the restoration, that he desired no other epitaph to be inscribed on his tomb-stone than this ; Here lies Thomas Scot, who adjudged the king to death. He supported the same spirit upon his trial.
Carew, a Millenarian, submitted to his trial, saving to our Lord Jesus Christ his right to the go- vernment of these kingdoms. Some scrupled to say, according to form, that they would be tried by God and their country ; because God was not visibly present to judge them. Others said, that they would be tried by the word of God.
No more than six of the late king's judges, Har- rison, Scot, Carew, Clement, Jones, and Scrope, were executed : Scrope alone, of all those who came in upon the king's proclamation. He was a gentleman of good family and of a decent cha- racter : but it was proved, that he had a little before, in conversation, expressed himself as if he were no-wise convinced of any guilt in condemn- ing the king. Axtel, who had guarded the high court of justice, Hacker, who commanded on the day of the king's execution, Coke, the solicitor for the people of England, and Hugh Peters, the fanatical preacher, who inflamed the army and impelled them to regicide ; all these were tried,
1660. CHARLES II. 427
and condemned, and suffered with the king's judges. No saint or confessor ever went to mar- tyrdom with more assured confidence of heaven than was expressed by those criminals, even when the terrors of immediate death, joined to many in- dignities, were set before them. The rest of the king's judges, by an unexampled lenity, were re- prieved ; and they were dispersed into several prisons.
This punishment of declared enemies inter- rupted not the rejoicings of the court : but the death of the duke of Glocester, a young prince of promising hopes, threw a great cloud upon them. The king, by no incident in his life, was ever so deeply affected. Glocester was observed to possess united the good qualities of both his brothers : the clear judgment and penetration of the king ; the industry and appli- cation of the duke of York. He was also believed to be affectionate to the religion and constitution of his country. He was but twenty years of age, when the small-pox put an end to his life.
The princess of Orange, having come to Eng- land, in order to partake of the joy attending the restoration of her family, with whom she lived in great friendshp, soon after sickened and died. The queen-mother paid a visit to her son ; and obtained his consent to the marriage of the princess Henrietta, with the duke of Orleans, brother to the French king.
428 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
DISSOLUTION OF THE CONVENTION PAR- LIAMENT. December 29.
After a recess of near two months, the parlia- ment met, and proceeded in the great work of the national settlement. They established the post- office, wine licenses, and some articles of the revenue. They granted more assessments, and some arrears, for paying and disbanding the army. Business being carried on with great un- animity, was soon dispatched : and after they had sitten near two months, the king, in a speech full of the most gracious expressions, thought proper to dissolve them.
This house of commons had been chosen during the reign of the old parliamentary party ; and though many royalists had creeped in amongst them, yet did it chiefly consist of presbyterians, who had not yet entirely laid aside their old jealousies and principles. Lenthal, a member, having said, that those who first took arms against the king, were as guilty as those who afterwards brought him to the scaffold, was severely repri- manded by order of the house; and the most violent efforts of the long parliament, to secure the constitution, and bring delinquents to justice, were in effect vindicated and applauded r. The
* Journals, vol.viii. p. 24-.
1660. CHARLES II. 429
claim of the two houses to the militia, the first ground of the quarrel, however exorbitant an usurpation, was never expressly resigned by this parliament. They made all grants of money with a very sparing hand. Great arrears being due by the protector, to the fleet, the army, the navy- office, and every branch of service ; this whole debt they threw upon the crown, without esta- blishing funds sufficient for its payment. Yet notwithstanding this jealous care, expressed by the parliament, there prevails a story, that Pop- ham, having sounded the disposition of the mem- bers, undertook to the earl of Southampton to procure, during the king's life, a grant of two millions a-year, land-tax: a sum which, added to the customs and excise, would for ever have rendered this prince independent of his people. Southampton, it is said, merely from his affection to the king, had unwarily embraced the offer; and it was not till he communicated the matter to the chancellor, that he was made sensible of its per- nicious tendency. It is not improbable that such an offer might have been made, and been hearken- ed to; but it is no-wise probable that all the interest of the court would ever, with this house of commons, have been able to make it effectual. Clarendon showed his prudence, no less than his integrity, in entirely rejecting it.
The chancellor, from the same principles of conduct, hastened to disband the army. When the king reviewed these veteran troops, he was
430 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 16(50.
struck with their beauty, order, discipline, and martial appearance ; and being sensible, that re- gular forces are most necessary implements of royalty, he expressed a desire of finding expedients still to retain them. But his wise minister set before him the dangerous spirit by which these troops were actuated, their enthusiastic genius, their habits of rebellion and mutiny ; and he con- vinced the king, that, till they were disbanded, he never could esteem himself securely establish- ed on his throne. No more troops were retained than a few guards and garrisons, about 1000 horse, and 4000 foot. This was the first appearance, under the monarchy, of a regular standing army in this island. Lord Mordaunt said, that the king, being possessed of that force, might now look upon himself as the most considerable gentle- man in England8. The fortifications of Glocester, Taunton, and other towns, which had made re- sistance to the king during the civil wars, were demolished.
Clarendon not only behaved with wisdom and justice in the office of chancellor : all the counsels, which he gave the king, tended equally to pro- mote the interest of prince and people. Charles, accustomed in his exile to pay entire deference
' King James's Memoirs. This prince says, that Venner's in- surrection furnished a reason or pretence for keeping up the guards, which were intended at first to have been disbanded with the rest of the army.
1660. CHARLES II. 431
to the judgment of this faithful servant, continued still to submit to his direction ; and for some time no minister was ever possessed of more absolute authority. He moderated the forward zeal of the royalists, and tempered their appetite for revenge. With the opposite party, he endeavoured to pre- serve inviolate all the king's engagements : he kept an exact register of the promises which had been made for any service, and he employed all his industry to fulfil them. This good minister was now nearly allied to the royal family. His daughter, Ann Hyde, a woman of spirit and fine accomplishments, had hearkened, while abroad, to the addresses of the duke of York, and, under promise of marriage, had secretly admitted him to her bed. Her pregnancy appeared soon after the restoration; and though many endeavoured to dissuade the king from consenting to so unequal an alliance, Charles, in pity to his friend and mi- nister, who had been ignorant of these engage- ments, permitted his brother to marry her*. Cla- rendon expressed great uneasiness at the honour which he had obtained : and said, that, by being elevated so much above his rank, he thence dreaded a more sudden downfal.
PRELACY RESTORED.
Most circumstances of Clarendon's administra- tion have met with applause : his maxims alone
King James's Memoirs,
432 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
in the conduct of ecclesiastical politics have by- many been deemed the effect of prejudices narrow and bigoted. Had the jealousy of royal power prevailed so far with the convention parliament, as to make them restore the king with strict limi- tations, there is no question but the establishment of presbyterian discipline had been one of the con- ditions most rigidly insisted on. Not only that form of ecclesiastical government is more favour- able to liberty than to royal power : it was like- wise, on its own account, agreeable to the majo- rity of the house of commons, and suited their religious principles. But as the impatience of the people, the danger of delay, the general disgust towards faction, and the authority of Monk, had prevailed over that jealous project of limitations, the full settlement of the hierarchy, together with the monarchy, was a necessary and infallible consequence. All the royalists were zealous for that mode of religion ; the merits of the episcopal clergy towards the king, as well as their sufferings on that account, had been great ; the laws which established bishops and the liturgy were as yet un- repealed by legal authority ; and any attempt of the parliament, by new acts, to give the superi- ority to presbyterian ism, had been sufficient to involve the nation again in bloocL, and confu- sion. Moved by these views, the commons had wisely postponed the examination of all religious controversy, and had left the settlement of the church to the king and to the ancient laws.
1660. CHARLES II. 433
The king at first used great moderation in the execution of the laws. Nine bishops still remained alive; and these were immediately restored to their sees : all the ejected clergy recovered their livings : the liturgy, a form of worship decent, and not without beauty, Avas again admitted into the churches : but, at the same time, a declara- tion was issued, in order to give contentment to the presbyterians, and preserve an air of mode- ration and neutrality". In this declaration, the king promised that he would provide suffragan bishops for the larger dioceses ; that the prelates should, all of them, be regular and constant preachers ; that they should not confer ordina- tion, or exercise any jurisdiction, without the ad- vice and assistance of presbyters, chosen by the diocese ; that such alterations should be made in the liturgy as would render it totally unexceptionable ; that, in the mean time, the use of that mode of worship should not be imposed on such as were unwilling to receive it ; and that the surplice, the cross in baptism, and bowing at the name of Jesus, should not be rigidly insisted on. This declaration was issued by the king as head of the church ; and he plainly assumed, in many parts of it, a legislative authority in ecclesiastical mat ters. But the English government, though more exactly defined by the late contests, was not as yet reduced, in every particular, to the strict limits
" Pari. Hist. vol. xxiii. p. 173.
vol. vm. i f
434 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1660.
of law. And if ever prerogative was justifiably employed, it seemed to be on the present occasion, when all parts of the state were torn with past convulsions, and required the moderating hand of the chief magistrate to reduce them to their ancient order.
. INSURRECTION OF THE MILLENARIANS,
But though these appearances of neutrality were maintained, and a mitigated episcopacy only seemed to be insisted on, it was far from the in- tention of the ministry always to preserve like regard to the presbyterians. The madness of the fifth-monarchy-men afforded them a pretence for departing from it. Venner, a desperate enthusiast, who had often conspired against Cromwel, having, by his zealous lectures, inflamed his own imagin- ation and that of his followers, issued forth at their head into the streets of London. They were, to the number of sixty, completely armed, believed themselves invulnerable and invincible, and firmly expected the same success which had attended Gideon and other heroes of the Old Testament. Every one at first fled before them. One unhappy man, who, being questioned, said, " He was for God and king Charles," was in- stantly murdered by them. They went triumph- antly from street to street, every where pro- claiming king Jesus, who, they said, was their
1060. CHARLES II. 435
invisible leader. At length the magistrates, having assembled some train-bands, made an at- tack upon them. They defended themselves with order, as well as valour; and, after killing many of the assailants, they made a regular retreat into Cane-Wood, nearHampstead. Next morning they were chased thence by a detachment of the guards ; but they ventured again to invade the city, which was not prepared to receive therm After corni mitting great disorder, and traversing almost every street of that immense capital, they retired into a house, which they were resolute to defend to the last extremity. Being surrounded, and the house untiled, they were fired upon from every side, and they still refused quarter. The people rushed in upon them, and seized the few who were alive. These were tried, condemned, and executed ; and to the last they persisted in affirming, that if they were deceived, it was the Lord that had deceived them.
Clarendon and the ministry took occasion, from this insurrection, to infer the dangerous spirit of the presbyterians, and of all the sectaries : hut the madness of the attempt sufficiently proved, that it had been undertaken by no concert, and never could have proved dangerous. The well* known hatred, too, which prevailed between the presbyterians and the other sects, should have removed the former from all suspicion of any concurrence in the enterprise. But as a pretence was wanted, besides their old demerits, for justi- 2
436 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l6<5l.
fying the intended rigours against all of them, this reason, however slight, was greedily laid hold of.
AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND.
Affairs in Scotland hastened with still quicker steps than those in England towards a settlement and a compliance with the king. It was de- liberated in the English council, whether that nation should be restored to its liberty, or whether the forts erected by Cromwel should not still be upheld, in order to curb the mutinous spirit by which the Scots in all ages had been so much governed. Lauderdale, who, from the battle of Worcester to the restoration, had been detained prisoner in the Tower, had considerable influence with the king ; and he strenuously opposed this violent measure. He represented, that it was the loyalty of the Scottish nation which had engaged them in an opposition to the English rebels ; and to take advantage of the calamities into which, on that account, they had fallen, would be re- garded as the highest injustice and ingratitude : that the spirit of that people was now fully sub- dued by the servitude under which the usurpers had so long held them, and would of itself yield to any reasonable compliance with their legal sovereign, if, by this means, they recovered their liberty and independence : that the attachment of
1661. CHARLES II. 437
the Scots towards their king, whom they re- garded as their native prince, was naturally much stronger than that of the English; and would afford him a sure resource, in case of any rebellion among the latter : that republican principles had long been, and still were, very prevalent with his southern subjects, and might again menace the throne with new tumults and resistance : that the time would probably come, when the king, instead of desiring to see English garrisons in Scotland, would be better pleased to have Scottish garrisons in England, who, supported by English pay, would be fond to curb the seditious genius of that opulent nation : and that a people, such as the Scots, governed by a few nobility, would more easily be reduced to submission under monarchy, than one like the English, who breathed nothing but the spirit of democratical equality.
These views induced the king to disband all the forces in Scotland, and to raze all the forts which had been erected. General Middleton, created earl of that name, was sent commissioner to the parliament, which was summoned. A very compliant spirit was there discovered in all orders of men. The commissioner had even sufficient influence to obtain an act, annulling, at once, all laws which had passed since the year 1633, on pretext of the violence which, during that time, had been employed against the king and his father, in order to procure their assent to these statutes. This was a very large, if not an unexampled, con-
438 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 16*61.
cession ; and, together with many dangerous limitations, overthrew some useful barriers which had been erected to the constitution. But the tide was now running strongly towards monarchy ; and the Scottish nation plainly discovered, that their past resistance had proceeded more from the turbulence of their aristocracy, and the bigotry of their ecclesiastics, than from any fixed passion towards civil liberty. The lords of arti- cles were restored, with some other branches of prerogative; and royal authority, fortified with more plausible claims and pretences, was, in its full extent, re-established in that kingdom.
The prelacy likewise, by the abrogating of every statute enacted in favour of presbytery, was thereby tacitly restored ; and the king deliberated what use he should make of this concession. Lauderdale, who at bottom was a passionate zealot against episcopacy, endeavoured to per- suade him, that the Scots, if gratified in this fa- vourite point of ecclesiastical government, would, in every other demand, be entirely compliant with the king. Charles, though he had no such at- tachment to prelacy as had influenced his father and grandfather, had suffered such indignities from the Scottish presbyterians, that he ever after bore them a hearty aversion. He said to Lau- derdale, that presbyterianism, he thought, was not a religion for a gentleman ; and he could not consent to its farther continuance in Scotland. Middleton too and his other ministers persuaded
1661. CHARLES II. 439
him, that the nation in general was so disgusted with the violence and tyranny of the ecclesiastics, that any alteration of church government would be universally grateful. And Clarendon, as well as Ormond, dreading that the presbyterian sect, if legally established in Scotland, would acquire authority in England and Ireland, seconded the application of these ministers. The resolution was therefore taken to restore prelacy; a measure afterwards attended with many and great incon- veniencies : but whether in this resolution Charles chose not the lesser evil, it is very difficult to determine. Sharp, who had been commissioned by the presbyterians in Scotland to manage their interests with the king, was persuaded to abandon that party ; and, as a reward for his compliance, was created archbishop of St. Andrews. The conduct of ecclesiastical affairs was chiefly en- trusted to him ; and as he was esteemed a traitor and a renegade by his old friends, he became on that account, as well as from the violence of his conduct, extremely obnoxious to them.
Charles had not promised to Scotland any such indemnity as he had ensured to England by the declaration of Breda: and it was deemed more political for him to hold over men's heads, for some time, the terror of punishment, till they should have made the requisite compliances with the new government. Though neither the king's temper nor plan of administration led him to severity, some examples, after such a bloody and
440 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1661.
triumphant rebellion, seemed necessary ; and the marquis of Argyle, and one Guthry, were pitched on as the victims. Two acts of indemnity, one passed by the late king in 1641, another by the present in J 651, formed, it was thought, in- vincible obstacles to the punishment of Argyle ; and barred all inquiry into that part of his conduct which might justly be regarded as the most ex- ceptionable. Nothing remained but to try him for his compliance with the usurpation ; a crime common to him with the whole nation, and such a one as the most loyal and affectionate subject might frequently by violence be obliged to com- mit. To make this compliance appear the more voluntary and hearty, there were produced in court, letters which he had written to Albemarle, while that general commanded in Scotland, and which contained expressions of the most cordial attachment to the established government. But besides the general indignation excited by Al- bemarle's discover}^ of this private correspondence, men thought, that even the highest demon- strations of affection might, during jealous times, be exacted as a necessary mark of compliance from a person of such distinction as Argyle, and could not, by any equitable construction, imply the crime of treason. The parliament, however, scrupled not to pass sentence upon him ; and he died with great constancy and courage. As he was uni- versally known to have been the chief instrument of the past disorders and civil wars, the irregu-
166U CHARLES II. 441
larity of his sentence, and several iniquitous circumstances in the method of conducting his trial, seemed, on that account, to admit of some apology. Lord Lome, son of Argyle, having ever preserved his loyalty, obtained a gift of the forfeiture. Guthry was a seditious preacher, and had personally affronted the king : his punishment gave surprise to nobody. Sir Archibald Johnstone of Warriston was attainted and fled ; but was seized in France about two years after, brought over, and executed. He had been very active during all the late disorders, and was even su- spected of a secret correspondence with the English regicides.
Besides these instances of compliance in the Scottish parliament, they voted an additional reve- nue to the king of 40,000 pounds a-year, to be levied by way of excise. A small force was pur- posed to be maintained by this revenue, in order to prevent like confusions with those to which the kingdom had been hitherto exposed. An act was also passed, declaring the covenant unlawful, and its obligation void and null.
