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A HISTORY
OF
ENGLAND
FROM THE FIRST
INVASION BY THE ROMANS.
1SY
JOHN LINGARD, D.D.
VOLUME XII.
SECOND EDITION.
LONDON: PRINTED FOR BALDWIN AND CRADOCK;
AND
B. FELLON'ES, SUCCESSOR TO MR. MAWMAN,
LUDGATE-HILL.
MDCCCXXIX.
ISAAC FOOT LIBRARY
C. Baldwin, Printer, New Bridgo-street, London.
CONTENTS
OF
THE TWELFTH VOLUME.
CHAP. I. CHARLES II.
THE NEW COUNCIL — PROCEEDINGS IN THE CONVENTION PARLIAMENT
TRIALS AND EXECUTION OF THE REGICIDES ECCLESIASTICAL
ARRANGEMENTS CONFERENCE AT THE SAVOY RISING OF THE
FIFTH-MONARCHY MEN NEW PARLIAMENT EXECUTION OF VANE
CORPORATION ACT ACT OF UNIFORMITY PARLIAMENT IN SCOT- LAND EXECUTION OF ARGYLE RESTORATION OF EPISCOPACY IN
SCOTLAND ALSO IN IRELAND ACT OF SETTLEMENT AND EXPLA- NATORY ACT FOR IRELAND.
PAGE
Conduct of the king 3
His council 3
The two houses 5
Confirmation of parliament. . 6'
Grants to the crown 7
Court of wards abolished . . 8
The excise perpetuated .... Q
Disbanding of the army .... 10
Bill of indemnity 12
Fate of the regicides 14
Executions 16
Punishment of the dead . . 18 Revolution in landed pro- perty 20
Ecclesiastical arrangement. . 22
Royal declaration 23
Policy of the chancellor .... 27
Insurrections 28
New parliament 30
VOL. xn.
PAGE
Acts passed 31
King's poverty 32
Reports of conspiracies .... 33 King refuses the execution
of the other conspirators 34
Trials of Lambert and Vane 35
Corporation act 39
Conferences at the Savoy . . 41
Act of uniformity 42
The lords more liberal than
the commons 44
Bishops restored to seats in
parliament 45
Petition of the catholics .... 46
Transactions in Scotland . . 40
Proceedings in parliament, . 51
Rescissory act 53
Trial of Argyle 54
His condemnation and death 57
a2
IV
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Other executions 58
Restoration of bishops .... 5$ Rccal of the English garri- sons 62
Transactions in Ireland .... 63
Restoration of bishops .... 64 Disputes respecting landed
property 65
PAGE
King's declaration 66
The contending parties heard
before the council 68
Decisions of the court of
claims 69
Intrigues of the occupiers . . 70
Final settlement 72
Its consequences 74
CHAP. II.
MARRIAGE OF THE DUKE OF YORK OF THE KING SALE OF DUN- KIRK INDULGENCE TO TENDER CONSCIENCES ACT AGAINST CON- VENTICLES WAR WITH THE UNITED PROVINCES GREAT NAVAL
VICTORY THE PLAGUE IN LONDON FIVE MILE ACT OBSTINATE
ACTIONS AT SEA GREAT FIRE OF LONDON PROCEEDINGS IN PAR- LIAMENT INSURRECTION IN SCOTLAND SECRET TREATY WITH
FRANCE CONFERENCES OPENED AT BREDA THE DUTCH FLEET IN
THE THAMES PEACE OF BREDA FALL OF CLARENDON.
PAGE
National immorality 76
James's private marriage . . 78 Disapproved by the royal fa- mily 79
Publicly acknowledged .... 81 Marriage of the princess
Henrietta 82
Portuguese match proposed
to Charles 82
Opposition of the Spanish
ambassador 85
The French king advises it 86
Resolved in council 87
Rencontre between the two
ambassadors 88
Arrival of the princess .... 90
King's behaviour to her. ... 91
Sale of Dunkirk i)5
Disputes respecting tolera- tion 98
Declaration of indulgence. . 100
Disapproved by both houses 101-
page
Conventicle act 108
Complaints against the Dutch 111 Contrast between the king
and his brother 112
Address of the two houses. . 114 Hostilities commenced against
the Dutch 116
Supply voted lis
New method of taxation . . 119 Loss of privilege by the clergy 1 20
Naval regulations 121
Victory of the third of June 123 The plague in London .... 125 Regulations to suppress it.. 127 Symptoms of the disease . . 129
Terrors of the people 130
Desolation of the city .... 131
The pestilence abates 132
Failure of the attempt at
Bergen 134.
Captures by sea 136
Parliament at Oxford 137
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Five-mile act 139
Louis unites with the Dutch 141
Treaties 143
The four days' battle 144
Intrigues of Louis 147
Operations by sea 148
Fire of London 149
Exertions of the king .... 152
End of the conflagration . . 153
Its extent 153
Its cause 154
Proceedings in parliament. . 156
Debate on Irish cattle 157
auditing public ac- counts 159
Insurrection in Scotland... 16*0 Difficulty of fitting out the
fleet 162
Secret treaty with Louis . . 165
Dutch fleet in the river. . . . 167
PAGE
Dutch fleet advances to Up-
nor 169
Public discontent 170
Treaty of peace 171
Clarendon's unpopularity .. 172 impeached by Bris- tol 175
— abandoned by the
king 176
■ deprived of the
seal 179
impeached by the
commons 180
protected by the
lords 181
i ordered to quit
the kingdom by
Charles 182
. banished by act of
parliament .... 183
CHAP. III.
THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE SECRET NEGOTIATION WITH FRANCE CON- VERSION OF THE DUKE OF YORK INTRIGUES TO ALTER THE SUC- CESSION— DIVORCE OF LORD ROOS VISIT OF THE DUCHESS OF
ORLEANS SECRET TREATY WITH FRANCE DEATH OF THE
DUCHESS SECOND SECRET TREATY MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS
CHARACTER OF THE CABAL STOPPAGE OF PAYMENTS FROM THE
EXCHEQUER DECLARATION OF INDULGENCE — OF WAR AGAINST
Till: STATES VICTORY AT SOUTHWOLD BAY FRENCH CONQUESTS
BY LAND PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT THE INDULGENCE RE- CALLED— THE TEST ACT PASSED.
PAGE
The new ministry 186
Triple alliance 187
Temple sent to the Hague. . 188 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. . 191 Proceedings in parliament . 192 Dispute between the houses 194 Licentiousness at court.... 196 Buckingham's intrigues .... 198
Financial measure J 9!)
Secret negotiation with France 200
PAGE
Duke of York becomes a ca- tholic 201
Secret consultation 202
Progress of the negotiation. . 204
Meeting of parliament .... 206
New conventicle act ...... 207
Sufferings of the non-con- formists 208
Intrigues to alter the succes- sion 210
In favour of Monmouth. ... 210
VI
CONTENTS.
PAGE
By a divorce 211
A supply voted 214
Visit of the duchess of Or- leans 215
Contents of the secret treaty 216
Death of the duchess 218
Second treaty 219
Charles's evasions 220
Meeting of parliament .... 221
Assault on Coventry 222
Proceedings against the Ca- tholics 223
Dispute between the houses 224 Death of the queen dowager 225
. — duke of Albemarle 226
Narrow escape of Ormond. . 227 Attempt to steal the crown. . 228 Death of the duchess of York 230
The cabal 232
Arlington 233
CHflbrd 234
Buckingham 234
Lauderdale 235
Ashley 236
Their religion 237
They shut up the exchequer 238 Fail in an attack on the Dutch fleet 240
rAoii
indulgence to dissen-
Grant
ters 7 243
Which is accepted by them. . 244
Declaration of war 246
Naval aflairs 248
Battle of Southwold Bay . . 248 Conduct of the duke of York 249 Death of the earl of Sand- wich 250
Victory of the English .... 251 They pursue the Dutch. . . . 252 Conquest by the French . . 252 Proceedings in England. . . . 256 Clifford made treasurer. ... 258 Elections during the proro- gation 258
Opening of parliament .... 259
New elections cancelled. ... 260
The supply voted 26l
Address against the declara-
tion of indulgence 262
The king appeals to the lords 264
He cancels the declaration. . 265
Test act introduced 266
passed 269
Dissenters' relief bill 271
Remarks 272
CHAP. IV.