CONFERENCE AT THE SAVOY. March 25.
In England, the civil distinctions seemed to be abolished by the lenity and equality of Charles's administration. Cavalier and Round-head were heard of no more : all men seemed to concur in
442 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l66l.
submitting to the king's lawful prerogatives, and in cherishing the just privileges of the people and of parliament. Theological controversy alone still subsisted, and kept alive some sparks of that flame which had thrown the nation into com- bustion. While catholics, independents, and other sectaries, were content with entertaining some prospect of toleration ; prelacy and presbytery struggled for the superiority, and the hopes and fears of both parties kept them in agitation. A conference was held in the Savoy between twelve bishops and twelve leaders among the presby- terian ministers, with an intention, at least on pretence, of bringing about an accommodation between the parties. The surplice, the cross in baptism, the kneeling at the sacrament, the bow- ing at the name of Jesus, were anew canvassed ; and the ignorant multitude were in hopes that so many men of gravity and learning could not fail, after deliberate argumentation, to agree in all points of controversy : they were surprised to see them separate more inflamed than ever, and more confirmed in their several prejudices. To enter into particulars would be superfluous. Disputes concerning religious forms are, in themselves, the most frivolous of any ; and merit attention only so far as they have influence on the peace and order of civil society.
1061. CHARLES II. 443
ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST A COM- PREHENSION,
The king's declaration had promised, that some endeavours should be used to effect a comprehen- sion of both parties ; and Charles's own indifference M'ith regard to all such questions seemed a fa- vourable circumstance for the execution of that project. The partisans of a comprehension said, that the presbyterians, as well as the prelatists, having felt by experience the fatal effects of ob- stinacy and violence, were now well disposed towards an amicable agreement : that the bishops by relinquishing some part of their authority, and dispensing with the most exceptionable cere- monies, would so gratify their adversaries as to obtain their corral and affectionate compliance, and unite the whole nation in one faith and one worship : that by obstinately insisting on forms, in themselves insignificant, an air of importance was bestowed on them, and men were taught to continue equally obstinate in rejecting them : that the presbyterian clergy would go every rea- sonable length, rather than, by parting with their livings, expose themselves to a state of beggary, at best of dependence : and that if their pride were flattered by some seeming alterations, and a pretence given them for affirming that they had not abandoned their former principles, nothing
444 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1661.
farther was wanting to produce a thorough union between those two parties, which comprehended the bulk of the nation.
It was alleged on the other hand, that the difference between religious sects was founded, not on principle, but on passion ; and till the ir- regular affections of men could be corrected, it was in vain to expect, by compliances, to obtain a perfect unanimity and comprehension : that the more insignificant the objects of dispute ap- peared, with the more certainty might it be in- ferred, that the real ground of dissension was different from that which was universally pre- tended : that the love of novelty, the pride of argumentation, the pleasure of making proselytes, and the obstinacy of contradiction, would for ever give rise to sects and disputes ; nor was it possible that such a source of dissension could ever, by any concessions, be entirely exhausted : that the church, by departing from ancient prac- tices and principles, would tacitly acknowledge herself guilty of error, and lose that reverence, so requisite for preserving the attachment of the multitude ; and that if the present concessions (which was more than probable) should prove ineffectual, greater must still be made ; and in the issue, discipline would be despoiled of all its authority, and worship of all its decency, without obtaining that end which had been so fondly sought for by these dangerous indulgences.
The ministry were inclined to give the prefer-
l<56l. CHARLES II. 445
ence to the latter arguments ; and were the more confirmed in that intention by the disposition, which appeared in the parliament lately assembled. The royalists and zealous churchmen were at pre- sent the popular party in the nation, and, second- ed by the efforts of the court, had prevailed in most elections. Not more than fifty-six mem- bers of the presbyterian party had obtained seats in the lower house w; and these were not able either to oppose or retard the measures of the majority. Monarchy, therefore, and episcopacy, were now exalted to as great power and splendour as they had lately suffered misery and depression. Sir Edward Turner was chosen speaker.
An act was passed for the security of the king's person and government. To intend or devise the king's imprisonment, or bodily harm, or deposition, or levying war against him, was declared, during the lifetime of his present ma- jesty, to be high treason. To affirm him to be a papist or heretic, or to endeavour by speech or writing to alienate his subjects' affections from him ; these offences were made sufficient to in- capacitate the person guilty from holding any emploj'ment in church or state. To maintain that the long parliament is not dissolved, or that either or both houses, without the king, are possessed of legislative authority, or that the covenant is
w Carte's Answer to the Bystander, p. 79.
446 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. \66u
binding, was made punishable by the penalty of premunire.
The covenant itself, together with the act for erecting the high court of justice, that for sub- scribing the engagement, and that for declaring England a commonwealth, were ordered to be burnt by the hands of the hangman. The people assisted with great alacrity on this occasion.
The abuses of petitioning in the preceding reign had been attended with the worst con- sequences ; and to prevent such irregular prac- tices for the future, it was enacted, that no more than twenty hands should be fixed to any petition, unless with the sanction of three justices, or the major part of the grand jury ; and that no petition should be presented to the king or either house by above ten persons. The penalty annexed to a transgression of this law was a fine of a hundred pounds and three months imprisonment.
BISHOPS' SEATS RESTORED.
The bishops, though restored to their spiritual authority, were still excluded from parliament by the law which the late king had passed imme- diately before the commencement of the civil disorders. Great violence, both against the king and the house of peers, had been employed in passing this law ; and on that account alone, the
1661. CHARLES II. 447
partisans of the church were provided with a plausible pretence for repealing it. Charles ex- pressed much satisfaction, when he gave his assent to the act for that purpose. It is certain, that the authority of the crown, as well as that of the church, was interested in restoring the prelates to their former dignity. But those, who deemed every acquisition of the prince a detriment to the people, were apt to complain of this instance of complaisance in the parliament.
After an adjournment of some months, the parliament was again assembled, and proceeded in the same spirit as before. They discovered no design of restoring, in its full extent, the ancient prerogative of the crown : they were only anxious to repair all those breaches, which had been made, not by the love of liberty, but by the fury of faction and civil war. The power of the sword had, in all ages, been allowed to be vested in the crown ; and though no law conferred this pre- rogative, every parliament, till the last of the preceding reign, had willingly submitted to an authority more ancient, and therefore more sacred, than that of any positive statute. It was now thought proper solemnly to relinquish the violent pretensions of that parliament, and to acknow- ledge, that neither one house, nor both houses, independent of the king, were possessed of any military authority. The preamble to this statute went so far as to renounce all right even of de- fensive arms against the king ; and much observ-
448 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1661.
ation has been made with regard to a concession esteemed so singular. Were these terms taken in their full literal sense, they imply a total re- nunciation of limitations to monarchy, and of all privileges in the subject, independent of the will of the sovereign. For as no rights can subsist without some remedy, still less rights exposed to so much invasion from tyranny, or even from ambition ; if subjects must never resist, it follows, that every prince, without any effort, policy, or violence, is at once rendered absolute and un- controllable : the sovereign needs only issue an edict, abolishing every authority but his own ; and all liberty, from that moment, is in effect annihilated. But this meaning it were absurd to impute to the present parliament, who, though zealous royalists, showed in their measures, that they had not cast off all regard to national pri- vileges. They were probably sensible, that to suppose in the sovereign any such invasion of public liberty is entirely unconstitutional ; and that therefore expressly to reserve, upon that event, any right of resistance in the subject, must be liable to the same objection. They had seen that the long parliament, under colour of defence, had begun a violent attack upon kingly power; and, after involving the kingdom in blood, had finally lost that liberty for which they had so im- prudently contended. They thought, perhaps er- roneously, that it was no longer possible, after such public and such exorbitant pretensions, to
1661. CHARLES II. 44Q
persevere in that prudent silence hitherto main- tained by the laws ; and that it was necessary, by some positive declaration, to bar the return of like inconveniencies. When they excluded, therefore, the right of defence, they supposed, that the constitution remaining firm upon its basis, there never really could be an attack made by the sovereign. If such an attack was at any time made, the necessity was then extreme : and the case of extreme and violent necessity, no laws, they thought, could comprehend ; because to such a necessity no laws could beforehand point out a proper remedy.
CORPORATION ACT*
The other measures of this parliament still dis- covered a more anxious care to guard against rebellion in the subject than encroachments in the crown: the recent evils of civil war and usurp- ation had naturally increased the spirit of sub- mission to the monarch, and had thrown the nation into that dangerous extreme. During the violent and jealous government of the parliament and of the protectors, all magistrates, liable to suspicion, had been expelled the corporations ; and none had been admitted, who gave not proofs of affection to the ruling powers, or who refused to subscribe the covenant. To leave all authority in such hands seemed dangerous ; and the par-
VOL. VIII. G G
450 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1662.
liament, therefore, empowered the king to appoint commissioners for regulating the corporations, and expelling such magistrates as either intruded themselves by violence, or professed principles dangerous to the constitution, civil and eccle- siastical. It was also enacted, that all magistrates should disclaim the obligation of the covenant, and should declare, both their belief, that it was not lawful, upon any pretence whatsoever, to resist the king, and their abhorrence of the trai- terous position of taking arms by .the king's au- thority against his person, or against those who were commissioned by him.
ACT OF UNIFORMITY. 1662.
The care of the church was no less attended to by this parliament, than that of monarchy ; and the bill of uniformity was a pledge of their sincere attachment to the episcopal hierarchy, and of their antipathy to presbyterianism. Different parties, however, concurred in promoting this bill, which contained many severe clauses. The inde- pendents and other sectaries, enraged to find all their schemes subverted by the presbyterians, who had once been their associates, exerted them- selves to disappoint that party of the favour and indulgence, to which, from their recent merits in promoting the restoration, they thought them- selves justly entitled. By the presbyterians, said
1652. CHARLES II. 451
they, the war was raised : by them was the populace first incited to tumults: by their zeal, interest, and riches, were the armies support- ed : by their force was the king subdued : and if, in the sequel, they protested against those extreme violences, committed on his person by the military leaders, their opposition came too late, after having supplied these usurpers with the power and the pretences, by which they main- tained their sanguinary measures. They had indeed concurred with the royalists in recalling the king : but ought they to be esteemed, on that account, more affectionate to the royal cause ? Rage and animosity, from disappointed ambition, were plainly their sole motives ; and if the king should now be so imprudent as to distinguish them by any particular indulgences, he would soon experience from them the same hatred and opposition which had proved so fatal to his father.
The catholics, though they had little interest in the nation, were a considerable party at court; and from their services and sufferings during the civil Avars, it seemed but just to bear them some favour and regard. These religionists dreaded an entire union among the protestants. Were they the sole nonconformists in the nation, the severe execution of penal laws upon their sect seemed an infallible consequence j and they used, therefore, all their interest to push matters to 2
452 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1662.
extremity against the presbyterians, who had formerly been their most severe oppressors, and whom they now expected for their companions in affliction. The earl of Bristol, who, from con- viction, or interest, or levity, or complaisance for the company with whom he lived, had changed his religion during the king's exile, was regarded as the head of this party.
The church party had, during so many years, suffered such injuries and indignities from the sectaries of every denomination, that no modera- tion, much less deference, was on this occasion to be expected in the ecclesiastics. Even the laity of that communion seemed now disposed to re- taliate upon their enemies, according to the usual measures of party justice. This sect or faction (for it partook of both) encouraged the rumours of plots and conspiracies against the government; crimes which, without any apparent reason, they imputed to their adversaries. And instead of enlarging the terms of communion, in order to comprehend the presbyterians, they gladly laid hold of the prejudices, which prevailed among that sect, in order to eject them from their livings. By the bill of uniformity it was required that every clergyman should be re-ordained, if he had not before received episcopal ordination ; should declare his assent to every thing con- tained in the Book of Common Prayer ; should take the oath of canonical obedience; should
1662. CHARLES II. 453
abjure the solemn league and covenant; and should renounce the principle of taking arms, on any pretence whatsoever, against the king.
This bill reinstated the church in the same condition in which it stood before the commence- ment of the civil wars ; and as the old persecuting laws of Elizabeth still subsisted in their full rigour, and new clauses of a like nature were now enact- ed, all the king's promises of toleration and of indulgence to tender consciences were thereby eluded and broken. It is true, Charles, in his declaration from Breda, had expressed his in- tention of regulating that indulgence by the advice and authority of parliament : but this limit- ation could never reasonably be extended to a total infringement and violation of his engage- ments. However, it is agreed, that the king did not voluntarily concur with this violent measure, and that the zeal of Clarendon and of the church party among the commons, seconded by the in- trigues of the catholics, was the chief cause which extorted his consent.
The royalists, who now predominated, were very ready to signalize their victory, by establish- ing those high principles of monarchy which their antagonists had controverted : but when any real power or revenue was demanded for the crown, they were neither so forward nor so liberal in their concessions as the king would gladly have wished. Though the parliament passed laws for regulating the navy, they took no notice of the army;
454 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1662.
and declined giving their sanction to this dan- gerous innovation. The king's debts were become intolerable ; and the commons were at last con- strained to vote him an extraordinary supply of 1,200,000 pounds, to be levied by eighteen monthly assessments. But besides that this supply was much inferior to the occasion, the king was obliged earnestly to solicit the commons, before he could obtain it ; and, in order to convince the house of its absolute necessity, he desired them to examine strictly into all his receipts and dis- bursements. Finding likewise upon inquiry, that the several branches of revenue fell much short of the sums expected, they at last, after much delay, voted a new imposition of two shillings on each hearth ; and this tax they settled on the king during life. The whole established revenue, how- ever, did not, for many years, exceed a million*; a sum confessedly too narrow for the public ex- pences. A very rigid frugality at least, which the king seems to have wanted, would have been requisite to make it suffice for the dignity and security of government. After all business was dispatched, the parliament was prorogued,
KING'S MARRIAGE. Before the parliament rose, the court was em-
x D'Estrades, 25th of July, l66l. Mr. Ralph's History, vol. i. p. 176. •
1662. CHARLES II. 455
ployed in making preparations for the reception of the new queen, Catharine of Portugal, to whom the king was betrothed, and who had just landed at Portsmouth. During the time that the protector carried on the war with Spain, he was naturally led to support the Portuguese in their revolt; and he engaged himself by treaty to supply them with 10,000 men for their defence against the Spaniards. On the king's restoration, advances were made by Portugal for the renewal of the al- liance ; and in order to bind the friendship closer, an offer was made of the Portuguese princess, and a portion of 500,000 pounds, together with two fortresses, Tangiers in Africa, and Bombay in the East Indies. Spain, who, after the peace of the Pyrenees, bent all her force to recover Portugal, now in appearance abandoned by France, took the alarm, and endeavoured to fix Charles in an opposite interest, The catholic king offered to adopt any other princess as a daughter of Spain, either the princess of Parma, or what he thought more popular, some protestant princess, the daugh- ter of Denmark, Saxony, or Orange : and on any of these, he promised to confer a dowry equal to that which was offered by Portugal. But many reasons inclined Charles rather to accept of the Portuguese proposals. The great disorders in the government and finances of Spain made the exe- cution of her promises be much doubted ; and the king's urgent necessities demanded some im- mediate supply of money. The interest of the
450 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1G62.
English commerce likewise seemed to require that the independency of Portugal should be sup- ported, lest the union of that crown with Spain should put the whole treasures of America into the hands of one potentate. The claims too of Spain upon Dunkirk and Jamaica, rendered it impossible, without farther concessions, to obtain the cordial friendship of that power : and on the other hand, the offer, made by Portugal, of two such considerable fortresses, promised a great accession to the naval force of England. Above all, the proposal of a protestant princess was no allurement to Charles, whose inclinations led him strongly to give the preference to a catholic al- liance. According to the most probable accounts ?, the resolution of marrying the daughter of Por- tugal was taken by the king, unknown to all his ministers ; and no remonstrances could prevail with him to alter his intentions. When the matter was laid before the council, all voices con- curred in approving the resolution ; and the par- liament expressed the same complaisance. And
7 Carte's Ormond, vol. ii. p. 254. This account seems better supported, than that in Ablancourt's Memoirs, that the chan- cellor chiefly pushed the Portuguese alliance. The secret trans- actions of the court of England could not be supposed to be much known to a French resident at Lisbon : and whatever opposition the chancellor might make, he would certainly endeavour to conceal it from the queen and all her family, and even in the par- liament and council would support the resolution already taken. Clarendon himself says in his Memoirs, that he never either opposed er promoted the Portuguese mutch.
1(3(52. CHARLES II. 457
thus was concluded, seemingly with universal consent, the inauspicious marriage with Catherine, a princess of virtue, but who was neve able, either by the graces of her person or humour, to make herself agreeable to the king. The report, however, of her natural incapacity to have child- ren, seems to have been groundless ; since she was twice declared to be pregnant z.
The festivity of these espousals was clouded by the trial and execution of criminals. Berkstead, Cobbet, and Okey, three regicides, had escaped beyond sea ; and after wandering some time con- cealed in Germany, came privately to Delft, hav- ing appointed their families to meet them in that place. They were discovered by Downing, the king's resident in Holland, who had formerly served the protector and commonwealth in the same station, and who once had even been chaplain to Okey's regiment. He applied for a warrant to arrest them. It had been usual for the States to grant these warrants ; though, at the same time, they had ever been careful secretly to advertise the persons, that they might be enabled to make their escape. This precaution was eluded by the vigilance and dispatch of Downing. He quickly seized the criminals, hurried them on board a fri- gate which lay off the coast, and sent them to England. These three men behaved with more moderation and submission, than any of the other
* Lord Lansdowne's defence of General Monk. Temple, vol. ii. p. 154.
458 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1662.
regicides who had suffered. Okey in particular, at the place of execution, prayed for the king, and expressed his intention, had he lived, of submitting peaceably to the established govern- ment. He had risen during the wars from being a chandler in London to a high rank in the army ; and in all his conduct appeared to be a man of humanity and honour. In consideration of his good character and of his dutiful behaviour, his body was given to his friends to be buried,
TRIAL OF VANE.
The attention of the public was much engaged by the trial of two distinguished criminals, Lam- bert and Vane. These men, though none of the late king's judges, had been excepted from the general indemnity, and committed to prison. The convention-parliament, however, was so fa- vourable to them, as to petition the king, if they should be found guilty, to suspend their execu- tion : but this new parliament, more zealous for monarchy, applied for their trial and condemna- tion. Not to revive disputes, which were better buried in oblivion, the indictment of Vane did not comprehend any of his actions during the war between the king and parliament : it extend- ed only to his behaviour after the late -king's death, as member of the council of state, and secretary of the navy, where fidelity to the trust
1652. CHARLES II. 45$
reposed in him required his opposition to mon- archy.
Vane wanted neither courage nor capacity to avail himself of this advantage. He urged, that, if a compliance with the government, at that time established in England, and the acknowledg- ing of its authority, were to be regarded as cri- minal, the whole nation had incurred equal guilt, and none would remain, whose innocence could entitle them to try or condemn him for his pre- tended treasons : that according to these maxims, wherever ' an illegal authority was established by force, a total and universal destruction must ensue ; while the usurpers proscribed one part of the nation for disobedience, the lawful prince punished the other for compliance : that the legislature of England, foreseeing this violent situation, had provided for public security by the famous statute of Henry VII. ; in which it was enacted, that no man, in case of any revolution, should ever be questioned for his obedience to the king in being : that whether the established go- vernment were a monarchy or a commonwealth, the reason of the thing was still the same ; nor ought the expelled prince to think himself intitled to allegiance, so long as he could not afford pro- tection : that it belonged not to private persons, possessed of no power, to discuss the title of their governors ; and every usurpation, even the most flagrant, would equally require obedience with the most legal establishment : that the contro- versy between the late king and his parliament was
460 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1(562.
of the most delicate nature ; and men of the greatest probity had been divided in their choice of the party which they should embrace : that the parliament, being rendered indissoluble but by its own consent, was become a kind of co- ordinate power with the king ; and as the case was thus entirely new and unknown to the con- stitution, it ought not to be tried rigidly by the letter of the ancient laws : that for his part, all the violences, which had been put upon the par- liament, and upon the person of the sovereign he had ever condemned ; nor had he once appear- ed in the house for some time before and after the execution of the king: that finding the whole government thrown into disorder, he was still re- solved, in every revolution, to adhere to the com- mons, the root, the foundation of all lawful au- thority : that in prosecution of this principle* he had cheerfully undergone all the violence of Cromwers tyranny ; and would now, with equal alacrity, expose himself to the rigours of pervert- ed law and justice : that though it was in his power, on the king's restoration, to have escaped from his enemies, he was determined, in imitation of the most illustrious names of antiquity, to perish in defence of liberty, and to give testimony with his blood for that honourable cause, in which he had been inlisted : and that, besides the ties, by which God and nature had bound him to his native country, he was voluntarily engaged by the most sacred covenant, whose obligation no earthly power should ever be able to make him relinquish.
1662. CHARLES II. 46l
EXECUTION OF VANE. June 14.
All the defence, which Vane could make, was fruitless. The court, considering more the ge- neral opinion of his active guilt in the beginning and prosecution of the civil wars, than the articles of treason charged against him, took advantage of the letter of the law, and brought him in guilty. His courage deserted him not upon his condemna- tion. Though timid by nature, the persuasion of a just cause supported him against the terrors of death ; v/hile his enthusiasm, excited by the prospect of glory, embellished the conclusion of a life, which, through the whole course of it, had been so much disfigured by the prevalence of that principle. Lest pity for a courageous sufferer should make impression on the populace, drum- mers were placed under the scaffold, whose noise, as he began to launch out in reflections on the government, drowned his voice, and admonished him to temper the ardour of his zeal. He was not astonished at this unexpected incident. In all his behaviour, there appeared a firm and animated intrepidity ; and he considered death but as a passage to that eternal felicity, which he believed to be prepared for him.
This man, so celebrated for his parliamentary talents, and for his capacity in business, has left some writings behind him: they treat, all of them,
462 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1662.
of religious subjects, and are absolutely unintelli- gible: no traces of eloquence, or even of common sense, appear in them. A strange paradox ! did we not know, that men of the greatest genius, where they relinquish by principle the use of their reason, are only enabled, by their vigour of mind, to work themselves the deeper into error and absurdity. It was remarkable, that, as Vane, by being the chief instrument of Strafford's death, had first opened the way for that destruction which overwhelmed the nation ; so by his death he closed the scene of blood. He was the last that suffered on account of the civil wars. Lam- bert, though condemned, was reprieved at the bar ; and the judges declared, that, if Vane's behaviour had been equally dutiful and submissive, he would have experienced like lenity in the king. Lambert survived his condemnation near thirty years. He was confined to the isle of Guernsey ; where he lived contented, forgetting all his past schemes of greatness, and entirely forgotten by the nation : he died a Roman catholic.
PRESBYTERIAN CLERGY EJECTED. August 24.
However odious Vane and Lambert were to the presbyterians, that party had no leisure to rejoice at their condemnation. The fatal St. Bartholo- mew approached ; the day, when the clergy were obliged by the late law, either to relinquish their
1662. CHARLES II. 4&3
livings, or to sign the articles required of them. A combination had been entered into by the most zealous of the presbyterian ecclesiastics to refuse the subscription ; in hopes that the bishops would not venture at once to expel so great a number of the most popular preachers. The catholic party at court, who desired a great rent among the protestants, encouraged them in this obstinacy, and gave them hopes that the king would protect them in their refusal. The king himself, by his irresolute conduct, contributed, either from de- sign or accident, to increase this opinion. Above all, the terms of subscription had been made strict and rigid, on purpose to disgust all the zealous and scrupulous among the presbyterians, and deprive them of their livings. About 2000 of the clerg}', in one day, relinquished their cures ; and to the astonishment of the court, sacrificed their interest to their religious tenets. Fortified by society in their sufferings, they were resolved to undergo any hardships, rather than openly re- nounce those principles, which, on other occa- sions, they were so apt, from interest, to warp or elude. The church enjoyed the pleasure of re- taliation ; and even pushed, as usual, the venge- ance farther than the offence. During the do- minion of the parliamentary party, a fifth of each living had been left to the ejected clergymen ; but this indulgence, though at first insisted on by the house of peers, was now refused to the presby-
464 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 166'i.
terians. However difficult to conciliate peace among theologians, it was hoped by many, that some relaxation in the terms of communion might have kept the presbyterians united to the church, and have cured those ecclesiastical factions which had been so fatal, and were still so dangerous. Bishopricks were offered to Calamy, Baxter, and Reynolds, leaders among the presbyterians ; the last only could be prevailed on to accept. Dean- eries and other preferments were refused by many.
DUNKIRK SOLD TO THE FRENCH.
The next measure of the king has not had the good fortune to be justified by any party ; but is often considered, on what grounds I shall not determine, as one of the greatest mistakes, if not blemishes, of his reign. It is the sale of Dunkirk to the French. The parsimonious maxims of the parliament, and the liberal, or rather careless disposition of Charles, were ill suited to each other ; and notwithstanding the supplies voted him, his treasury was still very empty and very much indebted. He had secretly received the sum of 200,000 crowns from France for the support of Portugal ; but the forces sent over to that country, and the fleets maintained in order to de- fend it, had already cost the king that sum ; and together with it, near double the money
1662. CHARLES II. 465
which had been payed as the queen's portion \ The time fixed for payment of his sister's portion to the duke of Orleans was approaching. Tan- giers, a fortress from which great benefit was ex- pected, was become an additional burden to the crown ; and Rutherford, who now commanded in Dunkirk, had increased the charge of that garri- son to a hundred and twenty thousand pounds a- year. These considerations had such influence, not only on the king, but even on Clarendon, that this uncorrupt minister was the most forward to advise accepting a sum of money in lieu of a place which he thought the king, from the narrow state of his revenue, was no longer able to retain. By the treaty with Portugal it was stipulated that Dunkirk should never be yielded to the Spaniards : France was therefore the only purchaser that re- mained. D'Estrades was invited over by a letter from the chancellor himself in order to conclude the bargain. Nine hundred thousand pounds were demanded. One hundred thousand were offered. The English by degrees lowered their demand : the French raised their offer : and the bargain was concluded at 400,000 pounds. The artillery and stores were valued at a fifth of the sumb. The importance of this sale was not, at that time, sufficiently known, either abroad or at
a D'Estrades, 17th of August 1662. There was above half of 500,000 pounds really paid as the queen's portion. . b D'Estrades, 21st of August, 12th of September 1062. VOL. VIII. H H
466 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1662.
home0. The French monarch himself, so fond of acquisitions, and so good a judge of his own interests, thought that he had made a hard bargain d ; and this sum, in appearance so small, was the utmost which he would allow his am- bassador to offer.
DECLARATION OF INDULGENCE. December 26.
A new incident discovered such a glimpse of the king's character and principles, as, at first, the nation was somewhat at a loss how to interpret, but such as subsequent events, by degrees, rendered sufficiently plain and manifest. He issued a declaration on pretence of mitigating the
c It appears, however, from many of D'Estrades's letters, parti- cularly that of the 21st of August 1661, that the king might have tranferred Dunkirk to the parliament, who would not have refused to bear the charges of it, but were unwilling.togive money to the king for that purpose. The king, on the other hand, was jealous lest the parliament should acquire any separate dominion or au- thority in a branch of administration which seemed so little to belong to them : a proof that the government was not yet settled into that composure and mutual confidence which is absolutely requisite for conducting it.
d Id. 3d of October 1 662. The chief importance indeed of Dunkirk to the English was, that it was able to distress their trade, when in the hands of the French : but it was Lewis the XlVth who first made it a good sea-port. If ever England have occasion to transport armies to the continent, it must be in sup- port of some ally whose towns serve to the same purpose as Dun- kirk would, if in the hands of the English.
1662. CHARLES II. 467
rigours contained in the act of uniformity. After expressing his firm resolution to observe the ge- neral indemnity, and to trust entirely to the af- fections of his subjects, not to any military power, for the support of his throne, he men- tioned the promises of liberty of conscience, con- tained in his declaration of Breda. And he sub- joined, that, " as in the first place he had been " zealous to settle the uniformity of the church " of England, in discipline, ceremony, and go- " vernment, and shall ever constantly maintain " it : so as for what concerns the penalties uporl " those who, living peaceably, do not conform " themselves thereunto, through scruple and " tenderness of misguided conscience, but mo* " destly and without scandal perform their devo- " tions in their own way, he should make it his " special care, so far as in him lay, without invad- " ing the freedom of parliament, to incline their " wisdom next approaching sessions to concur " with him in making some such act for that pur- 11 pose, as may enable him to exercise, with a " more universal satisfaction, that power of dis- " pensing which he conceived to be inherent in " him6." Here, a most important prerogative was exercised by the king ; but under such art- ful reserves and limitations as might prevent the full discussion of the claim, and obviate a breach between him and his parliament. The foundation
e Rennet's Register, p 850.
468 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1662.
of this measure lay much deeper, and was of the utmost consequence.
The king, during his exile, had imbibed strong prejudices in favour of the catholic religion; and, according to the most probable accounts, had already been secretly reconciled in form to the church of Rome. The great zeal, expressed by the parliamentary party against all papists, had always, from a spirit of opposition, inclined the court, and all the royalists, to adopt more favourable sentiments towards that sect, which, through the whole course of the civil wars, had strenuously supported the rights of the sovereign. The rigour too, which the king, during his abode in Scotland, had experienced from the presby- terians, disposed him to run into the other extreme, and to bear a kindness to the party most opposite in its genius to the severity of those religionists. The solicitations and importunities of the queen mother, the contagion of the company which he frequented, the view of a more splendid and courtly mode of worship, the hopes of indulgence in pleasure ; all these causes operated powerfully on a young prince, whose careless and disso- lute temper made him incapable of adhering closely to the principles of his early education. But if the thoughtless humour of Charles rendered him an easy convert to popery, the same disposi- tion ever prevented the theological tenets of that sect from taking any fast hold of him. During his vigorous state of health, while his blood was warm
1662. CHARLES II. 46g
and his spirits high, a contempt and disregard to all religion held possession of his mind ; and he might more properly he denominated a deist than a catholic. But in those revolutions of temper, when the love of raillery gave place to reflection, and his penetrating, but negligent, understanding was clouded with fears and apprehension, he had starts of more sincere conviction; and a sect, which always possessed his inclination, was then master of his judgment and opinion f
But though the king thus fluctuated, during his whole reign, between irreligion, which he more openly professed, and popery, to which he retain- ed a secret propensity, his brother, the duke of York, had zealously adopted all the principles of that theological party. His eager temper and narrow understanding made him a thorough con- vert without any reserve from interest, or doubts from reasoning and inquiry. By this application to business he had acquired a great ascendant over the king, who, though possessed of more discern- ment, was glad to -throw the burden of affairs on the duke, of whom he entertained little jealousy. On pretence of easing the protestant dissenters, they agreed upon a plan for introducing a general toleration, and giving the catholics the free ex- ercise of their religion ; at least, the exercise of
f The author confesses that the king's zeal for popery was apt, at intervals, to go farther than is here supposed, as appears from many passages in James the second's Memoirs.
47Q HISTORY OF ENGLAND. X6Q3.
it in private houses. The two brothers saw with pleasure so numerous and popular a body of the clergy refuse conformity; and it was hoped that, under shelter of their name, the small and hated sect of the catholics might meet with favour and protection.
But while the king pleaded his early promises of toleration, and insisted on many other plausible topics, the parliament, who sat a little after the de- claration was issued, could by no means be satis- fied with this measure. The declared intention of easing the dissenters, and the secret purpose of favouring the catholics, were equally disagreeable to them ; and in these prepossessions they were encouraged by the king's ministers themselves, particularly the chancellor. The house of com- mons represented to the king, that his declaration of Breda contained no promise to the presbyter rians and other dissenters, but only an expression of his intentions, upon supposition of the con- currence of parliament : that even if the non- conformists had been entitled to plead a promise, they had intrusted this claim, as all their other rights and privileges, to the house of commons, who were their representatives, and who now freed the king from that obligation : that it was not to be supposed that his majesty and the houses were so bound by that declaration as to be incapacitated from making any laws which might be contrary to it : that even at the king's restoration, there were
1663. CHARLES II. 47!
laws of uniformity in force which could not be dispensed with but by act of parliament : and that the indulgence intended would prove most pernicious both to church and state, would open the door to schism, encourage faction, disturb the public peace, and discredit the wisdom of the legislature. The king did not think proper, after this remonstrance, to insist any farther at present on the project of indulgence.
In order to deprive the catholics of all hopes, the two houses concurred in a remonstrance against them. The king gave a gracious answer ; though he scrupled not to profess his gratitude towards many of that persuasion, on account of their faithful services in his father's cause and in his own. A proclamation, for form's sake, was soon after issued against Jesuits and Romish priests : but care was taken, by the very terms of it, to render it ineffectual. The parliament had allowed, that all foreign priests, belonging to the two queens, should be excepted, and that a per- mission for them to remain in England should still be granted. In the proclamation, the word foreign was purposely omitted ; and the queens were thereby authorised to give protection to as many English priests as they should think proper.
That the king might reap some advantage from his compliances, however fallacious, he engaged the commons anew into an examination of his re- venue, which, chiefly by the negligence in levy- ing it, had proved, he said, much inferior to the
472 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1663.
public charges. Notwithstanding the price of Dunkirk, his debts, he complained, amounted to a considerable sum ; and to satisfy the commons that the money formerly granted him had not been prodigally expended, he oifered to lay before them the whole account of his disbursements. It is, however, agreed on all hands, that the king, though during his banishment he had managed his small and precarious income with great order and oeconomy, had now much abated of these virtues, and was unable to make his royal revenues suffice for his expences. The commons, without entering into too nice a disquisition, voted him four subsidies; and this was the last time that taxes were levied in that manner.