NAVAL ACTIONS DISGRACE OF SHAFTESBURY ADDRESSES AGAINST
LAUDERDALE AND BUCKINGHAM IMPEACHMENT OF ARLINGTON
CONCLUSION OF PEACE DESIGN OF EXCLUDING THE DUKE OF YORK
REPEATED PROROGATIONS OF PARLIAMENT — INTRIGUES OF MON- MOUTH OF ARLINGTON PROCEEDINGS OF THE POPULAR PARTY
NON-RESISTING TEST OF DANBY DISPUTE RESPECTING APPEALS
ANOTHER .SESSION — REVIVAL OF THE DISPUTE MOTION FOR DIS- SOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT — PROCEEDINGS IN SCOTLAND AND
IRELAND.
PAGE
Campaigns by land 275
Resignations 276
Actions at sea 278
Congress at Cologne '279
PAGE
Meeting and prorogation of
parliament 280
Disgrace of Shaftesbury. . . . 282 Marriage of the duke of York 284
CONTENTS.
VII
PAGE
Twelfth session of parlia- ment 285
Removal of ministers 287
Proceedings against Lauder- dale 289
Bucking- ham 289
' Arling- ton 291
Orders of the house of lords 292 Proposals of peace from the
States , , . 293
Treaty 295
Designs against the duke of
York 296
Projects of that prince 298
Prorogation of parliament . . 299
The duke of Monmouth 300
Intrigues of the prince of
Orange 302
Shaftesbury .. 303
Arlington 304
Plans of the opposition .... 307
ministry 309
Remonstrance of the duke of
York 311
Opening of the session .... 311 Proceedings in the house of commons d 312
PAGE
Non-resisting test in the
house of lords 316
Debate on the declaration. . 318
on the oath 319
Objections 321
The test as amended in the
committee 323
Dispute respecting appeals. . 324
Prorogation 326
Another session 327
Renewal of the contest be- tween the houses 329
Account of Luzancy 332
Transactions in Scotland . . 335 Attempt on the life of Sharp 336 Indulgence to ejected mi- nisters 337
Proceedings in parliament. . 339 Act against field conventicles 341 Attempt at "comprehension" 342 The second indulgence. . . . 343 Opposition in parliament . . 345 Increase of conventicles. . . . 347
Ireland 348
Recal of Ormond 348
Claims of the natives 350
Commission of review 350
Commission dissolved 351
Notes 353
ERRATA.
VOL. III.
Page 41 j note, for Chester, read, Chichester : for Oxford, read,
Exeter. Page 95, for cathedral, read, abbey church of Glocester.
VI.
Page 93, near the bottom, after Surrey, add son of the Duke
of Norfolk. Page Q4>, in the margin, for May 1 8, read Sep. 23.
VIII.
Page 519, note 5, dele, vers le soir.
520, for huguenot writers, read, national writers.
IX.
Page 91, for 300,000, read 30,000.
x.
Page 453, for Duke of York, read, Glocestei
HISTORY
OF
ENGLAND.
CHAP. I. CHARLES II.
THE NEW COUNCIL — PROCEEDINGS IN THE CONVENTION PAR- LIAMENT TRIALS AND EXECUTION OP THE REGICIDES
ECCLESIASTICAL ARRANGEMENTS CONFERENCE AT THE
SAVOY RISING OF THE FIFTH-MONARCHY MEN NEW PAR- LIAMENT EXECUTION OF VANE CORPORATION ACT ACT OF
UNIFORMITY PARLIAMENT IN SCOTLAND EXECUTION OF
ARGYLE RESTORATION OF EPISCOPACY IN SCOTLAND ALSO
IN IRELAND ACT OF SETTLEMENT AND EXPLANATORY ACT
FOR IRELAND.
NEVER, perhaps, did any event in the history CHAP, of this nation produce such general and exuberant joy as the return of Charles to take possession of the throne of his fathers. To the abolition of monarchy men attributed all the evils which they had suffered : from its restoration they predicted the revival of peace and prosperity. The known enemies of the royal cause slunk away to hide themselves from the effects of popular excitation :
VOL. XII. B
1660.
I.
1660.
2 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, its triumph was everywhere celebrated with the usual manifestations of public joy ; and the arms of the commonwealth, with all the emblems of republicanism, were subjected to the foulest in- dignities and reduced to ashes. To keep alive the flame of loyalty, the royalists circulated in cheap publications most flattering portraits of the new king. He was described as a prince of kindly disposition and engaging manners ; of sound judgment and becoming spirit ; and, above all, of the most inflexible attachment to the doctrines of protestantism, an attachment which had stood the test of temptation in circumstances the most trying and seductive. That there was some truth in these representations cannot be denied ; but one half of the picture was concealed : it should have been added, that he was easy and indolent, the votary of dissipation and pleasure, and always ready to postpone the calls of business for the attraction of the ball-room, or the company of his mistresses. His advisers had persuaded them- selves that the follies of the youth would be redeemed by the virtues of the man. But he had now reached his thirtieth year without amend- ment. He had, indeed, made promises ; had more than once torn himself from the unworthy con- nexions to which he was enslaved ; and had on emergencies displayed an energy deserving of that splendid prize to which he aspired. But these were transient efforts : he quickly relapsed into his former habits, and resumed with new relish the pursuit of enjoyment.
CHARLES II. '.
Charles, however, on his arrival, did not suffer CHAP. himself to be dazzled by the splendid prospect 16!60 around him. He was aware that his throne still
rested on a very insecure foundation ; he saw the of0"^1 dangers which he had to avert, and the difficulties kiuS- which he had to overcome ; and he formed a strong and, as he fancied, unalterable resolution, to devote his chief attention to the business of government, and to suffer no pleasure, no amour, to seduce him from the duties of his high office. His ministers congratulated each other on the change wrought in the habits of their sovereign. But he soon began to feel uneasy under the restraint ; he was so beset with difficulties from the never-ceasing claims of the old royalists and of his more recent adherents ; he found himself so perplexed by the increasing multitude of affairs submitted to his consideration, that he gradually emancipated himself from the trammels, and sought relaxation in the company of the gay, the witty, and the dissolute. The consequence was, that he not only neglected his duties, but often suffered his mind to be prejudiced against the advice of his council by the sallies and sarcasms of his profligate companions l.
To an observant eye that council presented a His coun- singular assemblage of men, devoted to different cl '
1 Continuation of Clarendon's Life written by himself, 21, 49, 167. Oxford, 17.5!). In the subsequent pages I shall refer to this work under the name of Clarendon alone. Pepys, Diary, 37. 8vo.
B 2
■* HISTORY Or ENGLAND.
CHAP, parties, and professing opposite principles. In 1(16'0> the first place, were seen the royal brothers,
■ James and Henry, who owed the distinction to
their birth, with Hyde the chancellor, Ormond the lord-steward, lord Culpepper master of the rolls, and secretary Nicholas, the four counsellors who had possessed the confidence of the king during his exile. Then came the lord-general, who by his recent conduct had indissolubly bound up his own lot with the fortunes of the house of Stuart, Morris the friend and confidant of the general, and two or three others, whose chief merit was the recommendation of Monk, grounded on the promises which he had made during the late revolution. With these two classes Charles was advised to associate all the surviving coun- sellors of his late father before the war ; a measure which, with a few who had faithfully adhered to the royal interests, introduced several who had maintained the cause of the parliament against that of the crown. It is evident that, on a council thus constituted, the king would look partly with distrust, partly with aversion. A remedy was discovered by the ingenuity of the chancellor, at whose suggestion the council ap- pointed a committee of foreign affairs, consisting of himself, Ormond, Southampton, the lord treasurer, Monk, Nicholas, and Morris. These met for the purpose of considering the relations of the English with the other crowns of Europe ; but they employed the opportunity of meeting to
CHARLES II. i
debate and decide, without the knowledge of their CHAP, colleagues, every question concerning the internal 16g0
administration of the kingdom. The same subjects
were, indeed, afterwards submitted to the con- sideration of the whole council ; but Charles had already adopted the opinion of the secret cabinet ; and the dissenters were either silenced by the reasoning of the favourite ministers, or overawed by the presence and authority of the sovereign 2.
With respect to the two houses, the king had The two only to speak and his wishes were gratified. As ouses- they had recalled him without conditions, so they appeared willing to lay the liberties of the nation at his feet. The cavaliers identified their own triumph with the exaltation of the throne ; the presbyterians stood before it as repentant sinners anxious to efface the remembrance of their past delinquency ; and the few who were sincerely attached to republican principles deemed it pru- dent to shelter themselves from notice amidst the crowd, and to echo the more courtly opinions of their colleagues. Fortunately the royal advisers were not disposed, or perhaps afraid, to take the utmost advantage of the general enthusiasm ; and, on some occasions, Charles himself condescended to read to the two houses lessons of moderation and prudence 3. The most important of their
a Clarendon, 2, 27.