Several laws were made this session with regard to trade. The militia also came under considera- tion, and some rules were established for ordering and arming it. It was enacted, that the king should have no power of keeping the militia under arms above fourteen days in the year. The situ- ation of this island, together with its great naval power, has always occasioned other means of se- curity, however requisite, to be much neglected amongst us : and the parliament showed here a very superfluous jealousy of the king's strictness in disciplining the militia. The principles of liberty rather require a contrary jealousy.
The earl of Bristol's friendship with Clarendon, which had subsisted with great intimacy during their exile and the distresses of the royal party,
16(53. CHARLES II. 4"3
had been considerably impaired since the restora- tion, by the chancellor's refusing his assent to some grants, which Bristol had applied for to a court lady: and a little after, the latter nobleman, agreeably to the impetuosity and indiscretion of his temper, broke out against the minister in the most outrageous manner. He even entered a charge of treason against him before the house of peers ; but had concerted his measures so impru- dently, that the judges, when consulted, declared, that, neither for its matter nor its form, could the charge be legally received. The articles indeed resemble more the incoherent altercations of a passionate enemy, than a serious accusation, fit to be discussed by a court of judicature ; and Bristol himself was so ashamed of his conduct and defeat, that he absconded during some time. Notwith- standing his fine talents, his eloquence, his spirit, ard his courage, he could never regain the cha- racter which he lost by this hasty and precipitate measure.
DECLINE OF CLARENDON'S CREDIT.
But though Clarendon was able to elude this rash assault, his credit at court was sensibly declining ; and in proportion as the king found himself estab- lished on the throne, he began to alienate himself from a minister, whose character was so little suited to his own. Charles's favour for the catho-
474 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l6<53.
lies was always opposed by Clarendon, public liberty was secured against all attempts of the over-zealous royalists, prodigal grants of the king were checked or refused, and the dignity of his own character was so much consulted by the chan- cellor, that he made it an inviolable rule, as did also his friend, Southampton, never to enter into any connexion with the royal mistresses The king's favourite was Mrs. Palmer, afterwards created duchess of Cleveland ; a woman prodigal, rapacious, dissolute, violent, revengeful. She failed not in her turn to undermine Clarendon's credit with his master ; and her success was at this time made apparent to the whole world. Secre- tary Nicholas, the chancellor's great friend, was removed from his place ; and sir Harry Bennet, his avowed enemy, was advanced to that office. Bennet was soon after created lord Arlington.
Though the king's conduct had hitherto, since his restoration, been, in the main, laudable, men of penetration began to observe, that those virtues by which he had at first so much dazzled and en- chanted the nation, had great show, but not equal solidity. His good understanding lost much of its influence by his want of application ; his bounty was more the result of a facility of disposition, than any generosity of character ; his social humour led him frequently to neglect his dignity ; his love of pleasure was not attended with proper sentiment and decency ; and while he seemed to bear a good-will to every one that approached
1663. CHARLES II. 4/5
him, he had a heart not very capahle of friendship, and he had secretly entertained a very bad opinion and distrust of mankind. But above all, what sullied his character, in the eyes of good judges, was his negligent ingratitude towards the unfortu- nate cavaliers, whose zeal and sufferings in the royal cause had known no bounds. This conduct, however, in the king, may, from the circum- stances of his situation and temper, admit of some excuse; at least of some alleviation. Ashe had been restored more by the efforts of his reconciled enemies than of his ancient friends, the former pretended a title to share his favour; and being, from practice, acquainted with public business, they were better qualified to execute any trust committed to them. The king's revenues were far from being large, or even equal to his neces- sary expences ; and his mistresses, and the com- panion of his mirth and pleasures, gained, by solicitation, every request from his easy temper. The very poverty, to which the more zealous roy- alists had reduced themselves, by rendering them insignificant, made them unfit to support the king's measures, and caused him to deem them a useless incumbrance. And as many false and ridiculous claims of merit were offered, his natural indolence, averse to a strict discussion or inquiry, led him to treat them all with equal indifference. The par- liament took some notice of the poor cavaliers. Sixty thousand pounds were at one time distri- buted among them : Mrs. Lane also, and the
476 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1663.
Penderells, had handsome presents and pensions from the king. But the greater part of the roy- alists still remained in poverty and distress ; aggra- vated by the cruel disappointment in their san- guine hopes, and by seeing favour and preferment bestowed upon their most inveterate foes. With regard to the act of indemnity and oblivion, they universally said, that it was an act of indemnity to the king's enemies, and of oblivion to his friends.
16&4 CHARLES II. 477
CHAPTER LXIV.
A new Session .... Rupture with Holland .... A new Session .... Victory of the English ... . Rupture with France ....
Rupture with Denmark New Session .... Sea-fight of
four Days .... Victory of the English .... Fire of London .... Advances towards Peace .... Disgrace at Chatham .... Peace of Breda .... Clarendon's Fall .... and Banishment .... State of France .... Character of Lewis XIV .... French In- vasion of the Low Countries .... Negotiations .... Triple League .... Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle .... Affairs of Scot- land .... and of Ireland.
A NEW SESSION. March 16.
I he next session of parliament discovered a continuance of the same principles which had prevailed in all the foregoing. Monarchy and the church were still the objects of regard and affection. During no period of the present reign did this spirit more evidently pass the bounds of reason and moderation.
The king, in his speech to the parliament, had ventured openly to demand a repeal of the trien- nial act ; and he even went so far as to declare that, notwithstanding the law, he never would
•1/8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1664.
allow any parliament to be assembled by the methods prescribed in that statute. The parlia- ment, without taking offence at this declaration, repealed the law ; and, in lieu of all the securities formerly provided, satisfied themselves with a general clause, " that parliaments should not be " interrupted above three years at the most." As the English parliament had now raised itself to be a regular check and control upon royal power, it is evident that they ought still to have preserved a regular security for their meeting, and not have trusted entirely to the good-will of the king, who, if ambitious or enterprising, had so little reason to be pleased with these as- semblies. Before the end of Charles's reign, the nation had occasion to feel very sensibly the effects of this repeal.
By the act of uniformity, every clergyman, who should officiate without being properly qua- lified, was punishable by fine and imprisonment : but this security was not thought sufficient for the church. It was now enacted, that wherever five persons above those of the same household should assemble in a religious congregation, every one of them was liable, for the first offence, to be imprisoned three months, or pay five pounds ; for the second, to be imprisoned six months, or pay ten pounds ; and for the third, to be transported seven years, or pay a hundred pounds. The par- liament had only in their eye the malignity of the sectaries : they should have carried their attention
1GG4. CHARLES II. 4/9
farther, to the chief cause of that malignity, the restraint under which they laboured.
The commons likewise passed a vote, that the wrongs, dishonours, and indignities, offered to the English by the subjects of the United Pro- vinces, were the greatest obstructions to all foreign trade ; and they promised to assist the king with their lives and fortunes in asserting the rights of his crown against all opposition what- soever. This was the first open step towards the Dutch war. We must explain the causes and motives of this measure.
RUPTURE WITH HOLLAND.
i That close union and confederacy, which, during a course of near seventy years, has subsisted, almost without interruption or jealousy, between England and Holland, is not so much founded on the natural unalterable interests of these states, as on their terror of the growing power of the French monarch, who, without their combination, it is apprehended, would soon extend his dominion over Europe. In the first years of Charles's reign, when the ambitious genius of Lewis had not, as yet, displayed itself, and when the great force of his people was, in some measure, unknown even to themselves, the rivalship of commerce, not checked by any other jealousy or apprehension,
y
V
4S0 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1664.
had in England begotten a violent enmity against the neighbouring republic.
Trade was beginning, among the English, to be a matter of general concern ; but notwith- standing all their efforts and advantages, their commerce seemed hitherto to stand upon a foot- ing, which was somewhat precarious/ The Dutch, who by industry and frugality were enabled to undersell them in every market, retained pos- session of the most lucrative branches of com- merce ; and the English merchants had the mor- tification to find that all attempts to extend their trade were still turned, by the vigilance of their rivals, to their loss and dishonour. Their in* dignation increased, when they considered the superior naval power of England ; the bravery of her officers and seamen, her favourable situation, which enabled her to intercept the whole Dutch commerce. By the prospect of these advantages they were strongly prompted, from motives less just than political, to make war upon the States ; and at once to ravish from them by force what they could not obtain, or could obtain but slowly, by superior skill and industry.
The careless unambitious temper of Charles rendered him little capable of forming so vast a project as that of engrossing the commerce and naval power of Europe ; yet could he not remain altogether insensible to such obvious and such tempting prospects. His genius, happily turned
\S
1664. CHARLES II, 481
towards mechanics, had inclined him to study naval affairs, which, of all branches of business, he both loved the most and understood the best. Though the Dutch, during his exile, had ex- pressed towards him more civility and friendship than he had received from any other foreign power ; the Louvestein or aristocratic faction, which at this time ruled the commonwealth, had fallen into close union with France ; and could that party be subdued, he might hope that his nephew, the young prince of Orange, would be reinstated in the authority possessed by his an- cestors, and would bring the States to a depend- ence under England. His narrow revenues made it still requisite for him to study the humours of his people, which now ran violently towards war; and it has been suspected, though the suspicion was not justified by the event, that the hopes of diverting some of the supplies to his private use were not overlooked by this necessitous monarch. The duke of York, more active and enter- prising, pushed more eagerly the war with Hol- land. He desired an opportunity of distinguishing himself: he loved to cultivate commerce: he was at the head of a new African cpmpany, whose trade was extremely checked by the settlements of the Dutch : and perhaps the religious pre- judices, by which that prince was always so much governed, began even so early to instil into him an antipathy against a protestant commonwealth, the bulwark of the reformation. Clarendon and
VOL. VIII. I I
y
482 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. )664.
Southampton, observing that the nation was not supported by any foreign alliance, were averse to hostilities ; but their credit was now on the decline.
By these concurring motives, the court and parliament were both of them inclined to a Dutch war. The parliament was prorogued without voting supplies: but as they had been induced, without any open application from the crown, to pass that vote above-mentioned against the Dutch encroachments, it was reasonably considered as sufficient sanction for the vigorous measures which were resolved on.
Downing, the English minister at the Hague, a man of an insolent impetuous temper, presented a memorial to the States, containing a list of those depredations, of which the English complained. It is remarkable, that all the pretended depre- dations preceded the year 1662, when a treaty of league and alliance had been renewed with the Dutch ; and these complaints were then thought either so ill grounded or so frivolous, that they had not been mentioned in the treaty. Two ships alone, the Bonaventure and the Good-hope, had been claimed by the English ; and it was agreed that the claim should be prosecuted by the ordinary course of justice. The states had consigned a sum of money in case the cause should be decided against them ; but the matter was still in dependance. Cary, who was entrusted by the proprietors with the management of the
1664. CHARLES II. 483
law-suit for the Bonaventure, had resolved to accept of thirty thousand pounds, which were offered him ; but was hindered by Downing, who told him, that the claim was a matter of state between the two nations, not a concern of private persons g. These circumstances give us no favourable idea of the justice of the English pretensions.
Charles confined not himself to memorials and remonstrances. Sir Robert Holmes was se^ cretly dispatched with a squadron of twenty-two ships to the coast of Africa. He not only ex- pelled the Dutch from cape Corse, to which the English had some pretensions ! he likewise seized the Dutch settlements of cape Verde and the isle of Goree, together with several ship strading on that coast. And having sailed to America, he possessed himself of Nova Belgia, since called New York ; a territory which James the First had given by patent to the earl of Sterling, but which had never been planted but by the Hol- landers. When the States complained of these hostile measures, the king, unwilling to avow \vhat he could not well justify, pretended to be totally ignorant of Holmes's enterprise. He like- wise confined that admiral to the Tower; but some time after released him.
The Dutch, finding that their applications for redress were likely to be eluded, and that a ground
« Temple, vol. ii. p. 42.
484 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1664.
of quarrel was industriously sought for by the English, began to arm with diligence. They even exerted, with some precipitation, an act of vigour, which hastened on the rupture. Sir John Lawson and cle Ruyter had been sent with com- bined squadrons into the Mediterranean, in order to chastise the piratical states on the coast of Barbary ; and the time of their separation and return was now approaching. The States secretly dispatched orders to cle Ruyter, that he should take in provisions at Cadiz ; and sailing towards the coast of Guinea, should retaliate on the English, and put the Dutch in possession of those settlements whence Holmes had expelled them. De Ruyter, having a considerable force on board, met with no opposition in Guinea. All the new acquisitions of the English, except cape Corse, were recovered from them. They were even dis- possessed of some old settlements. Such of their ships as fell into his hands were seized by de Ruyter. That admiral sailed to America. He attacked Barbadoes, but was repulsed: He after- wards committed hostilities on Long: Island.
Meanwhile, the English preparations for war were advancing with vigour and industry. The king had received no supplies from parliament ; but by his own funds and credit he was enabled to equip a fleet : the city of London lent him 100,000 pounds: the spirit of the nation seconded his armaments: he himself went from port to port, inspecting with great diligence, and en-
1664. CHARLES II. 485
couraging the work: and in a little time the English navy was put in a formidable con- dition. Eight hundred thousand pounds are said to have been expended on this armament. When Lawson arrived, and communicated his suspicion of de Ruyter's enterprise, orders were issued for seizing all Dutch ships; and 135 fell into the hands of the English. These were not declared prizes, till afterwards, when war was proclaimed.
A NEW SESSION. November 24.
The parliament, when it met, granted a supply, the largest by far that had ever been given to a king of England, yet scarcely sufficient for the present undertaking. Near two millions and a half were voted to be levied by quarterly pay- ments in three years. The avidity of the mer- chants, together with the great prospect of success, had animated the whole nation against the Dutch.
A great alteration was made this session in the method of taxing the clergy. In almost all the other monarchies of Europe, the assemblies, whose consent was formerly requisite to the enacting of laws, were composed of three estates, the clergy, the nobility, and the commonalty, which formed so many members of the political body, of which the king was considered as the head. In England too, the parliament was always represented as
4S6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. \fM.
consisting of three estates ; but their separation was never so distinct as in other kingdoms. A convocation, however, had usually sitten at the same time with the parliament; though they pos- sessed not a negative voice in the passing of laws, and assumed no other temporal power than that of imposing taxes on the clergy. By reason of ecclesiastical preferments, which he could bestow, the king's influence over the church was more considerable than over the laity ; so that the sub- sidies, granted by the convocation, were com- monly greater than those which were voted by parliament. The church, therefore, was not dis- pleased to depart tacitly from the right of taxing herself, and allow the commons to lay impositions on ecclesiastical revenues, as on the rest of the kingdom. In recompence, two subsidies, which the convocation had formerly granted, were re- mitted, and the parochial clergy were allowed to vote at elections. Thus the church of England made a barter of power for profit. Their con- vocations, having become insignificant to the crown, have been much disused of late years.
The Dutch saw, with the utmost regret, a war approaching, whence they might dread the most fatal consequences, but which afforded no pro- spect of advantage. They tried every art of nego- tiation, before they would come to extremities. Their measures were at that time directed by John de Wit, a minister equally eminent for greatness of mind, for capacit}', and for integrity.
tflft, CHARLES II. 437
Though moderate in his private deportment, he knew how to adopt in his public counsels that magnanimity, which suits the minister of a great state. It was ever his maxim, that no independent government should yield to another any evident point of reason or equity; and that all such con- cessions, so far from preventing war, served to no other purpose than to provoke fresh claims and insults. By his management a spirit of union was preserved in all the provinces ; great sums were levied ; and a navy was equipped, composed of larger ships than the Dutch had ever built before, and able to cope with the fleet of England.
As soon as certain intelligence arrived of de Ruyter's enterprises, Charles declared war against the States, His fleet, consisting of 114 sail, be- sides fire-ships and ketches, was commanded by the duke of York, and under him by prince Rupert and the earl of Sandwich. It had about 22,000 men on board. Obdam, who was admiral of the Dutch navy, of nearly equal force, declined not the combat. In the heat of action, when engaged in close fight with the duke of York, Obdam's ship blew up. This accident much dis- couraged the Dutch, who fled towards their own coast. Tromp alone, son of the famous admiral killed during the former war, bravely sustained with his squadron the efforts of the English, and protected the rear of his countrymen. The van- quished had nineteen ships sunk and taken. The
-1S8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1665.
victors lost only one. Sir John Lawson died soon after of his wounds.
It is affirmed, and with an appearance of reason, that this victory might have been ren- dered more complete, had not orders been issued to slacken sail by Brounker, one of the duke's bedchamber, who pretended authority from his master. The duke disclaimed the orders ; but Brounker never was sufficiently punished for his temerity \ It is allowed, however, that the duke behaved with great bravery during the action. He was long in the thickest of the fire. The earl of Falmouth, lord Muskerry, and Mr. Boyle, were killed by one shot at his side, and covered him all over with their brains and gore. And it is not likely, that, in a pursuit, where even per- sons of inferior station, and of the most cowardly
h King James, in his Memoirs, gives an account of this affair different from what we meet with in any historian. He says, that while he was asleep, Brounker brought orders to sir John Harman, captain of the ship, to slacken sail. Sir John remonstrated, but obeyed. After some time, finding that his falling back was likely to produce confusion in the fleet, he hoisted the sail as before : so that the prince coming soon after on the quarter-deck, and finding all things as he left them, knew nothing of what had passed during his repose. No body gave him the least intimation of it. It was long after, that he heard of it by a kind of accident ; and he intended to have punished Brounker by martial law ; but just about that time, the house of commons took up the question and impeached him, which made it impossible for the duke to punish hiurotherwise than by dismissing him his service. Brounker, before the house, never pretended that he had received any orders from the duke.
1665. CHARLES II. 48.0
disposition, acquire courage, a commander should feel his spirits to flag, and should turn from the back of an enemy, whose face he had not been afraid to encounter.
This disaster threw the Dutch into constern- ation, and determined de Wit, who was the soul of their councils, to exert his military capacity, in order to support the declining courage of his countrymen. He went on board the fleet, which he took under his command ; and he soon re- medied all those disorders which had been oc- casioned by the late misfortune. The genius of this man was of the most extensive nature. He quickly became as much master of naval affairs, as if he had from his infancy been educated in them; and he even made improvements in some parts of pilotage and sailing, beyond what men expert in those arts had ever been able to attain.
RUPTURE WITH FRANCE.
The misfortunes of the Dutch determined their allies to act for their assistance and support. The king of France was engaged in a defensive alliance with the states; but as his naval force was yet in its infancy, he was extremely averse, at that time, from entering into a war with so formidable a power as England. He long tried to mediate a peace between the States, and for that purpose sent an embassy to London, which returned with-
4Q0 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. lOfe.
out effecting any thing. Lord Hollis, the English ambassador at Paris, endeavoured to draw over Lewis to the side of England ; and, in his master's name, made him the most tempting offers. Charles was content to abandon all the Spanish Low Countries to the French, without pretending to a foot of ground for himself; provided Lewis would allow him to pursue his advantages against the Dutch \ But the French monarch, though the conquest of that valuable territory was the chief object of his ambition, rejected the offer as con- trary to his interests : he thought, that if the English had once established an uncontrollable dominion over the sea and over commerce, they would soon be able to render his acquisitions a dear purchase to him. When de Lionne, the French secretary, assured Van Beuninghen, am- bassador of the States, that this offer had been pressed on his master during six months ; " I can " readily believe it," replied the Dutchman; " I M am sensible that it is the interest of England V Such were the established maxims at that time with regard to the interests of princes. It must however be allowed, that the politics of Charles, in making this offer, were not a little hazardous. The extreme weakness of Spain would have rendered the French conquests easy and infallible; but the vigour of the Dutch, it might be foreseen, would
' D'Estrades, 19th December 1664. k Ibid. 14 August 1665.
1665. CHARLES II. 491
make the success of the English much more preca- rious. And even were the naval force of Holland totally, annihilated, the acquisition of the Dutch commerce to England could not be relied on as a certain consequence ; nor is trade a constant at- tendant of power, but depends on many other, and some of them very delicate, circumstances.
Though the king of France was resolved to support the Hollanders in that unequal contest in which they were engaged ; yet he protracted his declaration, and employed the time in naval prer parations, both in the ocean and the Mediter- ranean. The king of Denmark meanwhile was resolved not to remain an idle spectator of the contest between the maritime powers. The part which he acted was the most extraordinary : he made a secret agreement with Charles, to seize all the Dutch ships in his harbours, and to share the spoils with the English, provided they would assist him in executing this measure. In order to in- crease his prey, he perfidiously invited the Dutch to take shelter in his ports ; and accordingly the East India fleet, very richly laden, had put into Bergen. Sandwich, who now commanded the English navy (the duke having gone ashore), dis- patched sir Thomas Tiddiman with a squadron to attack them ; but whether from the king of Den- mark's delay in sending orders to the governor, or, what is more probable, from his avidity in endeavouring to engross the whole booty, the English admiral, though he behaved with great
402 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1605.
bravery, failed of his purpose. The Danish go- vernor fired upon him, and the Dutch, having had leisure to fortify themselves, made a gallant resistance.
RUPTURE WITH DENMARK.
The king of Denmark, seemingly ashamed of his conduct, concluded with sir Gilbert Talbot, the English envoy, an offensive alliance against the States ; and at the very same time, his resident at the Hague, by his orders, concluded an offensive alliance against England. To this latter alliance he adhered, probably from jealousy of the in- creasing naval power of England ; and he seized and confiscated all the English ships in his har- bours. This was a sensible check to the ad- vantages which Charles had obtained over the Dutch. Not only a blow was given to the Eng- lish commerce ; the king of Denmark's naval force was also considerable, and threatened every moment a conjunction with the Hollanders. That prince stipulated to assist his ally with a fleet of thirty sail ; and he received in return a yearly subsidy of 1,500,000 crowns, of which 300,000 were paid by France.
The king endeavoured to counterbalance these confederacies by acquiring new friends and allies. He had dispatched sir Richard Fanshaw into Spain, who met with a very cold reception. That mon- archy was sunk into a state of weakness, and was
1665. CHARLES II. 4()3
menaced with an invasion from France ; yet could not any motive prevail with Philip to enter into cordial friendship with England Charles's al- liance with Portugal, the detention of Jamaica and Tangiers, the sale of Dunkirk to the French; all these offences sunk so deep in the mind of the Spanish monarch, that no motive of interest was sufficient to outweigh them.
The bishop of Munster was the only ally that Charles could acquire. This prelate, a man of restless enterprise and ambition, had entertained a violent animosity against the States ; and he was easily engaged, by the promise of subsidies from England, to make an incursion on that republic. With a tumultuary army of near 20,000 men, he invaded her territories, and met with weak resistance. The land forces of the States were as feeble and ill-governed, as their fleets were gallant and formidable. But after his com- mitting great ravages in several of the provinces, a stop was put to the progress of this warlike prelate. He had not military skill sufficient to improve the advantages which fortune had put into his hands : the king of France sent a body of 6000 men to oppose him : subsidies were not re- gularly remitted him from England ; and many" of his troops deserted for want of pay : the elector of Brandenburgh threatened him with an invasion in his own state : and on the whole, he was glad to conclude a peace under the mediation of France. On the first surmise of his intentions,
494 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1665.
sir William Temple was sent from London with money to fix him in his former alliance ; but found that he arrived too late.
The Dutch, encouraged by all these favourable circumstances, continued resolute to exert them- selves to the utmost in their own defence. De Ruyter, their great admiral, was arrived from his expedition to Guinea: their Indian fleet was come home in safety : their harbours were crowded with merchant ships : faction at home was appeased i the young prince of Orange had put himself under the tuition of the States of Holland, and of de Wit, their pensionary, who executed his trust with honour and fidelity : and the animosity, which the Hollanders entertained against the attack of the English, so unprovoked, as they thought it, made them thirst for revenge, and hope for better success in their next enterprise. Such vigour was exerted in the common cause, that, in order to man the fleet, all merchant ships were prohibited to sail, and even the fisheries were suspended !.
The English likewise continued in the same disposition, though another more grievous cala-4 mity had joined itself to that of war. The plague had broken out in London ; and that with such violence, as to cut off, in a year, near 90,000 in- habitants. The king was obliged to summon the parliament at Oxford4
1 Tromp's life. D'Estrades, 5th of February 1665.
1665. CHARLES II. 495
FIVE-MILE-ACT.
A good agreement still subsisted between the king and parliament. They, on their part, una- nimously voted him the supply demanded, twelve hundred and fifty thousand pounds, to be levied in two years by monthly assessments. And he, to gratify them, passed the five-mile-act, which has given occasion to grievous and not unjust complaints. The church, under pretence of guard- ing monarchy against its inveterate enemies, per- severed in the project of wreaking her own enmity against the non-conformists. It was enacted, that no dissenting teacher who took not the non-resistance oath above mentioned, should, except upon the road, come within five miles of any corporation, or of any place, where he had preached after the act of oblivion. The penalty was a fine of fifty pounds, and six months im- prisonment. By ejecting the non-conforming clergy from their churches, and prohibiting all separate congregations, they had been rendered incapable of gaining any livelihood by their spiritual profession. And now, under colour of removing them from places where their influence might be dangerous, an expedient was fallen upon to deprive them of all means of subsistence. Had not the spirit of the nation undergone a change,
496 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1606.
these violences were preludes to the most furious persecution.
However prevalent the hierarchy, this law did not pass without opposition. Besides several peers, attached to the old parliamentary party, South- ampton himself, though Clarendon's great friend, expressed his disapprobation of these measures. But the church party, not discouraged with this opposition, introduced into the house of commons a bill for imposing the oath of non-resistance on the whole nation. It was rejected only by three voices. The parliament, after a short session, was prorogued.
SEA FIGHT OF FOUR DAYS.
After France had declared war, England was evidently overmatched in force. Yet she pos- sessed this advantage by her situation, that she lay between the fleets of her enemies, and might be able, by speedy and well-concerted operations, to prevent their junction. But such was the un- happy conduct of her commanders, or such the want of intelligence in her ministers, that this circumstance turned rather to her prejudice. Lewis had given orders to the duke of Beaufort, his admiral, to sail from Toulon ; and the French squadron, under his command, consisting of above forty sail m, 'was now commonly supposed to be
*" D'Estrades, 21st of May \Qffi.
1G66. CHARLES II. 4(j7
entering the channel. The Dutch fleet, to the number of seventy-six sail, was at sea, under the command of de Ruyter and Tromp, in order to join him. The duke of Albemarle and prince Rupert commanded the English fleet, which ex- ceeded not seventy-four sail. Albemarle, who, from his successes under the protector, had too much learned to despise the enemy, proposed to detach prince Rupert with twenty ships, in order to oppose the duke of Beaufort. Sir George Ayscue, well acquainted with the bravery and conduct of de Ruyter, protested against the temerity of this resolution : but Albemarle's au- thority prevailed. The remainder of the English set sail to give battle to the Dutch ; who, seeing the enemy advance quickly upon them, cut their cables, and prepared for the combat. The battle that ensued is one of the most memorable that we read of in story ; whether we consider its long duration, or the desperate courage with which it was fought. Albemarle made here some atone- ment by his valour for the rashness of the attempt. No youth, animated by glory and ambitious hopes, could exert himself more than did this man, who was now in the decline of life, and who had reached the summit of honours. We shall not enter minutely into particulars. It will be suf- ficient to mention the chief events of each day's engagement.
In the first day, sir William Berkeley, vice^ admiral, leading the van, fell into the thickest o£
VOL. VIII. K K
4g8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1666.
the enemy, was overpowered, and his ship taken. He himself was found dead in his cabin, all co- vered with blood. The English had the weather- gage of the enemy ; but as the wind blew • so hard, that they could not use their lower tire, they derived but small advantage from this circum- stance. The Dutch shot, however, fell chiefly on their sails and rigging; and few ships were sunk or much damaged. Chain-shot was at that time a new invention ; commonly attributed to de Wit. Sir John Harman exerted himself ex- tremely on this day. The Dutch admiral, Evertz, was killed in engaging him. Darkness parted the combatants.
The second day, the wind was somewhat fallen, and the combat became more steady and more terrible. The English now found, that the greatest valour cannot compensate the superiority of numbers, against an enemy who is well con- ducted, and who is not defective in courage. De Ruyter and Van Tromp, rivals in glory and enemies from faction, exerted themselves in emu- lation of each other; and de Ruyter had the advantage of disengaging and saving his an- tagonist, who had been surrounded by the Eng- lish, and was in the most imminent danger. Six- teen fresh ships joined the Dutch fleet during the action ; and the English were so shattered, that their fighting ships were reduced to twenty-eight, and they found themselves obliged to retreat "towards their own coast. The Dutch followed
10J6. CHARLES II. 499
them, and were on the point of renewing the combat, when a calm, which came a little before night, prevented the engagement.
Next morning, the English were obliged to continue their retreat; and a proper disposition was made for that purpose. The shattered ships were ordered to stretch a-head ; and sixteen of the most entire followed them in good order, and kept the enemy in awe. Albemarle himself closed the rear, and presented an undaunted counten- ance to his victorious foes. The earl of Ossory, son of Ormond, a gallant youth, who sought honour and experience in every action throughout Europe, was then on board the admiral. Albe* marie confessed to him his intention rather to blow up his ship and perish gloriously, than yield to the enemy. Ossory applauded this desperate resolution.
About two o'clock^ the Dutch had come up with their enemy, and were ready to renew the fight ; when a new fleet was descried from the south, crowding all their sail to reach the scene of action. The Dutch flattered themselves that Beaufort was arrived, to cut off the retreat of the vanquished : the English hoped that prince Rupert had come, to turn the scale of action. Albemarle, who had received intelligence of the prince's approach, bent his course towards him. Unhappily, sir George Ayscue, in a ship of a hundred guns, the largest in the fleet, struck on the Galloper sands, and could receive no assist- 2
500 HISTORY OF ENGLAND* 1666.
ancefrom his friends, who were hastening to join the reinforcement. He could not even reap the consolation of perishing with honour, and re- venging his death on his enemies. They were preparing fireships to attack him, and he was obliged to strike. The English sailors, seeing the necessity, with the utmost indignation surren- dered themselves prisoners.
Albemarle and prince Rupert were now deter- mined to face the enemy ; and next morning the battle began afresh, with more equal force than ever, and with equal valour. After long can- nonading, the fleets came to a close combat; which was continued with great violence, till parted by a mist. The English retired first into their harbours.
Though the English, by their obstinate cou- rage, reaped the chief honour in this engage- ment, it is somewhat uncertain who obtained the victory. The Hollanders took a few ships, and having some appearances of advantage, expressed their satisfaction by all the signs of triumph and rejoicing. But as the English fleet was repaired in a little time, and put to sea more formidable than ever, together with many of those ships which the Dutch had boasted to have burned or destroyed ; all Europe saw, that those two brave nations were engaged in a contest, which was not likely, on either side, to prove decisive.
166& CHARLES II. 501
VICTORY OF THE ENGLISH. July 25.
It was the conjunction alone of the French, that could give a decisive superiority to the Dutch. In order to facilitate this conjunction, de Ruyter, having repaired his fleet, posted himself at the mouth of the Thames. The English, under prince Rupert and Albemarle, were not long in coming to the attack. The numbers of each fleet amount- ed to about eighty sail ; and the valour and experience of the commanders, as well as of the seamen, rendered the engagement fierce and obstinate. Sir Thomas Allen, who commanded the white squadron of the English, attacked the Dutch van, which he entirely routed ; and he killed the three admirals who commanded it. Van Tromp engaged sir Jeremy Smith; and during the heat of action, he was separated from de Ruyter and the main body, whether by accident or design was never certainly known. De Ruyter, with conduct and valour, maintained the combat against the main body of the English ; and though overpowered by numbers, kept his station, till night ended the engagement. Next day, finding the Dutch fleet scattered and discouraged, his high spirit submitted to a retreat, which yet he con- ducted with such skill, as to render it equally honourable to himself as the greatest victory. Full of indignation however at yielding the su-
002 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1066.
periority to the enemy, he frequently exclaimed, 11 My God! what a wretch am I! among so " many thousand bullets, is there not one to put " an end to my miserable life?" One de Witte, his son-in-law, who stood near, exhorted him, since he sought death, to turn upon the English, and render his life a dear purchase to the victors. But de Ruyter esteemed it more worthy a brave man to persevere to the uttermost, and, as long as possible, to render service to his country. All that night and next day, the English pressed upon the rear of the Dutch ; and it was chiefly by the redoubled efforts of de Ruyter, that the latter saved themselves in their harbours.
The loss sustained by the Hollanders in this action was not very considerable ; but as violent animosities had broken out between the two ad- mirals, who engaged all the officers on one side or other, the consternation, which took place, was great among the provinces. Tromp's commission was at last taken from him ; but though several captains had misbehaved, they were so effectually protected by their friends in the magistracy of the towns, that most of them escaped punishment, many were still continued in their commands.
The English now rode incontestable masters of the sea, and insulted the Dutch in their har- bours. A detachment under Holmes was sent into the road of Vlie, and burned a hundred and forty merchantmen, two men of war, together with Brandaris, a large and rich village on the
lo«5. CHARLES II. 503
coast. The Dutch merchants, who lost by this enterprise, uniting themselves to the Orange faction, exclaimed against an administration, which, they pretended, had brought such disgrace and ruin on their country. None but the firm and intrepid mind of de Wit could have sup- ported itself under such a complication of ca- lamities.
The king of France, apprehensive that the Dutch would sink under their misfortunes ; at least, that de Wit, his friend, might be dispossessed of the administration, hastened the advance of the duke of Beaufort. The Dutch fleet like- wise was again equipped ; and, under the com- mand of de Ruyter, cruised near the straits of Dover. Prince Rupert with the English navy, now stronger than ever, came full sail upon them. The Dutch admiral thought proper to decline the combat, and retired into St. John's road near Bulloigne. Here he sheltered himself, both from the English, and from a furious storm which arose. Prince Rupert too was obliged to retire into St. Helens ; where he stayed some time, in order to repair the damages which he had sustain- ed. Meanwhile the duke of Beaufort proceeded up the channel, and passed the English fleet un- perceived ; but he did not find the Dutch, as he expected. De Ruyter had been seized with a fever : many of the chief officers had fallen into sickness : a contagious distemper was spread through the fleet : and the States thought it ne-
304 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1663.
cessary to recall them into their harbours, before the enemy could be refitted. The French king, anxious for his navy, which, with so much care and industry, he had lately built, dispatched orders to Beaufort, to make the best of his way to Brest. That admiral had again the good fortune to pass the English. One ship alone, the Ruby, fell into the hands of the enemy.