;| Clarendon, 8, 9. Burnet, Hist, of his Own Times, i. 270. Oxford, 1823.
() HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, proceedings may conveniently be classed under 16(i0 the following heads.
J°. The objection which had been raised before
tionofparl their convocation was renewed after the return liament. 0f the king. They had not been called by the royal writ ; they were therefore illegal assemblies, and their acts might hereafter be disputed in the courts of law. The obvious remedy was to dis- solve them, and to summon a parliament after the usual manner, which might legalize by its authority the irregular proceedings of the con- vention. But this, to the king's advisers, appeared in the existing circumstances a dan- gerous experiment : they were not disposed to part with a house of commons so obsequious to their wishes ; and they preferred to pass an act, declaring that the parliament summoned in the 16th Charles I. was determined, and that the two houses then sitting at Westminster constituted the two houses of parliament. It might, indeed, be asked, whence an assembly, illegal in its origin, could derive the power of giving to itself a legal existence ; but it was hoped that, as long as the convention sate, no man would venture to moot the question ; and on its dissolution every defect might be supplied by the authority of the succeeding parliament4.
* St. 12. Car. ii. c. 1. The question, however, was brought forward by Drake, a royalist, under the name of Philips, in a tract called, " The Long Parliament Revived ". He founded his opinion chiefly on the act of 17th of Charles I., which provided
CHARLES II. 7
2°. The experience of former years had shown CHAP.
T
that, to restrain within due limits the pretensions j^
of the crown, it was necessary to keep it depen-
dent on the bounty of the subject : but the Grants t0
J J the crown.
houses seemed to have adopted the contrary doc- trine : they attributed the calamities which for so many years had afflicted the nation to the scanty provision made for the support of royalty ; they found, on inquiry, that the annual expendi- ture of the last king greatly exceeded his income ; and, to prevent the recurrence of the wants which he experienced, and of the illegal expedients to which he had recourse, they raised the yearly revenue of the crown to the unprecedented amount of 1,200,000/.
that the parliament should not be dissolved but by an express act of parliament^ and that every thing otherwise done, or to be done, for the dissolving of it, should be of none effect. Hence it followed that the parliament could never be dissolved but by its own act ; and that the arguments of Prynne, which have been already noticed, were of no force ; because, though true of an ordinary parliament, they did not apply to one secured from dis- solution in this extraordinary manner. Drake was impeached by the commons ; but the lords had the prudence to remit the case to the attorney-general to be proceeded with in the ordinary courts of law. See Pari. Hist. vi. 145, 147 ; and App. i. The court wisely allowed the prosecution to be dropped. If the act of 17th of Charles were construed strictly according to the letter, the long parliament could never be dissolved by any other parlia- ment, because no other meeting before its dissolution could be a legal parliament. It was, therefore, maintained that, by the separation of the houses from the king, and the secession or exclusion of so many members, it had fallen to pieces of itself. It had died a natural death. See the tract, " The Long Par- " liament is not Revived". Ibid, xviii.
S HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. 3°. But while they provided for the sovereign, 1(JG0. they were not unmindful of their own interests.
In the preceding reigns, the proprietors of lands
wards °f liad frequently and zealously sought to abolish abolished, tenures by knights' service, confessedly the most onerous of the existing feudal burthens ; but their attempts were constantly defeated by the monarch and his courtiers, unwilling to resign the benefits of marriages, reliefs, and wardships. Now, how- ever, in this season of reconciliation and mutual concession, the proposal was made and accepted ; the terms were arranged to the satisfaction of both parties ; and Charles consented to accept a fixed annual income of 100,000/. in place of the casual but lucrative profits of the court of wards. Still the transaction did little honour to the liberality of the two houses. They refused to extend the benefit to inferior tenures : and the very act which relieved the lords of manors from the services which they owed to the crown, confirmed to them the services which they claimed from those who held by tenure of copyhold. Neither did they choose to pay the price of the benefit, though it was to be enjoyed exclusively by themselves. Originally, the authors of the measure intended to raise the compensation by a tax on the lands which had been relieved : the amount had actually been apportioned to the several counties by the committee, when a member, as it were acciden- tally, asked why they should not resort to the excise ; the suggestion was eagerly caught by the
CHARLES II. S
courtiers and many of the proprietors; the injus- CHAP, tice of compelling the poor to pay for the relief 16g0
of the rich, though strongly urged, was con
temptuously overlooked ; and the friends of the motion, on a division in a full house, obtained a majority of two. In lieu, therefore, of purvey- ance, military tenures, and their various incidents, fruits and dependences, the produce of one moiety Nov. 21. of the excise, a constantly growing and more pro- fitable branch of revenue than the original com- pensation, was settled on the crown for ever5.
4°. The excise, as the reader will recollect, had The excise been introduced by the parliament to defray the ^rpe charges of the war against the king. To recon- cile the nation to so odious a tax, it was first voted for only a short period ; and, though it had been continued ever since by successive grants, an understanding always existed, that, as nothing but necessity could justify the imposition, so it should most certainly cease with that necessity. By the last enactment, one half of it was now rendered perpetual ; nor was the house slow to dispose of the other. It had taken no measures to raise the revenue to the amount which it had voted : the festival of Christmas approached ; the king admonished the members of his intention to dissolve the parliament ; and the houses hastily passed three bills to improve the receipts on wine licences, to regulate the post office, and to grant
s 12 Car. ii. c. 24. C. Journ. May 25; Nov. 8, 19,21 ; Dec. 15,21. Pari. Hist. vi. 146.
army.
10 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, to the king the second moiety of the excise for his J' natural life, in full of the yearly settlement of
KioO.
1,200,000/.6 From that moment, all hope of its
Dec. 21. extinction vanished ; and, in the course of a few- reigns, the streamlet has swelled into a mighty river. The excise then produced 300,000/. ; it now produces 18,000,000/. per annum. Disband- 5°. The existence of the revolutionary army mg of the ^t amounted, in the three kingdoms to more than sixty thousand men) was to the monarch and his ministers a subject of constant anxiety. It had, indeed, contributed to place him on the throne ; but it might, with the same ease, precipitate him from it. Monk could no longer answer for its fidelity. When the first ebullitions of loyalty had subsided, many, both officers and privates, began to feel surprise that they had lent them- selves to a revolution which must put an end to their accustomed licence and long-established im- portance. The royalists, to whom the lord- general had given commissions, possessed not the confidence of the men ; the followers of Lambert
6 C. Joum. Nov. 27 ; Dec. 21. In the debate on the post office bill, an amendment was proposed to exempt from the charge of postage all letters to and from members of the house of commons, " sitting the parliament", on the ground that they had as good a right to that indulgence as the privy counsellors by whom it was enjoyed. Though the amendment was stigmatized as beneath the dignity of the house, and fit only for mendicants, though the speaker declared that he was ashamed to put the rpiestion, it was carried. The lords, however, rejected it, and the commons acquiesced. Joum. of Com. Dec. 17. Pari. Hist. 163.
CHARLES II. H
in his late unfortunate attempt insinuating them- CHAP, selves into the quarters of the military, called on 16g0
them to reassert the good old cause ; and unau
thorised meetings were held ; the death of Monk was planned, and measures were taken to form a general combination among the different corps. In opposition to these attempts, Charles endea- voured to win the affections of the soldiery by the flattering manner in which he spoke of their dis- cipline and loyalty, and the earnestness with which he recommended their services to the gra- titude of his parliament ; while his ministers, with the aid of a numerous corps of spies, sought out the sowers of sedition, and under various and feigned pretences, secured their persons. In both houses, members were instructed to represent the uselessness of so numerous a force in a time of profound peace, the expense which it had already entailed, and the annual amount which it would continue to entail, on the nation. No opposition was offered to the motions with which they con- cluded. By successive grants, provision was made to liquidate all arrears : regiment after regi- ment was disbanded ; and the measure was con- ducted with such attention to the wants and feelings of the men, that it was accomplished without exciting mutiny or public expressions of discontent7.
7 St. 12, Car. ii. c. 9, 15, l(i, 21. Clarendon, 10, 11. Bur- net, i. 274.
12 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. 6°. The proceedings on this subject were te-
16J0 diously protracted by the controversy between
the two houses on the bill of indemnity. In his
Bill of in- declaration from Breda, Charles had promised a demnity. L
general pardon, subject to such exceptions as might be suggested by the wisdom of parliament. The moment the question was brought forward, a wonderful diversity of opinions was observed. Every member had some friend whom he wished to shield from punishment, or some enemy whom he sought to involve in it : considerations of in- terest or relationship, of friendship or revenge, weighed more than the respective merits of the parties ; and distinctions were made and resolu- tions passed, for which it was difficult to account on any rational grounds. At last, the bill was transmitted from the commons to the lords, who, as their sufferings had in general been more se- vere, betrayed a more vengeful spirit. The chief points in discussion between the houses were, that the lords sought to include, in one sweeping clause of condemnation, all persons who ever sate in judgment on any royalist in a high court of justice ; and that they refused all hope of mercy to nineteen of the king's judges who had surren- dered themselves in consequence of a royal pro- clamation. By a clause in that instrument, the disobedient were threatened with exception from pardon both as to life and property : whence the commons inferred that the obedient had reason to expect such exception in their favour ; while the
CHARLES IT. 13
lords contended that they had only a right to trial CHAP, before a court of justice, whereas those who dis- 1(J60
obeyed might be condemned for contumacy.
Charles, by repeated messages, advised moderation and clemency. It was evident that the commons had adopted the more rational explanation : the lords at last relented ; the other house met them by receding from some of its pretensions ; and the act, after a long contest, received the royal assent. It declared in the first place, that all in- juries and offences against the crown or indivi- duals, arising out of quarrels between political parties since the 1st of June, 1637, should be and were forgiven : then came the exceptions : 1°, of fifty-one individuals actually concerned in the death of the king's father ; 2", of Vane and Lambert; 3°, of Lord Monson, Hazlerig, and five others, as far as regarded liberty and pro- perty; 4°, of all judges in any high court of justice ; and of Hutchinson, Lenthall, St. John, and sixteen others by name, as to eligibility to hold office, civil, military, or ecclesiastical. With respect to the case of the nineteen regicides who had voluntarily surrendered, it was yielded to the lords that they should be tried for their lives ; and, in return, it was conceded to the commons, that they should not be executed without a sub- sequent act of parliament to be passed expressly for that purpose8.
H Journals of both Houses. St. 12, Car. ii. c. 11. Claren- don, 69.
14. HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. By most men, this general pardon was hailed 1660. as a national blessing, calculated to heal dissen-
sion and restore tranquillity ; by the great body
of the cavaliers, it was received with murmurs and complaints. It disappointed their fondest hopes : they saw themselves left by it the victims of their loyalty, without redress for the injuries which they had received, or relief from the po- verty to which they had been reduced ; while, in numerous instances, their more fortunate neigh- bours of the republican party continued to revel in the undisturbed enjoyment of their new-gotten wealth, the fruit and reward of rebellion and in- justice. With truth, they exclaimed, may it be called an act of oblivion and indemnity ; but of oblivion of loyalty, and indemnity for treason.
Fateofthe 7°. Their discontent received some alleviation from the tragedy which followed. For years it had been sedulously impresssed on the mind of Charles, that, as a son, he could never pardon the murder of his father ; as a sovereign, he ought not to connive at the public execution of a king. To punish the regicides, was, in his opinion, a sacred and indispensable duty ; and the exceptions established by the late act afforded him ample scope for the exercise of justice, or the gratification of revenge. Five-and-twenty out of the original number had indeed been al- ready removed by death beyond the reach of any earthly tribunal, and nineteen had crossed the sea to escape the fate which awaited them in their
CHARLES II. 15
native country9. Still twenty-nine remained, all chap. in custody, and several of them as deeply tinged 1660
with the blood of the late king, and as criminal
in the eyes of the royal party, as the most ob- noxious of their fellows. The fugitives were attainted by act of parliament ; the prisoners were arraigned before a court of thirty-four com- missioners.
There was much in the composition of this court to interest the curiosity of the spectators, and to agitate the feelings of the unhappy men at the bar. That cavaliers should sit in judgment on those who had brought the king to the block, might have been expected ; but by the side of the chancellor, and Southampton, and Nicholas, were seated Manchester and Robartes, two of the par- liamentary commanders, Say and Hollis, the par- liamentary leaders, Atkins and Tyrrel, parlia-
9 Three of these, Whaley, Goff, and Dixwell, secreted them- selves in New England, where they passed their lives in the constant fear of being discovered by the officers of government. There is an interesting account of their adventures in Hutchin- son's History of Massachuset's Bay, and in the history of these " Most Illustrious and Heroic Defenders of Liberty," published by Ezra Styles, S.T.D. LL.D. President of Yale College, Hartford, U. S. 1794. Three others, Corbet, Okey, and Bcrkstead, were ap- prehended in Holland, at the instance of Downing, and given up by the States, as an atonement for their former treatment of the king during his exile. They suffered under the act of attainder, on the 19th of April, 1662. Ludlow, iii. 82. State Trials, v. 1301—35. Pepys, i. 252, 8. Others sought refuge in Switzer- land, where they believed themselves to be in constant danger of assassination from emissaries hired by the English court. Lud- low, iii. 113—131.
16 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, mentary judges, Monk and Montague, two of, *' Cromwell's lords, and Cooper, one of his most
loot). *
trusty advisers. These men, if they had not
actually dipped their hands in the king's blood, had been deeply engaged in the transactions which led to his death, or had powerfully supported the several revolutionary governments, which excluded his son and successor from the throne. For such offences they might, in other circum- stances, have had to plead for their lives ; but they had made professions of repentance, and had been selected to discharge this ungracious task, that they might display both the extent of the royal clemency, and the sincerity of their own conversion.
Most of the prisoners sought to deserve mercy by the ingenuous and sorrowful acknowledgment of their crime : the others alleged in their justi- fication, that they bore no personal malice to the royal victim ; that they looked on his death as a solemn act of national justice, and that they pro- ceeded under the sanction of that authority which then exercised the supreme power in the nation. To the second of these pleas the court refused to listen : to the first it was replied, that in law the fact afforded sufficient evidence of the malice ; and, to the last, that an irregular and unlawful meet- ing of twenty-six persons, pretending to repre- sent the commons of England, could not be con- sidered as the supreme authority in the nation.
tions.U" All were found guilty, and received judgment
CHARLES II. ]7
of death; but the execution of those who had CHAP, voluntarily surrendered themselves was respited, 1660
according to the act of indemnity, for the subse
quent consideration of parliament. The ten se- lected to suffer were Harrison, Scot, Carew, Jones, Clements, and Scroop, who had subscribed the fatal warrant ; Cook, who acted as solicitor on the trial ; Axtele and Hacker, two military offi- cers who guarded the royal prisoner ; and Peters, the minister, whose fervid and intemperate elo- quence had been so often employed to prepare and support the actors in that remarkable tragedy. The language of these men, both in the court and after their condemnation, exhibited traits of the wildest fanaticism. For the justice of their cause they appealed to the victories which the Lord had given to their swords ; to their bibles, which inculcated the duty of shedding the blood of him who had shed the blood of his fellow men ; and to the spirit of God, which had testified to their spirit that the execution of Charles Stuart was a necessary act of justice, a glorious deed, the sound of which had gone into most nations, and a solemn recognition of that high supremacy, which the King of heaven holds over the kings of the earth.
Similar sentiments supported and cheered them on the scaffold, When they were told to repent, they replied that of their sins they had repented, and of forgiveness they were assured. But they dared not repent of their share in the death of the vol. XII. c
IS HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, late king: for to repent of a good deed was to 166'0 oft end God. They were proud to suffer for such
a cause. Their martyrdom would be the most glo- rious spectacle which the world had ever witnessed since the death of Christ. But let the persecutors tremble : the hand of the Lord was already raised to avenge their innocent blood ; and in a short time the cause of royalty would crouch before that of independence. They uttered the prediction with the confidence of prophets 10, and submitted to their fate with the constancy of martyrs. Peters alone appeared to shrink from the ap- proach of death. The exhortation of his fellow sufferers revived his courage ; a strong cordial braced his nerves ; and he mustered sufficient re- solution to say that he gloried in the cause, and defied the executioner to do his worst n.
Punish- These examples did not satisfy the resentment
ment of A
the dead, of the royalists, who lamented as a misfortune, that the most odious of the regicides had by a natural death escaped the fate of their associates.
10 And the prediction was believed. From the Diary of Wha- ley, Goff, and Dixwell it appears that they looked on the execution of the regicides as the slaying of the witnesses foretold in the Book of Revelations, and that the prediction of a revolution in their favour was to be fulfilled in the mysterious year 1666. The year passed, and their hopes were disappointed ; but they con- soled themselves with the persuasion that there was an error in the date of the Christian era, and that the accomplishment of the prophecy would speedily arrive. See Howell's State Trials, v. 1362.
11 Ibid. 947—1301.
CHARLES II. ^
It was true that they were attainted ; but the at- CHAP.