FIRE OF LONDON. September 3.
While the war continued without any decisive success on either side, a calamity happened in London, which threw the people into great con- sternation. Fire, breaking out in a baker's house near the bridge, spread itself on all sides with such rapidity, that no efforts could extinguish it, till it laid in ashes a considerable part of the city. The inhabitants, without being able to provide effectually for their relief, were reduced to be spectators of their own ruin; and were pursued from street to street by the flames, which unex- pectedly gathered round them. Three days and nights did the fire advance ; and it was only by the blowing up of houses, that it was at last ex- tinguished. The king and duke used their utmost endeavours to stop the progress of the flames ; but all their industry was unsuccessful. About four hundred streets, and thirteen thousand houses, were reduced to ashes.
1666. CHARLES II. 505
The causes of this calamity were evident. The narrow streets of London, the houses built en- tirely of wood, the dry season, and a violent east wind which blew ; these were so many concurring circumstances, which rendered it easy to assign the reason of the destruction that ensued. But the people were not satisfied with this obvious account. Prompted by blind rage, some ascribed the guilt to the republicans, others to the catho- lics ; though it is not easy to conceive how the burning of London could serve the purposes of either party. As the papists were the chief objects of public detestation, the rumour, which threw the guilt on them, was more favourably received by the people. No proof however, or even pre- sumption, after the strictest inquiry by a com- mittee of parliament, ever appeared to authorise such a calumny ; yet, in order to give counten- ance to the popular prejudice, the inscription engraved by authority on the monument, ascribed this calamity to that hated sect. This clause was erazed by order of king James, when he came to the throne; but after the revolution it was re- placed. So credulous, as well as obstinate, are the people, in believing every thing which flatters their prevailing passion !
The fire of London, though at that time a great calamity, has proved in the issue beneficial both to the city and the kingdom. The city was rebuilt in a very little time ; and care was taken to make the streets wider and more regular than
505 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 16(3(5.
before. A discretionary power was assumed by the king to regulate the distribution of the build- ings, and to forbid the use of lath and timber, the materials of which the houses were formerly composed. The necessity was so urgent, and the occasion so extraordinary, that no exceptions were taken at an exercise of authority, which otherwise might have been deemed illegal. Had the king been enabled to carry his power still farther, and made the houses be rebuilt with perfect regularity, and entirely upon one plan ; he had much con- tributed to the convenience, as well as embellish- ment, of the city. Great advantages, however, have resulted from the alterations, though not carried to the full length. London became much more healthy after the fire. The plague, which used to break out with great fury twice or thrice every century, and indeed was always lurking in some corner or other of the city, has scarcely ever appeared since that calamity.
The parliament met soon after, and gave the sanction of law to those regulations made by royal authority ; as well as appointed commissioners for deciding all such questions of property, as might arise from the fire. They likewise voted a supply of 1,800,000 pounds to be levied, partly by a poll- bill, partly by assessments. Though their inquiry brought out no proofs, which could fix on the papists the burning of London, the general aver- sion against that sect still prevailed ; and com- plaints were made, probably without much founds
1667. CHARLES II. 507
ation, of its dangerous increase. Charles, at the desire of the commons, issued a proclamation for the banishment of all priests and Jesuits; but the bad execution of this, as well as the former edicts, destroyed all confidence in his sincerity, whenever he pretended an aversion towards the catholic religion. Whether suspicions of this nature had diminished the king's popularity, is uncertain ; but it appears, that the supply was voted much later than Charles expected, or even than the public necessities seemed to require. The intrigues of the duke of Buckingham, a man who wanted only steadiness to render him ex- tremely dangerous, had somewhat embarrassed the measures of the court ; and this was the first time that the king found any considerable reason to complain of a failure of confidence in this house of commons. The rising symptoms of ill-humour tended, no doubt, to quicken the steps which were already making towards a peace with foreign enemies.
ADVANCES TOWARDS PEACE.
Charles began to be sensible, that all the ends, for which the war had been undertaken, were likely to prove entirely abortive. The Dutch, even when single, had defended themselves with vigour, and were every day improving in their military skill and preparations. Though their
508 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1667.
trade had suffered extremely, their extensive credit enabled them to levy great sums ; and while the seamen of England loudly complained of want of pay, the Dutch navy was regularly supplied with money and every thing requisite for its subsistence. As two powerful kings now supported them, every place, from the extremity of Norway to the coasts of Bayonne, was become hostile to the English. And Charles, neither fond of action, nor stimulated by any violent ambition, earnestly sought for means of restoring tranquillity to his people, disgusted with a war, which, being joined with the plague and fire, had proved so fruitless and destructive.
The first advances towards an accommodation were made by England. When the king sent for the body of sir William Berkeley, he insinuated to the States his desire of peace on reasonable terms : and their answer corresponded in the same amicable intentions. Charles, however, to main- tain the appearance of superiority, still insisted that the States should treat at London ; and they agreed to make him this compliment so far as concerned themselves : but being engaged in al- liance with two crowned heads, they could not, they said, prevail with these to depart in that re- spect from their dignity. On a sudden, the king went so far on the other side as to offer the send- ing of ambassadors to the Hague; but this pro- posal, which seemed honourable to the Dutch, was meant only to divide and distract them, by
1667. CHARLES II. 509
affording the English an opportunity to carry on cabals with the disaffected party. The offer was therefore rejected ; and conferences were secretly held in the queen-mother's apartments at Paris, where the pretensions of both parties were discuss- ed. The Dutch made equitable proposals ; either that all things should be restored to the same con- dition in which they stood before the war ; or that both parties should continue in possession of their present acquisitions. Charles accepted of the latter proposal ; and almost every thing was ad- justed, except the disputes with regard to the isle of Polerone. This island lies in the East Indies, and was formerly valuable for its produce of spices. The English had been masters of it; but were dispossessed at the time when the vio- lences were committed against them at Amboyna. Cromwel had stipulated to have it restored ; and the Hollanders, having first entirely destroyed all the spice trees, maintained, that they had executed the treaty, but that the English had been anew ex- pelled during the course of the war. Charles re- newed his pretensions to this island ; and as the reasons on both sides began to multiply, and seemed to require a long discussion, it was agreed to transfer the treaty to some other place ; and Charles made choice of Breda.
Lord Hollis and Henry Coventry were the English ambassadors. They immediately desired, that a suspension of arms should be agreed to, till the several claims should be adjusted : but
510 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1667.
this proposal, seemingly so natural, was rejected by the credit of de Wit. That penetrating and active minister, thoroughly acquainted with the characters of princes and the situation of affairs, had discovered an opportunity of striking a blow, which might at once restore to the Dutch the honour lost during the war, and severely revenge those injuries, which he ascribed to the wanton ambition and injustice of the English.
Whatever projects might have been formed by Charles for secreting the money granted him by parliament, he had hitherto failed in his intention. The expences of such vast armaments had exhaust* ed all the supplies"; and even a great debt was contracted to the seamen. The king therefore was resolved to save, as far as possible, the last supply of 1,800,000 pounds; and to employ it for payment of his debts, as well those which had been occasioned by the war, as those which he had formerly contracted. He observed, that the Dutch had been with great reluctance forced into the war, and that the events of it were not such as to inspire them with great desire of its continu-
D The Dutch had spent on the war near 40 millions of livres jh year, above three millions sterling : a much greater sum than had been granted by the English parliament. D'Estrades, 24 th of De- cember 1 665 -, 1st of January 1666. Temple, vol. i. p. 71. It was probably the want of money which engaged the king to pay the seamen with tickets ; a contrivance which proved so much to their loss.
166;. CHARLES II. 5U
ance. The French, he knew, had been engaged into hostilities by no other motive than that of supporting their ally; and were now more de- sirous than ever of putting an end to the quarrel. The differences between the parties were so incon- siderable, that the conclusion of peace appeared infallible ; and nothing but forms, at least some vain points of honour, seemed to remain for the ambassadors at Breda to discuss. In this situation, Charles, moved by an ill-timed frugality, remitted his preparations, and exposed England to one of the greatest affronts which it has ever received. Two small squadrons alone were equipped ; and during a war with such potent and martial enemies, every thing was left almost in the same situation as in times of the most profound tranquillity.
DISGRACE AT CHATHAM. June 10.
De Wit protracted the negotiations at Breda, and hastened the naval preparations. The Dutch fleet appeared in the Thames under the command of de Ruyter, and threw the English into the utmost consternation. A chain had been drawn across the river Med way ; some fortifications had been added to Sheerness and Upnore-castle : but all these preparations were unequal to the present necessity. Sheerness was soon taken ; nor could it be saved by the valour of sir Edward Sprague, who defended it. Having the advantage of a
512 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1667.
spring tide and an easterly wind, the Dutch pressed on and broke the chain, though fortified by some ships, which had been there sunk by orders of the duke of Albemarle. They burned the three ships which lay to guard the chain, the Matthias, the Unity, and the Charles the Fifth. After damag- ing several vessels, and possessing themselves of the hull of the Royal Charles, which the English had burned, they advanced with six men of war and five fire-ships, as far as Upnore-castle, where they burned the Royal Oak, the Loyal London, and the Great James. Captain Douglas, who commanded on board the Royal Oak, perished in the flames, though he had an easy opportunity of escaping. "Never was it known," he said, " that a Douglas had left his post without orders0." The Hollanders fell down the Med way without receiving any considerable damage ; and it was apprehended, that they might next tide sail up the Thames, and extend their hostilities even to the bridge of London. Nine ships were sunk at Woolwich, four at Black wall : platforms were raised in many places, furnished with artillery the train-bands were called out ; and every place was in a violent agitation. The Dutch sailed next to Portsmouth, where they made a fruitless attempt : they met with no better success at Ply- mouth : they insulted Harwich : they sailed again upon the Thames as far as Tilbury, where they
• Temple, vol. ii. p. 41.
J^7. CHARLES II. 513
were repulsed. The whole coast was \n alarm ; and had the French thought proper at this time to join the Dutch fleet and to invade England, con- sequences the most fatal might justly have been apprehended. But Lewis had no intention to push the victory to such extremities. His interest required that a balance should be kept between the two maritime powers ; not that an uncontrolled superiority should be given to either.
Great indignation prevailed amongst the Eng- lish, to see an enemy, whom they regarded as infe- rior, whom they had expected totally to subdue, and over whom they had gained many honourable advantages, now of a sudden ride undisputed masters of the ocean ; burn their ships in their very harbours, fill every place with confusion, and strike a terror into the capital itself. But though the cause of all these disasters could be ascribed neither to bad fortune, to the misconduct of admirals, nor to the ill behaviour of seamen, but solely to the avarice, at least to the impro- vidence, of the government ; no dangerous symp- toms of discontent appeared, and no attempt for an insurrection was made by any of those numer- ous sectaries, who had been so openly branded for their rebellious principles, and who upon that supposition had been treated with such seventy p.
p Some non-conformists, however, both in Scotland and Eng- land, had kept a correspondence with the States, and had enter- tained projects for insurrections, but they were too weak even to attempt the execution of them. D'Estrades, 13th October \QQ5. VOL. VIII. L L
514 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 1667.
In the present distress, two expedients were embraced: an army of 12,000 men was suddenly- levied ; and the parliament, though it lay under prorogation, was summoned to meet. The houses were very thin ; and the only vote which the commons passed was an address for breaking the army ; which was complied with. This expression of jealousy shewed the court what they might expect from that assembly ; and it was thought more prudent to prorogue them till next winter.
PEACE OF BREDA. July 10.
But the signing of the treaty at Breda extricated the king from his present difficulties. The English ambassadors received orders to recede from those demands, which, however frivolous in themselves, could not now be relinquished, without acknow- ledging a superiority in the enemy. Polerone remained with the Dutch ; satisfaction for the ships Bonaventure and Good-hope, the pretended grounds of the quarrel, was no longer insisted on : Acadie was yielded to the French. The acqui- sition of New- York, a settlement so important by its situation, was the chief advantage which the English reaped from a war, in which the national character of bravery had shone out with lustre, but where the misconduct of the government, especially in the conclusion, had been no less ap- parent.
1667. CHARLES II. 515
CLARENDON'S FALL.
To appease the people by some sacrifice seemed requisite before the meeting of parliament ; and the prejudices of the nation pointed out the victim. The chancellor was at this time much exposed to the hatred of the public, and of every party which divided the nation. All the numerous sectaries regarded him as their determined enemy ; and ascribed to his advice and influence those perse- cuting laws to which they had lately been exposed. The catholics knew, that while he retained any authority, all their credit with the king and the duke would be entirely useless to them, nor must they ever expect any favour or indulgence. Even the royalists, disappointed in their sanguine hopes of preferment, threw a great load of envy on Clarendon, into whose hands the king seemed at first to have resigned the whole power of govern- ment. The sale of Dunkirk, the bad payment of the seamen, the disgrace at Chatham, the un- successful conclusion of the war ; all these mis- fortunes were charged on the chancellor, who, though he had ever opposed the rupture with Holland, thought it still his duty to justify what he could not prevent. A building, likewise, of more expence and magnificence than his slender fortune could afford, being unwarily undertaken by him, much exposed him to public reproach, 2
5\6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 1667.
as if he had acquired great riches by corruption. The populace gave it commonly the appellation of Dunkirk House.
The king himself, who had always more re- vered than loved the chancellor, was now totally estranged from him. Amidst the dissolute man- ners of the court, that minister still maintained an inflexible dignity, and would not submit to any condescensions, which he deemed unworthy of his age and character. Buckingham, a man of pro- fligate morals, happy in his talent for ridicule, but exposed in his own conduct to all the ridicule which he threw on others, still made him the object of his raillery, and gradually lessened in the king that regard which he bore to his minister* When any difficulties arose either for want of power or money, the blame was still thrown on him, who, it was believed, had carefully at the restoration checked all lavish concessions to the king. And what perhaps touched Charles more nearly, he found in Clarendon, it is said, obstacles to his pleasures, as well as to his ambition.
The king, disgusted with the homely person of his consort, and desirous of having children, had hearkened to proposals of obtaining a divorce, on pretence either of her being pre-engaged to another, or of having made a vow of chastity before her marriage. He was farther stimulated by his passion for Mrs. Stuart, daughter of a Scotch gentleman ; a lady of great beauty, and whose virtue he had hitherto found impregnable :
1067- CHARLES II. 517
But Clarendon, apprehensive of the consequences attending a disputed title, and perhaps anxious for the succession of his own grandchildren, engaged the duke of Richmond to marry Mrs. Stuart, and thereby put an end to the king's hopes. It is pretended that (Charles never forgave this disappointment.
When politics, therefore, and inclination both concurred to make the king sacrifice Clarendon to popular prejudices, the memory of his past services was not able any longer to delay his fall. The great seal was taken from him, and given to sir Orlando Bridgeman, by the title of Lord Keeper. Southampton, the treasurer, was now dead, who had persevered to the utmost in his attachments to the chancellor. The last time he appeared at the council-table, he exerted his friendship with a vigour which neither age nor infirmities could abate. " This man," said he, speaking of Cla- rendon, <(is a true protestant and an honest " Englishman; and while he enjoys power, we " are secure of our laws, liberties, and religion. " I dread the consequences of his removal."
But the fall of the chancellor was not sufficient to gratify the malice of his enemies : his total ruin was resolved on. The duke of York in vain exerted his interest in behalf of his father-in-law. Both prince and people united in promoting that violent measure ; and no means were thought so proper for ingratiating the court with a parliament, which had so long been governed by that very
518 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 16G7.
minister, who was now to be the victim of their prejudices.
Some popular acts paved the way for the session; and the parliament, in their first address, gave the king thanks for these instances of his goodness, and among the rest, they took care to mention his dismission of Clarendon. The king, in reply, assured the houses, that he would never again employ that nobleman in any public office what- soever. Immediately, the charge against him was opened in the house of commons by Mr. Seymour, afterwards sir Edward, and consisted of seventeen ' articles. The house, without examining parti- culars, farther than hearing general affirmations that all would be proved, immediately voted his impeachment. Many of the articles* we know to be either false or frivolous ; and such of them as we are less acquainted with, we may fairly pre- sume to be no better grounded. His advising the sale of Dunkirk seems the heaviest and truest part of the charge ; but a mistake in judgment, al- lowing it to be such, where there appear no symptoms of corruption or bad intentions, it would be very hard to impute as a crime to any minister. The king's necessities, which occasion- ed that measure, cannot, with any appearance of reason, be charged on Clarendon ; and chiefly proceeded from the over-frugal maxims of the parliament itself, in not granting the proper sup- plies to the crown.
* See note [M] vol. X.