I tainder affected all alike ; while the greater guilt 16C'0.
of some called for more particular proofs of public —
reprobation. Revenge is ingenious : history could furnish instances of punishment inflicted on the remains of the dead ; and in obedience to an order of the two houses, approved by the king, the bodies of Cromwell, Bradshaw, and Ireton, having been removed from their graves, were drawn on hurdles to Tyburn, taken out of their coffins, and hung at the three corners of the gallows on the anniversary of the death of Charles I., the day chosen for this expiatory ceremony. In the even- ing they were cut down and decapitated ; the heads fixed on the front of Westminster-hall, and the trunks thrown into a pit at the place of execu- tion. To the cavaliers this revolting exhibition afforded a subject of merriment and pleasantry : it met with the deserved reprobation of every man of sensibility and judgment. It was an outrage against the common feelings of humanity, and could contribute nothing to the only real end of public punishment — the prevention of crime. The man who dares to stake his life on the pur- suit of his object, will not be deterred by the fear of mutilation or suspension after deatli 12.
19 Lords' Journals, xi. 205. Rennet's Reg. 3fi7. Though Pride was included in the order, his body was not disturbed. After- wards (1G61, Sep. 12, 14,) about twenty bodies of persons buried in Henry VII/s chapel, and the church of Westminster, were dis- interred by the king's order, am' buried again in the church-yard.
C 2
■>
20 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C HAP. 8°. Since the year 1642, a considerable portion 16g0< of the landed property in every county had
passed from the hands of the original owners into
Revolu- tjlc pOSSession of new claimants ; and it was on
tion in L
landed this important consideration that the founders of proper), f^e commonwealth rested their principal hope of its subsequent stability. Hundreds of their ad- herents had by the revolution been raised in the scale of society ; they were become invested with the wealth and influence that originally belonged to their superiors ; and it was their interest to oppose with all their power the return of a system which would reduce them to poverty and insig- nificance. Charles in his declaration from Breda touched on the subject in guarded and measured terms : " he was willing that all controversies in " relation to grants, sales, and purchases, should " be determined in parliament, which could best " provide for the just satisfaction of all who were " concerned." Parliament, however, made no such provision. It confirmed, indeed, as a mea- sure of tranquillization, the judicial decisions which had been given in the courts of law and equity ; but the royal promise respecting the transfer of property by grants and sales was for- gotten, and, in consequence, no relief was afforded
Among these were the remains of Cromwell's mother, of his daugh- ter Elizabeth Claypole, of admiral Blake, and of colonel Mack- worth, who had been interred in the chapel, and of Pym, Doris- laus, Stroud, May the historian, Twiss and Marshall, divines, and of several others buried in the church. Kennet, 534. Neal, 619.
CHARLES II. 21
to two numerous classes of men belonging to the chap. opposite parties. 1°. At the very commencement 16g'0
of the civil troubles many royalists disposed of a
portion, or the whole of their estates, that they might relieve the pecuniary wants of the king, or enable themselves to raise men, and serve in the royal armies ; and at its conclusion all of them were compelled to have recourse to similar measures, that they might discharge their debts, and pay the heavy fines imposed on them by order of the revolutionary governments. That these men had strong claims on the gratitude and pity of the king and parliament could not be denied ; but these claims were neglected, the sales had been effected with their consent, they were bound by their own acts, and consigned to murmur in penury and despair. 2°. The lands belonging to the crown, to the bishops, deans and chapters, and to a few distinguished cavaliers, had been granted away as rewards, or sold to the highest or the most favoured bidder. These were now reclaimed ; forcible entries were made ; and the holders, as they were not allowed to plead a title derived from an usurped authority, were com- pelled to submit to superior right or superior power. To the argument that they were, the most of them, bona fide purchasers, it was truly replied that they had taken the risk with the benefit : but when they appealed to the " just " satisfaction " promised in the royal declaration from Breda, Charles himself blushed at the rigour
22 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAT, of his officers and adherents. By proclamation 1G0'0# he recommended measures of lenity and concili- ation ; he advised that the revolutionary pur- chasers should be admitted as tenants on easy fines ; and, at the united request of the two houses, he established a commission to arbitrate between the contending parties. The conse- quence, however, was, that while the purchasers of the crown lands were in general permitted to remain in possession, the purchasers of the church lands were in numerous instances treated with extreme severity. The incumbents had them- selves suffered hard measure ; they were old, and therefore anxious to provide for the support of their families after them ; and, instead of at- tending to the royal recommendation, they made no distinction among the bidders, but selected for tenants those individuals who made them the most advantageous offers 13. Ecclcsias- 9°. During the first period of the revolution, range- the presbyterian ministers had obtained posses- ment. sjon Qf j-ne parish churches ; but their orthodoxy was not less intolerant than that of their prede- cessors, and they pursued with equal violence, the theological offences of schism and heresy. Still, in defiance of their zeal, sectarianism con- tinued to spread ; by degrees, the civil and mili- tary authority passed into the hands of the inde-
13 St. 12, Car. ii. c. 17. Ke'nnet's Reg. 312. Clarendon, 183. Harris, iv. 315.
CHARLES IT. 2'3
pendents; the presbyterians, in proportion as CHAP, their power declined, turned their eyes towards 16G0>
the exiled prince ; and their ministers, as far
as prudence would permit, acted the part of zealous and successful missionaries in his favour. Now that Charles had recovered the crown, was he to expel from their livings the men from whom he had received these services ; or was he to pro- tect them, and leave the episcopal clergy to pine in deprivation and want ? The first savoured of ingratitude ; it was moreover pregnant with danger. It might provoke the presbyterian mem- bers, the majority of the house of commons, to oppose the court ; a thousand pulpits might join in advocating the duty of resistance ; and the smouldering embers of civil war might be easily fanned into a flame by the breath of the preachers. On the other hand, he was led by principle, and pledged in honour to restore that hierarchy, in defence of which his father had forfeited his crown and his life. This was loudly demanded by the cavaliers, and was represented by Hyde as pro- viding the surest bulwark for the throne. Charles did not hesitate : the kirk was sacrificed to the church ; and every difficulty was surmounted by the singular address of the minister, joined with the engaging manner and real or affected moderation of the monarch.
That the dominion of the ancient laws had re- Royal de- turned with the representative of the ancient kings, was a principle which no one ventured to
*4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
c II AP. contradict ; but a principle, which taught the 1660. votaries of the " solemn league and covenant"
to tremble for the idol of their worship, and
threatened the presbyterian clergy with the loss of their livings. Their chief reliance was placed on the declaration from Breda, which promised the royal assent to an act of parliament for composing differences in religion, and on the services of their brethren who formed a powerful body in the house of commons. But Charles and his politic adviser had no intention to redeem the royal pledge, or to entrust the decision of this important question to the doubtful orthodoxy of the two houses. The number of the bishops, who had been reduced to nine, was filled up by successive nominations : the survivors of the sequestrated clergy were encouraged to re-enter on their benefices, or to accept a composition from the holders ; and the heads of the universities received a royal mandate to restore to their colleges the ejected fellows. At the same time, to lull the apprehensions of the presbyterians, offers of bishoprics were made to the most eminent or moderate of the ministers ; ten obtained the nominal honour of being chaplains to the king, and all were confirmed in the posses- sion of their benefices, where the legal claimant was dead, or neglected to enforce his right. But these measures excited alarm : a bill for the settle- ment of religion was brought into the house of commons : and a resolution was passed that the question should be considered in " a grand com-
CHARLES II. <25
" mittee on every successive Monday". Hyde, in chap. opposition, issued instructions to the friends of the 1(J60
court and the church ; they laboured zealously to ■
perplex and protract the proceedings : two long and animated debates called forth the passions of the speakers ; and at last the sitting of the com- mittee was suspended for three months, that the king might have time to consult the divines of both communious ,4. For this purpose, papers were exchanged between certain of the bishops and a select number of ministers. On points of doctrine, they scarcely differed ; but one party contended warmly for the model of episcopal government formerly devised by archbishop Usher, which the latter absolutely rejected, as offering only another name for the establishment of the presbyterian system 15. The disagreement had been foreseen ; and Charles was advised to interpose as moderator between the disputants. He laid before them the Oct. 22.
■4 Clarendon, 74. Journal of Com. July 6, 20, 21. " The " committee sat an hour in the dark before candles were suffered " to be brought in, and then they were twice blown out; but the " third time they were preserved, though with great disorder, till " at last about ten at night it was voted", &c. MS. Diary of a Member, in Pari. Hist. vi. 79. 82.