1<507. CHARLES II. 519
When the impeachment was carried up to the peers, as it contained an accusation of treason in general, without specifying any particulars, it seemed not a sufficient ground for committing Clarendon to custody. The precedents of Straf- ford and Laud were not, by reason of the vio- lence of the times, deemed a proper authority ; but as the commons still insisted upon his com- mitment, it was necessary to appoint a free con- ference between the houses. The lords persevered in their resolution ; and the commons voted this conduct to be an obstruction to public justice, and a precedent of evil and dangerous tendency. They also chose a committee to draw up a vindi- cation of their own proceedings.
Clarendon, finding that the popular torrent, united to the violence of power, ran with impetuo- sity against him, and that a defence, offered to such prejudiced ears, would be entirely ineffectual, thought proper to withdraw. At Calais he wrote a paper addressed to the house of lords. He there said, that his fortune, which was but moderate, had been gained entirely by the lawful, avowed profits of his office, and by the voluntary bounty of the king ; that during the first years after the restoration he had always concurred in opinion with the other counsellors, men of such reputa- tion that no one could entertain suspicions of their wisdom or integrity ; that his credit soon declined, and however he might disapprove of some mea- sures, he found it vain to oppose them ; that his
$20 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1GG7.
repugnance to the Dutch war, the source of all the public grievances, was always generally known, as well as his disapprobation of many unhappy steps taken in conducting it ; and that whatever pre- tence might be made of public offences, his real crime, that which had exasperated his powerful enemies, was his frequent opposition to exorbitant grants, which the importunity of suitors had ex- torted from his majesty.
CLARENDON'S BANISHMENT-
The lords transmitted this paper to the commons, under the appellation of a libel ; and by a vote of both houses, it was condemned to be burned by the hands of the hangman. The parliament next proceeded to exert their legislative power against Clarendon, and passed a bill of banishment and incapacity, which received the royal assent. He retired into France, where he lived in a private manner. He survived his banishment six years ; and he employed his leisure chiefly in reducing into order the History of the Civil Wars, for which he had before collected materials. The perform- ance does honour to his memory ; and, except Whitlocke's Memorials, is the most candid account of those times, composed by any contemporary author.
Clarendon was always a friend to the liberty and constitution of his country. At the com-
1667. CHARLES II. 521
mencement of the civil wars, he had entered into the late king's service, and was honoured with a great share in the esteem and friendship of that monarch: he was pursued with unrelenting ani- mosity by the long parliament : he had shared all the fortunes, and directed all the counsels, of the present king during his exile: he had- been ad- vanced to the highest trust and offices after the restoration: yet all these circumstances, which might naturally operate with such force, either on resentment, gratitude, or ambition, had no in- fluence on his uncorrupted mind. It is said, that when he first engaged in the study of the law, his father exhorted him with great earnestness to shun the practice too Common in that profession, of straining every point in favour of prerogative, and perverting so useful a science to the oppression of liberty : and in the midst of these rational and virtuous counsels, which he re-iterated, he was suddenly seized with an apoplexy, and expired in his son's presence. This circumstance gave addi- tional weight to the principles which he inculcated. The combination of king and subject to oppress so good a minister affords, to men of opposite dispositions, an equal occasion of inveighing against the ingratitude of princes, or ignorance of the people. Charles seems never to have mi- tigated his resentment against Clarendon; and the national prejudices pursued him to his retreat in France. A company of English soldiers, being quartered near him, assaulted his house, broke
522 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1608.
open the doors, gave him a dangerous wound on the head, and would have proceeded to the last extremities, had not their officers, hearing of the violence, happily interposed.
The next expedient which the king embraced, in order to acquire popularity, is more deserving of praise ; and, had it been steadily pursued, would probably have rendered his reign happy, certainly his memory respected. It is the Triple Alliance of which I speak ; a measure which gave entire satisfaction to the public.
STATE OF FRANCE.
The glory of France, which had long been eclips- ed, either by domestic factions, or by the superior force of the Spanish monarchy, began now to break out with great lustre, and to engage the attention of the neighbouring nations. The in- dependent power and mutinous spirit of the no- bility were subdued : the popular pretensions of the parliament restrained : the Hugonot party reduced to subjection : that extensive and fertile country, enjoying every advantage both of climate and situation, was fully peopled with ingenious and industrious inhabitants : and while the spirit of the nation discovered all the vigour and bravery requisite for great enterprises, it was tamed to an entire submission under the will of the sovereign.
1668. CHARLES II. 523
CHARACTER OF LEWIS XIV.
The sovereign who now filled the throne was well adapted, by his personal character, both to in- crease and to avail himself of these advantages. Lewis XIV. endowed with every quality which could enchant the people, possessed many which merit the approbation of the wise. The masculine beauty of his person was embellished with a noble air: the dignity of his behaviour was tempered with affability and politeness : elegant without effeminacy, addicted to pleasure without neglect- ing business, decent in his very vices, and beloved in the midst of arbitrary power, he surpassed all cotemporary monarchs, as in grandeur, so like- wise in fame and glory.
His ambition, regulated by prudence, not by justice, had carefully provided every means of conquest ; and before he put himself in motion, he seemed to have absolutely ensured success. His finances were brought into order: a naval power created : his armies increased and dis- ciplined : magazines and military stores provided: and though the magnificence of his court was supported beyond all former example, so regular was the ceconomy observed, and so willingly did the people, now enriched by arts and commerce, submit to multiplied taxes, that his military force
524 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l6G3.
much exceeded what in any preceding age had ever been employed by any European monarch.
The sudden decline and almost total fall of the Spanish monarchy opened an inviting field to so enterprising a prince, and seemed to promise him easy and extensive conquests. The other nations of Europe, feeble or ill governed, were astonished at the greatness of his rising empire : and all of them cast their eyes towards England, as the only power which could save them from that subjection with which they seemed to be so nearly threatened.
The animosity which had anciently subsisted between the English and French nations, and which had been suspended for above a century by the jealousy of Spanish greatness, began to revive and to exert itself. The glory of preserving the balance of Europe, a glory so much founded on justice and humanity, flattered the ambition of England ; and the people were eager to provide for their own future security, by opposing the progress of so hated a rival. The prospect of embracing such measures had contributed, among other reasons, to render the peace of Breda so universally acceptable to the nation. By the death of Philip IV. king of Spain, an inviting opportunity, and some very slender pretences, had been afforded to call forth the ambition of Lewis.
At the treaty of the Pyrenees, when Lewis
^668. CHARLES n. v*
espoused the Spanish princess, he had renounced every title of succession to every part of the Spanish monarchy; and this renunciation had been couched in the most accurate and most precise terms that language could afford. But on the death of his father-in-law, he retracted his renunciation, and pretended that natural rights, depending on blood and succession, could not be annihilated by any extorted deed or con- tract. Philip had left a son, Charles II. of Spain ; but as the queen of France was of a former mar- riage, she laid claim to a considerable province of the Spanish monarchy, even to the exclusion of her brother. By the customs of some parts of Brabant, a female of a first marriage was preferred to a male of a second, in the succession to private inheritances ; and Lewis thence inferred, that his queen had acquired a right to the dominion of that important dutchy.
FRENCH INVASION OF THE LOW COUNTRIES.
A claim of this nature was more properly supported by military force than by argument and reasoning. Lewis appeared on the frontiers of the Netherlands with an army of 40,000 men, commanded by the best generals of the age, and provided with every thing necessary for action. The Spaniards, though they might have foreseen this measure, were totally unprepared. Their
526 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1668.
towns, without magazines, fortifications, or gar- risons, fell into the hands of the French king, as soon as he presented himself before them. A the, Lisle, Tournay, Oudenarde, Courtray, Charleroi, Binche, were immediately taken : and it was visible that no force in the Low Countries was able to stop or retard the progress of the French arms.
This measure, executed with such celerity and success, gave great alarm to almost every court in Europe. It had been observed with what dignity, or even haughtiness, Lewis, from the time he began to govern, had ever supported all his rights and pretensions. D'Estrades, the French ambassador, and Watteville the Spanish, having quarrelled in London, on account of their claims for precedency, the French monarch was not satisfied till Spain sent to Paris a solemn embassy, and promised never more to revive such contests. Crequi, his ambassador at Rome, had met with an affront from the pope's guards : the pope, Alex- ander VII. had been constrained to break his guards, to send his nephew to ask pardon, and to allow a pillar to be erected in Rome itself, as a monument of his own humiliation. The king of England too had experienced the high spirit and unsubmitting temper of Lewis. A pretension to superiority in the English flag having been ad- vanced, the French monarch remonstrated with such vigour, and prepared himself to resist with such courage, that Charles found it more prudent
16GS. CHARLES II. 527
to desist from his vain and antiquated claims. The king of England, said Lewis to his ambas- sador D'Estrades, may know my force, but he knows not the sentiments of my heart : every thing appears to me contemptible in comparison of glory q. These measures of conduct had given strong indications of his character : but the in- vasion of Flanders discovered an ambition which, being supported by such overgrown power, me- naced the general liberties of Europe.
As no state lay nearer the danger, none was seized with more terror than the United Pro- vinces. They were still engaged, together with France, in a war against England ; and Lew is had promised them that he would take no step against Spain without previously informing them: but, contrary to this assurance, he kept a total silence, till on the very point of entering upon action. If the renunciation made at the treaty of the Pyrenees was not valid, it was foreseen, that upon the death of the king of Spain, a sickly infant, the whole monarchy would be claimed by Lewis, after which it would be vainly expected to set bounds to his pretensions. Charles, acquainted with these well-grounded apprehensions of the Dutch, had been the more obstinate in insisting on his own conditions at Breda ; and by delaying to sign the treaty, had imprudently exposed him- self to the signal disgrace which he received at
i 25 th of January ^662.
528 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1668.
Chatham. De Wit, sensible that a few weeks delay would be of no consequence in the Low Countries, took this opportunity of striking an important blow, and of finishing the war with honour to himself and to his country.
NEGOTIATIONS.
Negotiations meanwhile commenced for the saving of Flanders ; but no resistance was made to the French arms. The Spanish ministers ex* claimed every where against the flagrant injustice of Lewis's pretensions, and represented it to be the interest of every power in Europe, even more than of Spain itself, to prevent his conquest of the Low Countries. The emperor and the German princes discovered evident symptoms of discon tent ; but their motions were slow and backward. The States, though terrified at the prospect of having their frontier exposed to so formidable a foe, saw no resource, no means of safety. Eng- land indeed seemed disposed to make opposition to the French ; but the variable and impolitic conduct of Charles kept that republic from making him any open advances, by which she might lose the friendship of France, without ac- quiring any new ally. And though Lewis, dread- ing a combination of all Europe, had offered terms of accommodation, the Dutch apprehend- ed lest these, either from the obstinacy of the
1<568. CHARLES II. 529
Spaniards, or the ambition of the French, should never be carried into execution.
Charles resolved with great prudence to take the first step towards a confederacy. Sir William Temple, his resident at Brussels, received orders to go secretly to the Hague, and to concert with the States the means of saving the Netherlands. This man, whom philosophy had taught to despise the world, without rendering him unfit for it, was frank, open, sincere, superior to the little tricks of vulgar politicians : and meeting in de Wit with a man of the same generous and en- larged sentiments, he immediately opened his master's intentions, and pressed a speedy con- clusion. A treaty was from the first negotiated between these two statesmen with the same cor- diality as if it were a private transaction between intimate companions* Deeming the interests of their country the same, they gave full scope to that sympathy of character which disposed them to an entire reliance on each other's professions and engagements. And though jealousy against the house of Orange might inspire de Wit with an aversion to a strict union with England, he generously resolved to sacrifice all private con- siderations to the public service.
Temple insisted on an offensive league between England and Holland, in order to oblige France to relinquish all her conquests : but de Wit told him, that this measure was too bold and pre- cipitate to be agreed to by the States. He said,
VOL. VIII. m M
530 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1668.
that the French were the old and constant allies of the republic; and, till matters came to ex- tremities, she never would deem it prudent to abandon a friendship so well established, and rely entirely on a treaty with England, which had lately waged so cruel a war against her : that ever since the reign of Elizabeth, there had been such a fluctuation in the English councils, that it was not possible, for two years together, to take any sure or certain measures with that kingdom : that though the present ministry, having entered into views so conformable to national interest, promised greater firmness and constancy, it might still be unsafe, in a business of such consequence, to put entire confidence in them : that the French monarch was young, haughty, and powerful ; and if treated in so imperious a manner, would expose himself to the greatest extremities rather than submit : that it was sufficient, if he could be con- strained to adhere to the offers which he himself had already made; and if the remaining provinces of the Low Countries could be thereby saved from the danger, with which they were at present threatened : and that the other powers, in Ger- many and the north, whose assistance they might expect, would be satisfied with putting a stop to the French conquests, without pretending to re- cover the places already lost.
The English minister was content to accept of the terms proposed by the pensionary. Lewis had offered to relinquish all the queen's rights, on
166S- CHARLES II.
331
condition either of keeping the conquests which he had made last campaign, or of receiving, in lieu of them, Franchecomte, together with Cam* bray, Aire, and St. Omers. De Wit and Temple founded their treaty upon this proposal. They agreed to offer their mediation to the contending powers, and oblige France to adhere to this al- ternative, and Spain to accept of it. If Spain refused, they agreed, that France should not pro- secute her claim by arms, but leave it entirely to England and Holland to employ force for making the terms effectual. And the remainder of the Low Countries they thenceforth guaranteed to Spain. A defensive alliance was likewise con- cluded between Holland and England.
The articles of this confederacy were soon ad- justed by such candid and able negotiators : but the greatest difficulty still remained. By the con- stitution of the republic, all the towns in all the provinces must give their consent to every al- liance ; and besides that this formality could not be dispatched in less than two months, it was justly to be dreaded, that the influence of France would obstruct the passing of the treaty in some of the smaller cities. D'Estrades, the French ambassador, a man of abilities, hearing of the league which was on the carpet, treated it lightly ; " Six weeks hence," said he, " we shall speak " to it." To obviate this difficulty, de Wit had the courage, for the public good, to break through the laws in so fundamental an article ; and by his 2
532 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1668.
authority, he prevailed with the States General at once to sign and ratify the league : though they acknowledged that, if that measure should dis- please their constituents, they risked their heads by this irregularity. After sealing, all parties embraced with great cordiality. Temple cried out, At Breda, as friends : here as brothers. And de Wit added, that now the matter was finished it looked like a miracle.
TRIPLE LEAGUE.
Room had been left in the treaty for the accession of Sweden, which was soon after obtained ; and thus was concluded in five days their triple league; an event received with equal surprise and appro- bation by the world. Notwithstanding the un- fortunate conclusion of the last war, England now appeared in her proper station, and, by this wise conduct, had recovered all her influence and credit in Europe. Temple likewise received great applause ; but to all the compliments made him on the occasion, he modestly replied, that to re- move things from their centre, or proper element, required force and labour ; but that of themselves they easily returned to it.
The French monarch was extremely displeased with this measure. Not only bounds were at pre- sent set to his ambition : such a barrier was also raised as seemed for ever impregnable. And
1W8. CHARLES II. 53S
though his own offer was made the foundation of the treaty, he had prescribed so short a time for the acceptance of it, that he still expected, from the delays and reluctance of Spain, to find some opportunity of eluding it. The court of Madrid showed equal displeasure. To relinquish any part of the Spanish provinces, in lieu of claims, so apparently unjust, and these urged with such violence and haughtiness, inspired the highest dis- gust. Often did the Spaniards threaten to abandon entirely the Low Countries, rather than submit to so cruel a mortification ; and they endeavoured, by this menace, to terrify the mediating powers into more vigorous measures for their support. But Temple and de Wit were better acquainted with the views and interests of Spain. They knew, that she must still retain the Low Coun- tries, as a bond of connection with the other European powers, who alone, if her young mon- arch should happen to die without issue, could insure her independency against the pretensions of France. They still urged, therefore, the terms of the triple league, and threatened Spain with war in case of refusal. The plenipotentiaries of all the powers met at Aix-la-Chapelle. Temple was minister for England ; Van Beuninghen for Holland ; D'Ohna for Sweden.
334 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1668.
TREATY OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.
Spain at last, pressed on all hands, accepted of the alternative offered ; but in her very com- pliance, she gave strong symptoms of ill-humour and discontent. It had been apparent, that the Hollanders, entirely neglecting the honour of the Spanish monarchy, had been anxious only for their own security ; and, provided they could remove Lewis to a distance from their frontier, were more indifferent what progress he made in other places. Sensible of these views, the queen- regent of Spain resolved still to keep them in an anxiety, which might for the future be the found- ation of an union more intimate than they were willing at present to enter into. Franchecomt6, by a vigorous and well-concerted plan of the French king, had been conquered, in fifteen days, during a rigorous season, and in the midst of winter. She chose, therefore, to recover this province, and to abandon all the towns conquered in Flanders during the last campaign. By this means, Lewis extended his garrisons into the heart of the Low Countries ; and a very feeble barrier remained to the Spanish provinces.