•s Neal, ii. 568 — 75. It proposed that the several deans should hold monthly synods of the clergymen under their jurisdiction ; the bishops, yearly synods of those within their dioceses; and the archbishops, every third year, synods of the bishops and deputies from each diocese within their respective provinces : but in all these, the presidents were to possess no superior authority, but only to be considered as primi inter pares. See the scheme in the History of Non-conformity, 339 — 314.
20 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, draft of a royal declaration from the pen of the ,*' chancellor, solicited their observations on its pro-
1660. -1
visions, and offered to adopt any reasonable
amendment. In a few days, it was published. It gave due praise both to the orthodox and the presbyterian clergy ; avowed the king's attach- ment to episcopacy, but with the conviction, that it might be so modified as, without impairing its real character, to remove the objections brought against it : and for that purpose he enjoined, 1°. with respect to jurisdiction, that no bishop should exercise any illegal or arbitrary authority, or pro- nounce ecclesiastical censures, or celebrate ordina- tions without the assistance and advice 1G of his chapter and of an equal number of presbyters de- puted by the clergy of thediocese, or confirm in any church without the information and consent of the minister ; and 2°. with regard to the religious scruples of the presbyterians, that the reading of the liturgy, the observance of the ceremonies, the subscription to all the thirty-nine articles, and the oath of canonical obedience, should not be exacted from those who objected to them through motives of conscience 17.
1<; Instead of advice the presbyterians moved for the substitution of the word consent. Charles refused ; and, when a passage from the ukuv fiaaikiKr) was objected, hastily replied : " all that is in " that book is not gospel." Kenuet, Reg. 283.
'" L. Journ. xi. 179. Neal, ii. 575 — 80. Originally it was in- tended to permit all persons " to meet for religious worship, so be " it, they do it not to the disturbance of the peace". But the
CHARLES II. 27
These important concessions were received with C HAP. joy and gratitude by the party. A meeting of 166'0< London ministers declared that episcopacy, thus
reformed and improved, was a different thing th°e chan- from the episcopacy against which they had pro- cdlor. tested in the covenant ; and their celebrated leader, Dr. Reynolds, whether his scruples were really silenced, or the restraint on his ambition only removed, signified his acceptance of the bishopric of Norwich. Yet the declaration, while it kept the word of promise to the ear, contained a passage which tended to break it to the hope : it alluded to a synod to be convened, when the passions of men should be cooled, that the question might be fairly and finally settled. The presby- terians had no inclination to depend on the uncer- tain decision of some future synod : they nought a permanent, not a temporary arrangement ; and, Nov. 6. in a committee of the house of commons, with Ser- jeant Hales at its head, a bill was formed for the purpose of converting the royal declaration into a law. Hyde saw that his own arts were directed against himself: he removed Hales from the house, to take his seat in the exchequer as lord
presbyterians were not sufficiently liberal to allow to others what they demanded for themselves. Baxter distinguished between tolcrables and intoh-rablcs. The papists and socinians were in- tolerables : their worship could not conscientiously be suffered; and, to satisfy the party, the clause was changed into a promise that no man should be disturbed for "difference of opinion in ,c matters of religion". Kennet, Reg. 280. Oldmixon, 188.
28 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, chief baron ; the dependents of the court received 16g0 instructions to vote against the bill ; secretary
Morris opposed it in a long though moderate
Nov. 28. gpeech . an(]? on a motion that it should be read a second time, it was rejected by a majority of twenty-eight in a house of three hundred and forty
Dec. 29. members. Shortly afterwards the convention par- liament was dissolved 18.
[nsurrec- That, notwithstanding the general demonstra- tion of loyalty, there were many who secretly lamented the ruin, and ardently sought the resto- ration, of the republican government, could not be doubted. The royal ministers were placed in a situation in which even a superfluous degree of vigilance or severity might be vindicated, or, at least, excused, on account of the probability of danger. But, while they secured the more pro- minent and suspicious characters, such as Overton, Desborough, Day, and Courtenay, they appear to have overlooked or despised a conventicle of fana- tics in Coleman-street, under the guidance of a wine-cooper, named Venner. The king was gone
18 Clarendon, 76. Journals of Com. Nov. 28. Pari. Hist. vi. 141. 152. I may observe that, on this occasion Charles exercised his pretension of dispensing with the law in ecclesiastical matters, and yet no one ventured to complain. " It is our will and plea- " sure that none be judged to forfeit his presentation or benefice, " or be deprived of it upon the statute of 13th Eliz. c. 12, so he " read and declare his assent to all the articles of religion, which " only concern the confession of the true Christian faith, and the " doctrine of the sacraments comprised in the book of articles in " the said statute mentioned".
Jan. 6.
CHARLES II. 29
to Portsmouth in company with the queen mother ; chap. and, on the afternoon of the following Sunday, 1G61 Venner called on his hearers not to pray but to act, to take up arms in the cause of their King Jesus, to whom alone allegiance was due, and never to sheathe the sword till Babylon should be made a hissing and a curse. To raise their cou- rage, the enthusiast held out to them the conquest of the whole world : they should first lead capti- vity captive in England ; from England, proceed to possess the gates of the earth ; and then bind kings in chains and nobles in fetters of iron. What, if they were few in number, not more than sixty? They would fight for him who had pro- mised that one should chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. Arms had been pre- pared : the soldiers of the heavenly King hastened to St. Paul's, drove before them some of the trained bands, traversed the city, and withdrew, during the night to Cane-wood, between Highgate and Hampstead. The next morning, about thirty were apprehended by the military, and a persua- sion existed that the remainder had dispersed ; but on Wednesday they were seen in different Jan. 9. streets, hastening towards the residence of the lord mayor, and exclaiming, " the King Jesus and their " heads upon the gates.1' More fanatics had joined them : several rencontres took place with the guards and the trained bands ; and the injury which they inflicted was equal to that which they received ; but after the loss of two-and-twenty
30 IIISTOHY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, men killed on the spot, sixteen, most of them g. wounded, yielded to their opponents, and the re-
k maining few escaped. The prisoners expiated
Jan. 19. their crime on the gallows. But the failure of the enterprize had not shaken their faith. They died in the same sentiments in which they had lived, proclaiming the sovereignty of their hea- venly King, and denouncing his vengeance against the usurpers of his prerogative, the kings of the earth19.
Now par- j s}ia]i not detain the reader with the ceremonial of the coronation, or the rejoicings with which it was celebrated. Charles had previously called a parliament after the ancient and legitimate form ; and the result of the elections showed that the fervid loyalty which blazed forth at his restoration had, in the course of twelve months, suffered but little abatement. In a few places, indeed, men of anti-episcopalian principles were returned, but the majority of the members consisted of royalists devoted to the person of the king, and ready to support the measures of the court. Some mem- bers of the council possessed seats in the lower house : but it was not yet the custom to employ them as the acknowledged leaders of the party. To save appearances, the chancellor (he had lately been created earl of Clarendon) privately com- municated the wishes of the cabinet to a few of the
'9 St. Trials, vi. 105. Kennet, Reg. 354, 5G2. Heath, 471. Parker, T>c Rebus sui Temporis, 10. Pepys, i. 167— 1G9.
CHARLES II. 31
most influential members, and each of these held c hap. a separate meeting of his friends and followers, 1GgL
whom he instructed in the part that each indi
vidual had to act, and the vote which it was ex- pected that he should give. With the aid of a force thus previously, though secretly, organized in the house, the minister experienced little diffi- culty in defeating the desultory and unconnected efforts of his opponents.
This parliament, at the commencement of its Acts pass- long career, passed several laws of the highest im- portance, both in regard to the pretensions of the crown, and the civil and religious liberties of the people. 1°. The solemn league and covenant, with the acts for erecting a high court of justice for the trial of Charles Stuart ; for subscribing the engage- ment ; for establishing a commonwealth ; for re- nouncing the title of the present king ; and for the security of the protector's person ; were ordered to be burnt in the midst of Westminster-hall by the hands of the common hangman. It was affirmed that the negative voice, and the command of the army, were rights inherent in the crown : to devise any bodily harm to the king, and to distinguish between his person and his office, were made trea- son ; to call the king a heretic or a papist, was declared to incapacitate the offender from holding any office in church or state ; and the j>enalties of premunire were enacted against all who should assert that the parliament of 1641 was not dis- solved, or that both houses or either house pos-
32 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, sessed legislative authority independently of the i66i sovereign. At the same time, severe restrictions
were imposed upon the press, to prevent the pub- lication of books maintaining- opinions contrary to the Christian faith, or the doctrine or discipline of the church of England, or tending to the defama- tion of the church or state, or of the governors thereof, or of any person whomsoever-0.