But notwithstanding the advantages of his situation, the French monarch could entertain small hopes of ever extending his conquests on that quarter, which lay the most exposed to his
1663. CHARLES II.
535
ambition, and where his acquisitions were of most importance. The triple league guaranteed the remaining provinces to Spain ; and the emperor and other powers of Germany, whose interest seemed to be intimately concerned, were invited to enter into the same confederacy. Spain herself, having, about this time, under the mediation of Charles, made peace on equal terms with Portugal, might be expected to exert more vigour and op position to her haughty and triumphant rival. The great satisfaction, expressed in England, on account of the counsels now embraced by the court, promised the hearty concurrence of parlia- ment in every measure which could be proposed for opposition to the grandeur of France. And thus all Europe seemed to repose herself with security under the wings of that powerful con- federacy, which had been so happily formed for her protection. It is now time to give some account of the state of affairs in Scotland and in Ireland.
AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND.
The Scottish nation, though they had never been subject to the arbitrary power of their prince, had but very imperfect notions of law and liberty ; and scarcely in any age had they ever enjoyed an ad- ministration, which had confined itself within the proper boundaries. By their final union alone
536 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1G68.
with England, their once hated adversary, they have happily attained the experience of a govern- ment perfectly regular, and exempt from all violence and injustice. Charles, from his aversion to business, had intrusted the affairs of that coun-* try to his ministers, particularly Middleton ; and these could not forbear making very extraordinary stretches of authority.
There had been intercepted a letter, Avritten by lord Lome to lord Duffus, in which, a little too plainly, but very truly, he complained, that his enemies had endeavoured by falsehood to pre- possess the king against him. But he said, that he had now discovered them, had defeated them, and had gained the person, meaning the earl of Clarendon, upon whom the chief of them de- pended. This letter was produced before the parliament; and Lome was tried upon an old tyrannical, absurd law against Leasing-making ; by which it was rendered criminal to belie the subjects to the king, or create in him an ill opinion of them. He was condemned to die : but Charles was much displeased with the sentence, and granted him a pardon \
It was carried in parliament, that twelve per- sons, without crime, Avitness, trial, or accuser, should be declared incapable of all trust or office; and to render this injustice more egregious, it was agreed, that these persons should be named
• Burnet, p. 149.
3<568. CHARLES II. 537
by ballot : a method of voting which several re- publics had adopted at elections, in order to prevent faction and intrigue; but which could serve only as a cover to malice and iniquity, in the inflicting of punishments. Lauderdale, Craw- ford, and sir Robert Murray, among others, were incapacitated : but the king, who disapproved of this injustice, refused his assent *.
An act was passed against all persons, who should move the king for restoring the children of those who were attainted by parliament ; an unheard of restraint on applications for grace and mercy. No penalty was affixed ; but the act was but the more violent and tyrannical on that account. The court-lawyers had established it as a maxim, that the assigning of a punishment was a limitation of the crown: whereas a law, forbidding any thing, though without a penalty, made the offenders criminal. And in that case, they determined, that the punishment was arbi- trary ; only that it could not extend to life. Mid- dleton as commissioner passed this act ; though he had no instructions for that purpose.
An act of indemnity passed ; but at the same time it was voted, that all those who had offended during the late disorders, should be subjected to fines; and a committee of parliament was ap- pointed for imposing them. These proceeded without any regard to some equitable rules, which
4 Burnet, p. 152.
538 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1668.
the king had prescribed to themu. The most obnoxious compounded secretly. No consider- ation was had, either of men's riches, or of the degrees of their guilt : no proofs were produced : inquiries were not so much as made : but as fast as information was given in against any man, he w,as marked down for a particular fine : and all was transacted in a secret committee. When the list was read in parliament, exceptions were made to several : some had been under age during the civil wars ; some had been abroad. But it was still replied, that a proper time would come, when every man should be heard in his own defence. The only intention, it was said, of setting the fines was, that such persons should have no benefit by the act of indemnity, unless they paid the sum demanded : every one that chose to stand upon his innocence, and renounce the benefit of the indemnity, might do it at his peril. It was well known, that no one would dare so far to set at defiance so arbitrary an administration. The king wrote to the council, ordering them to supersede the levying of those fines : but Middleton found means, during some time, to elude these orders x. And at last, the king obliged his ministers to compound for half the sums which had been im- posed. In all these transactions, and in most others, which passed during the present reign, we still find the moderating hand of the king, inter-
■ Burnet, p. 147. * Id. p. 201.
,6°8- CHARLES II. 53y
posed to protect the Scots from the oppressions which their own countrymen, employed in the ministry, were desirous of exercising over them. But the chief circumstance, whence were de- rived all the subsequent tyranny and disorders in Scotland, was the execution of the laws for the establishment of episcopacy ; a mode of govern- ment, to which a great part of the nation had entertained an unsurmountable aversion. The rights of patrons had for some years been abolish- ed ; and the power of electing ministers had been vested in the kirk-session, and lay-elders. It was now enacted, that all incumbents, who had been admitted upon this title, should receive a present- ation from the patron, and should be instituted anew by the bishop, under the penalty of depriv- ation. The more rigid presbyterians concerted measures among themselves, and refused obe- dience : they imagined that their number would protect them. Three hundred and fifty parishes, above a third of the kingdom, were at once de- clared vacant. The western counties chiefly were obstinate in this particular. New ministers were sought for all over the kingdom; and no one was so ignorant or vicious as to be rejected. The people, who loved extremely and respected their former teachers ; men remarkable for the severity of their manners, and their fervor in preaching ; were inflamed against these intruders, who had obtained their livings under such invidious circum- stances, and who took no care, by the regularity of
510 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1669.
their manners, to soften the prejudices entertained against them. Even most of those who retained their livings by compliance, fell under the im- putation of hypocrisy, either by their shewing a disgust to the new model of ecclesiastical govern- ment, which they had acknowledged ; or, on the other hand, by declaring that their former ab- horrence to presbytery and the covenant had been the result of violence and necessity. And as Middleton and the new ministry indulged them- selves in great riot and disorder, to which the nation had been little accustomed, an opinion universally prevailed, that any form of religion, offered by such hands, must be profane and impious.
The people, notwithstanding their discontents, were resolved to give no handle against them, by the least symptom of mutiny or sedition : but this submissive disposition, instead of procuring a mitigation of the rigours, was made use of as an argument for continuing the same measures, which, by their vigour, it was pretended, had pro- duced so prompt an obedience. The king, how- ever, was disgusted with the violence of Mid dletony; and he made Rothes commissioner in his place. This nobleman was already president of the council ; and soon after was made lord keeper and treasurer. Lauderdale still continued secretary of state, and commonly resided at London.
y Burnet, p. 202.
1658- CHARLES II.
541
Affairs remained in a peaceable state, till the severe law was made in England against con- venticles2. The Scottish parliament imitated that violence, by passing a like act. A kind of high commission court was appointed by the privy- council, for executing this rigorous law, and for the direction of ecclesiastical affairs. But even this court, illegal as it might be deemed, was preferable to the method next adopted. Military force was let loose by the council. Wherever the people had generally forsaken their churches, the guards were quartered throughout the country. Sir James Turner commanded them, a man whose natural ferocity of temper was often inflamed by the use of strong liquors. He went about, and received from the clergy lists of those who ab- sented themselves from church, or were supposed to frequent conventicles. Without any proof or * legal conviction, he demanded a fine from them, and quartered soldiers on the supposed delin- quents, till he received payment. As an insur- rection was dreaded during the Dutch war, new forces were levied, and intrusted to the command of Dalziel and Drummond ; two officers, who had served the king during the civil wars, and had afterwards engaged in the service of Russia, where they had increased the native cruelty of their disposition. A full career was given to their tyranny by the Scottish ministry. Reprcsent-
1<5G4.
542 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1(563.
ations were made to the king against these enor- mities. He seemed touched with the state of the country; and besides giving orders, that the eccle* siastical commission should be discontinued, he signified his opinion, that another way of pro- ceeding was necessary for his service*.
This lenity of the king's came too late to remedy the disorders. The people, inflamed with bigotry, and irritated by ill usage, rose in arms. They were instigated by Guthry, Semple, and other preachers. They surprised Turner in Dum- fries, and resolved to have put him to death ; but finding, that his orders, which fell into their hands, were more violent than his execution of them, they spared his life. At Laneric, after many prayers, they renewed the covenant, and publish* ed their manifesto; in which they professed all submission to the king : they desired only the re- establishment of presbytery and of their former ministers. As many gentlemen of their party had been confined on suspicion ; Wallace and Learmont, two officers, who had served, but in no high rank, were entrusted by the populace with the command. Their force never exceeded two thousand men ; and though the country in general bore them favour, men's spirits were so subdued, that the rebels could expect no farther accession of numbers. Dalziel took the field to oppose their progress. Their number was now
a Burnet, p. 213.
1GG8. CHARLES II.
M3
diminished to eight hundred; and these, having advanced near Edinburgh, attempted to find their way back into the west by Pentland Hills. They were attacked by the king's forces b. Finding that they could not escape, they stopped their march. Their clergy endeavoured to infuse courage into them. After singing some psalms, the rebels turned on the enemy ; and being assisted by the advantage of the ground, they received the first charge very resolutely. But that was all the action : immediately they fell into disorder, and fled for their lives. About forty were killed on the spot, and a hundred and thirty taken prisoners. The rest, favoured by the night, and by the weariness, and even by the pity of the king's troops, made their escape.
The oppressions which these people had suffer- ed, the delusions under which they laboured, and their inoffensive behaviour during the insur- rection, made them the objects of compassion. Yet were the king's ministers, particularly Sharpe, resolved to take severe vengeance. Ten were hanged on one gibbet at Edinburgh : thirty-five before their own doors in different places. These criminals might all have saved their lives, if they would have renounced the covenant. The exe- cutions were going on, when the king put a stop to them. He said, that blood enough had al- ready been shed, and he wrote a letter to the
fc 28th November 1666.
544 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1668.
privy- council, in which he ordered that such of the prisoners as should simply promise to obey the laws for the future, should be set at liberty, and that the incorrigible should be sent to the plantations c. This letter was brought by Burnet, archbishop of Glasgow; but not being imme- diately delivered to the council by Sharpe, the president d, one Maccail, had in the interval been put to the torture, under which he expired. He seemed to die in an ecstasy of joy. " Farewel " sun, moon, and stars ; farewel world and time; " farewel weak and frail body : welcome eternity, " welcome angels and saints, welcome Saviour of " the world, and welcome God, the judge of " all !" Such were his last words ; and these ani- mated speeches he uttered with an accent and manner, which struck all the byestanders with astonishment.
AFFAIRS OF IRELAND.
The settlement of Ireland, after the restoration, was a work of greater difficulty than that of England, or even of Scotland. Not only the power, during the former usurpations, had there been vested in the king's enemies: the whole property, in a manner, of the kingdom had also been changed ; and it became necessary to redress,
c Burnet, p. 237. d Wodrow's History, vol. i. p. 255.
l6(*- CHARLES II.
54S
but with as little violence as possible, many griev* ous hardships and iniquities, which were there complained of.
The Irish catholics had in 1648 concluded a treaty with Ormond, the king's lieutenant, in which they had stipulated pardon for their past re- bellion, and had engaged under certain conditions to assist the royal cause: and though the violence of the priests and the bigotry of the people had prevented, in a great measure, the execution of this treaty; yet were there many, who having strictly, at the hazard of their lives, adhered to it, seemed on that account well entitled to reap the fruits of their loyalty. Cromwel, having without distinction expelled all the native Irish from the three provinces of Munster, Leinster, and Ulster, had confined them to Connaught and the county of Clare ; and among those who had thus been forfeited, were many whose innocence was alto* gether unquestionable. Several protestants like- wise, and Ormond among the rest, had all along opposed the Irish rebellion ; yet having afterwards embraced the king's cause against the parliament, they were all of them attainted by Cromwel. And there were many officers who had, from the com* mencement of the insurrection, served in Ireland, and who, because they would not desert the king, had been refused all their arrears by the English commonwealth.
To all these unhappy sufferers some justice seemed to be due : but the difficulty was to find
VOL. VIII. N tf
.140 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1668.
the means of redressing such great and extensive iniquities. Almost all the valuable parts of Ire- land had been measured out and divided, either to the adventurers, who had lent money to the parliament for the suppression of the Irish rebel- lion, or to the soldiers, who had received land in lieu of their arrears. These could not be dispos- sessed, because they were the most powerful and only armed part of Ireland ; because it was requi- site to favour them, in order to support the pro- testant and English interest in that kingdom ; and because they had generally, with seeming zeal and alacrity, concurred in the king's restoration. The king, therefore, issued a proclamation ; in which he promised to maintain their settlement, and at the same time engaged to give redress to innocent sufferers. There was a quantity of land as yet undivided in' Ireland ; and from this and some other funds, it was thought possible for the king to fulfil both these engagements.
A court of claims was erected, consisting al- together of English commissioners, who had no connexion with any of the parties, into which Ire- land was divided. Before these were laid four thousand claims of persons craving restitution on account of their innocence ; and the commission- ers had found leisure to examine only six hundred. It already appeared, that, if all these were to be restored, the funds, whence the adventurers and soldiers must get reprisals, would fall short of giving them any tolerable satisfaction. A great
1663. CHARLES II. 547
alarm and anxiety seized all ranks of men : the hopes and fears of every party were excited: these eagerly grasped at recovering their paternal inheritance : those were resolute to maintain their new acquisitions.
The duke of Ormond was created lord-lieu- tenant ; being the only person, whose prudence and equity could compose such jarring interests. A parliament was assembled at Dublin ; and as the lower house was almost entirely chosen by the soldiers and adventurers, who still kept possession, it was extremely favourable to that interest. The house of peers shewed greater impartiality.
An insurrection was projected, together with a surprisal of the castle of Dublin, by some of the disbanded soldiers ; but this design was happily defeated by the vigilance of Ormond. Some of the criminals were punished. Blood, the most de- sperate of them, escaped into England.
But affairs could not long remain in the con- fusion and uncertainty into which they had fallen. All parties seemed willing to a' ate somewhat of their pretensions, in order to attain some stability; and Ormond interposed his authority for that purpose. The soldiers and adventurers agreed to relinquish a third of their possessions; and as they had purchased their lands at very low prices, they had reason to think themselves favoured by this composition. All those, who had been at- tainted on account of their adhering to the king, were restored; and some of the innocent Irish.
548 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1608.
It was a hard situation, that a man was obliged to prove himself innocent in order to recover pos- session of the estate which he and his ancestors had ever enjoyed : but the hardship was augment- ed, by the difficult conditions annexed to this proof. If the person had ever lived in the quarters of the rebels, he was not admitted to plead his innocence ; and he was, for that reason alone, supposed to have been a rebel. The heinous guilt of the Irish nation made men the more readily overlook any iniquity, which might fall on individuals ; and it was considered, that, though it be always the interest of all good government to prevent injustice, it is not always possible to remedy it, after it has had a long course, and has been attended with great successes.
Ireland began to attain a state of some com- posure when it was disturbed by a violent act, passed by the English parliament, which prohibited the importation of Irish cattle into England6. Ormond remonstrated strongly against this law. He said, that the present trade, carried on be- tween England and Ireland, was extremely to the advantage of the former kingdom, which received only provisions or rude materials, in return for every species of manufacture : that if the cattle of Ireland were prohibited, the inhabitants of that island had no other commodity, by which they could pay England for their importations, and
• In 1666.
1<568. CHARLES II. 549
must have recourse to other nations for a supply : that the industrious inhabitants of England, if deprived of Irish provisions, which made living cheap, would be obliged to augment the price of labour, and thereby render their manufactures too dear to be exported to foreign markets : that the indolent inhabitants of Ireland, finding provisions fall almost to nothing, would never be induced to labour, but would perpetuate to all generations their native sloth and barbarism : that by cutting off almost entirely the trade between the kingdoms, all the natural bands of union were dissolved, and nothing remained to keep the Irish in their duty but force and violence : and that, by reducing that kingdom to extreme poverty, it would be even rendered incapable of maintaining that mili- tary power, by which, during its well-grounded discontents, it must necessarily be retained in subjection.
The king was so much convinced of the just- ness of these reasons, that he used all his interest to oppose the bill, and he openly declared, that he could not give his assent to it with a safe con- science. But the commons were resolute in their purpose. Some of the rents of England had fallen of late years, which had been ascribed entirely to the importation of Irish cattle : several intrigues had contributed to inflame that prejudice, par- ticularly those of Buckingham and Ashley, who were desirous of giving Ormond disturbance in his government : and the spirit of tyranny of
&50 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. l€6a.
which nations are as susceptible as individuals, had extremely animated the English to exert their superiority over their dependent state. No affair could be conducted with greater violence than this was by the commons. They even went so far in the preamble of the bill as to declare the im- portation of Irish cattle to be a nuisance. By this expression they gave scope to their passion, and at the same time barred the king's prerogative, by which he might think himself entitled to dispense with a law so full of injustice and bad policy. The lords expunged the word : but as the king was sensible that no supply would be given by the commons, unless they were gratified in their prejudices, he was obliged both to employ his in- terest with the peers for making the bill pass, and to give the royal assent to it. He could not, how- ever, forbear expressing his displeasure at the jealousy entertained against him, and at the in- tention which the commons discovered of retrench- ing his prerogative.
This law brought great distress for some time upon the Irish; but it has occasioned their apply- ing with greater industry to manufactures, and has proved in the issue beneficial to that kingdom.
END OF VOLUME VIII.
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