King's po- 2°. Though the convention parliament had undertaken to make ample provision for the pecu- niary wants of the government, Charles was ad- vised to apply to the two houses for additional aid, and obtained from their loyalty a grant of four subsidies, the ancient but now obsolete method of raising supplies. It has been said of the king that he was improvident ; that the establishment of his household was calculated on the most expensive scale ; that he made magnificent presents to his favourites and mistresses ; and that he squandered enormous sums in the unnecessary repair and im- provement of the royal palaces ; but it should also be remembered that at his restoration he found himself incumbered with a debt for which he could not be responsible, the enormous sum owing to the armies in the three kingdoms under the heads of arrears ; and that he was moreover compelled, from the destitute state of the several arsenals, to expend 800,000/. in the immediate purchase of naval and military stores. We are assured that in the first
-° Clarendon, 181. Statutes and Journals, passim.
I'HARLES II.
33
fifteen months the only sum which could be devoted CHAT, to the ordinary current expenses of the state was 16Qlt
the 70,000/. voted on account of the coronation.
The parliament repeatedly listened to his solicita- tions ; but the estimates were inaccurate ; the taxes proved deficient21 ; they were tardily collected ; new debts were contracted before the original debts could be discharged ; and, during the whole course of his reign, Charles laboured under the pressure of a burthen which he was unable to remove. This gave a peculiar tone to his policy. To pro- cure money became his habitual pursuit : it entered into all his measures as the principal, or, at least, as an important, object : it dictated to him the match with Portugal and the sale of Dunkirk to France ; and it seduced him into that clandestine correspondence and those pecuniary bargains with the French monarch, which have left an indelible stain on his memory.
3°. Though the kingdom presented everywhere Rep0rts of the appearance of tranquillity, the different parties conspira- continued to look on each other with jealousy and apprehension. That there existed many, who, if they had possessed the means, wanted not the will, to overturn the royal government, cannot be doubted ; and these, by the imprudence of their language or their carriage, might occasionally min-
*' Sir P. Warwick shewed that, of the yearly sum of 1,200,000/. voted hy the convention parliament, no more than 900,000/. per annum was ever received. Pepys, Diary, ii. 161.
vol. xii. n
I.
16(51.
■I HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, ister just cause of suspicion; but, on the other hand, there were also many, whose credulity was as extravagant as their loyalty ; who could discover traces of guilt in conduct innocent or indifferent ; and who daily besieged the council board with the history of their fears, and with denunciations of treason. Most of these informers met with de- served neglect ; but to some it was thought that greater credit was due : the king communicated their discoveries to the two houses ; arrests were ordered, and convictions and executions followed. It has often been asserted that these plots had no real existence ; that they were fabricated by the ingenuity of Clarendon, who sought, by exciting unfounded alarms, to procure the sanction of par- liament to the measures which he meditated against the non-conformists. But the authors of this charge, so disgraceful to his character, were men, whose sufferings on the score of religion made them his enemies, and who never supported their assertions with any satisfactory proof; nor is it undeserving of remark that, at the very same time, the royalists suspected him of a secret connexion with the republicans, because he received their in- formations with an air of coldness, and with ex- pressions of disbelief21. The kinn' These reports and proceedings had, however, refuses considerable influence on the temper of the two
the execu- A
tion of the houses, and turned their attention to the fate of
other re-
gicides.
21 See Monkton's account. Lan-downe MSS. 088, f. 346.
CHARLES II. 3;
the surviving regicides, who were still detained CHAP, in prison. Of those who had been excepted from 16J6'2
the penalty of death, all enjoying titles of honour
were degraded ; and three, the lord Monson, sir Henry Mildmay, and Robert Wallop, on the 30th of January, were pinioned upon hurdles, and drawn through the streets with halters round their necks to the gallows at Tyburn. Of those who had surrendered in consequence of the pro- clamation, the punishment had been respited till further order of parliament. A bill for their im- mediate execution was now introduced, passed by 1662# the lower house, and sent to the lords ; who read Jan- 27- it once, examined the prisoners at their bar, and never afterwards noticed the subject -2. The fact is, that these unhappy men owed their lives to the humanity of the king. " I am weary of hanging," he said to the chancellor, " except for new offences. Let the bill settle in the houses, that it may not come to me ; for you know that I cannot pardon them " 20.
There still remained Vane and Lambert, Trials of who, though not actually guilty of the death of a^vai* Charles I., were considered as fit objects of punishment. Lambert had been the last to draw the sword against the royal cause, and was still looked up to by the republicans as their nominal head. Vane, if he had incurred ridicule by his
M C Journ. 1661, July 1; 1662, Jan. 27 ; Feb. 1, 3. L. Journ. xi 37.5. 380. Pepys, i. 243.
51 See Clarendon's notes in Clar. Pap. iii. App. xlvi.
n 2
3t> HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, extravagance as a religionist, was highly dis- 1662 tinguished by his abilities as a statesman. In
the first capacity, he had published books replete
with pious fanaticism and unintelligible theology; in the latter, he stood without a rival as to mat- ters of finance and civil policy. To his councils and foresight the cavaliers eh'iefly attributed the almost uniform success of their adversaries ; but his great and unredeeming offence was one which, though never mentioned, could never be forgotten. He had been, at the beginning of the troubles, the cause of the death of Strafford, by communi- cating to Pyin the document which he had purloined from his father's desk. There was, however, this peculiarity in the case both of Vane and Lambert, that, though the convention parlia- ment had refused to except them from the penalty
1660. of death, yet, on account of the declaration from Sep. 5. Brecja? it had recommended them to mercy in the
event of conviction, and the recommendation had been favourably received by the king 24. Charles, indeed, was disposed to leave them in prison
1661. without further molestation ; but the house of July L commons ordered the attorney-general to bring
them to trial, and by three successive addresses
1662. extorted the royal consent23. Their conduct at the bar presented a singular contrast. Lambert, who had so often faced his enemies in the field,
Feb. 19.
" C. Journ. 28 Aug. 1660; Sep. 5. L. Journals, xi. 156. « C. Journ. July 1 ; Nov. 22, 1661 ; Jan .10; Feb. 19, 1662.
CHARLES II. 37
trembled at the sight of a court of justice : Vane, CHAP, who had never drawn the sword, braved with 166'2>
intrepidity the frowns and partiality of his
judges. The first behaved with caution and modesty: he palliated his opposition to Booth and Monk, by pretending that he was ignorant of their attachment to the house of Stuart ; and appealed to the royal mercy to which he thought himself entitled by the king's proclamation and answer to the address of the convention parlia- ment. He received judgment of death ; but was confined for life to the island of Guernsey, where he beguiled the hours of banishment by the culti- vation of two arts in which he delighted, those of the florist and the painter. Vane, on the con- June 6. trary, boldly maintained the principles which he had formerly advocated. He was, he said, no traitor. By the act which rendered the long par- liament indissoluble without its own consent, the two houses were raised to a power equal and co- ordinate with that of the king, and possessed a right to restrain oppression and tyranny : by the war which followed between these equal authori- ties, the people were placed in a new and unpre- cedented situation, to which the former laws of treason could not apply : after the decision by the sword, " a decision given by that God, who, " being judge of the whole world, does right, and " cannot do otherwise", the parliament became de facto in possession of the sovereign authority, and whatever he had done in obedience to that
I.
1662.
38 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, authority was justifiable by the principles of civil government, and the statute of the 11th of Henry VII, He spoke with a force of reasoning and display of eloquence which surprised the audience and perplexed the court ; and the judges were reduced to lay down this extraordinary doc- trine, that Charles, in virtue of the succession, had been king de facto, and therefore in posses- sion of the royal power, from the moment of his father's death. Hitherto by a king in possession had been understood a king in the actual exercise of his authority, which Charles most certainly was not ; but the judges supported their decision on the ground that he was the only person then claiming the royal power : a miserable sophism, since the authority, the exercise of which consti- tutes a king de facto, was actually possessed by the parliament, which had abolished the very name and office of king26.
To Charles his conduct on this occasion was represented as an additional offence, a studied vin- dication of rebellion, a public assertion that the houses of parliament were the only supreme power in the nation. Those who had before petitioned for his pardon united in soliciting his execution : the king, they maintained, was no longer bound by the royal word ; even God himself refused for- giveness to the unrepenting sinner. His enemies
i(i St. Trials, vi. 119 — 186. But Vane did not merely obey the authority in actual exercise of\the supreme power; he formed a part of that authority, keeping the king de jure out of possession.
CHARLES II. 39
prevailed, and Vane submitted with cheerfulness chap. to his fate. On the scaffold he displayed the same 16G2
intrepid bearing which he had manifested at his —
trial ; and was about to renew the advocacy of his principles to the spectators, when the trumpets were sounded in his face, and his notes were de- manded and taken from him by the sheriff. He June H. suffered on Tower-hill. It was the spot where the blood of his victim, Strafford, had been shed ; and there he also fell an expiatory- sacrifice to the manes of that nobleman. The one began, the other, after an interval of one-and-twenty years, closed, the list of proscription furnished by this period of civil discord 27.
4°. The feverish state of the public mind, agi- Corpora- tated by successive reports of plots and the pro- lon ac ' secution of real or supposed conspirators, enabled the ministry to carry a measure, which they deemed highly conducive to the stability of the restored government. Both the presbyterians and cava- liers had given proofs of their attachment to the king ; but their loyalty was of a different order : the first sought to limit, the latter to extend, the powers of the crown ; the one looked on the con- stitution of the church as hostile, the other as favourable, to their respective views. In parlia- ment the cavaliers were triumphant ; but the go- vernment of cities and boroughs throughout the
" I'cpys, i. 27.5. See the letter of Charles in Harris, v. 32. St. Trials, \i. 1S7— 198. Ludlow, iii. 89.
40 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C H A P. kingdom was chiefly in the hands of the presbyte- lctii. rians. To dispossess them of these strong-holds
became the policy of Clarendon ; and he accom- plished his purpose by the corporation act, which, 1661. after much opposition, was passed into a law. By
Dec. 20. j^ commissioners were appointed with the power of removing at discretion every individual holding office in or under any corporation in the kingdom ; and it was required that all persons permitted to retain their situations should qualify themselves by renouncing the solemn league and covenant, by taking the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and by declaring upon oath their belief of the unlawfulness of taking up arms against the king on any pretence whatsoever, and their abhorrence of the traitorous doctrine that arms may be taken up by his authority against his person, or against those that are commissioned by him. With re- spect to the admission of future officers, the act moreover provided, that no man should be eligible who had not, within the year preceding his elec- tion, taken the sacrament according to the rite of the church of England. Qualifying tests had been first introduced into our law to exclude the Roman catholics : now the precedent was urged to justify the exclusion of the dissenters ; the doctrine of passive obedience was established by authority of the legislature ; and the performance of a religious duty was made an indispensible qualification for the holding of a secular office 28. This act broke
28 St. 13 Car. 2. cap. i. par. ii.
CHARLES II. 41
the power of the presbyterians in the state; the CHAT\ act of uniformity drove them from the places which 16g2
they still retained in the church.
The king had promised that, preparatory to the Confer- comprehension of " the dissenting brethren", the the Savoy. Book of Common Prayer should be revised by a commission of divines from both communions. They met at the Savoy ; previous debates respect- March 25. ing forms and pretensions occupied a considerable portion of time ; at length, the discussion com- menced with written papers, and was subsequently continued in personal conferences. But the pres- byterians demanded so much, the bishops were disposed to concede so little, that no progress was made ; and when the commission (it had been limited to the duration of four months) was on the point of expiring, it was amicably agreed to dis- miss the minor subjects of controversy, and to confine the discussion to eight passages in the book, which in the apprehension of the dissenters could not be adopted without sin. With this view, the following question was proposed for debate : " Can a command be sinful, enjoining that which " is not in itself unlawful"? After a long and fretful altercation, neither party was convinced, and both joined in a common answer to the king, jul 25 that they agreed as to the end, but could come to no agreement as to the means 29.
*9 State Trials, vi. 25 — 44. History of Non-conformity. Nealj ii. 601. In opposition to the bishops it was contended,
42 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. This was the conclusion which had been ex- , l- pected and desired. Charles had already sum-
1662. l # J
moned the convocation, and to that assembly was
Actofuni- assigned the task which had failed in the hands of formity. ... May "s. the commissioners at the Savoy. Several of the
bishops protested against any alteration ; but they were overruled by the majority of their brethren ; certain amendments and additions were adopted ; and the book, in its approved form, was sanctioned by the king, and sent by him to the house of May 19. lords 30. The act of uniformity followed, by which it was enacted that the revised Book of Common Prayer, and of Ordination of Ministers, and no other, should be used in all places of public wor- ship ; and that all beneficed clergymen should read the service from it within a given time, and, at the close, profess in a set form of words their " unfeigned assent, and consent to every thing " contained and prescribed in it." To this decla- ration many objected. In obedience to the legisla- ture, they were willing to make use of the book, though they found in it articles and practices of
that a command, enjoining what is lawful, may be sinful per ac- cidens, or may be unlawfully commanded. The point to which the dispute referred was the kneeling- at the communion. Id. 328. 30 The most important of these alterations were perhaps the following: the insertion of the rubric respecting the posture of kneeling at the sacrament, the admission of persons not yet con- firmed to communion, and the dispensing with new married per- sons from the obligation of receiving the communion on the day of marriage, and of the sick from the obligation of confessing their sins, and receiving absolution.
CHARLES II. 43
the truth and propriety of which they doubted ; but CHAP, to assent and consent to what they did not really i66\j.
believe or approve, was repugnant to the common
notions of honesty and conscience. An attempt was made to relieve them on the transmission of a bill to amend the act of uniformity from the lower to the upper house. The lords added a de- 1663. claratory clause, that the words " assent and con- " sent should be understood only as to practice and "obedience to the said act"; but the commons instantly rejected the amendment ; the lords in a Jul^ 2r* conference submitted to withdraw it ; and the only effect of the controversy was to place beyond a doubt the meaning in which the subscription was understood by the legislature 31.
There were two other clauses, which also gave offence. By one, it was provided that no person should administer the sacrament, or hold eccle- siastical preferment, who had not received episco- pal ordination ; by the other, that all incumbents, dignitaries, officers in universities, public school- masters, and even private tutors, should subscribe a renunciation of the covenant, and a declaration of the unlawfulness of taking up arms against the sovereign under any pretence. It was in vain that the lords objected : a conference followed ; the court came to the aid of the commons ; the
3' Lords' Journals, xi. 573, 577. The duke of York and thir- teen other peers entered their protests against the amendment, " because it was destructive to the church of England as then " established ". 573.
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, opposition was abandoned ; and the bill in its im- 1661. proved form received the royal assent32.
During the progress of this question, the lords
more Hbe- nac* displayed a spirit of liberality which shocked rai than £]ie more rigid orthodoxy of the lower house.
the com- °
mons. They appealed to the declaration from Breda. That instrument was an offer made by the king as head of the adherents to the church and the throne, and accepted by the several other parties within the kingdom. It was virtually a compact between him and the people, which fixed the price of his restoration. The people had done their part in receiving him ; it became him now to secure to them the boon which he had promised. That boon, as far as regarded religion, was liberty to tender consciences, and freedom from molesta- tion on account of difference of religious opinion ; two things which, it was apprehended, could not be reconciled with the disqualifying enactments of the bill. The manager for the commons replied, that the declaration from Breda had been misun- derstood. " Tender" was an epithet implying susceptibility of impression from without ; a ten-
32 St. 13, 14. Car. ii. c. iv. Clarendon, 153. In the confer- ence between the houses much stress was laid on the opportunity which tutors possess of impressing what notions they please on the minds of their pupils. To this circumstance was attributed the strong opposition made to Cromwell in parliament by the younger members ; for, during the commonwealth, the clergy of the church of England supported themselves by teaching, and brought up their pupils in principles of loyalty. Lords' Jour- nals, 447.
CHARLES II. 45
der conscience was one which suffered itself to be chap. guided by others ; the liberty to tender consciences 16g2
was therefore confined to the " misled ", and not —
extended to the " mis-leaders " ; it was granted to the flocks, but not to the ministers. In aid of this sophistical exposition, he also observed, that the declaration referred to the peace of the king- dom, and to a future act of parliament, as if the act to be passed had been one to impose restraint, instead of " granting indulgence", or the allusion to the peace of the kingdom had not been under- stood as an exception of the seditious and anarchi- cal doctrines promulgated by some of the fanatical preachers33. The act of uniformity may have been necessary for the restoration of the church to its former discipline and doctrine ; but if such was the intention of those who formed the decla- ration from Breda, they were guilty of infidelity to the king and of fraud to the people, by putting into his mouth language, which, with the aid of equivocation, they might explain away; and by raising in them expectations, which it was never meant to fulfil.
The triumph of the church was now complete. Bishops The bishops had already been restored to their 8eats -m seats in parliament, and the spiritual courts had Parlia" been re-established. To the first of these mea- sures a strong opposition was anticipated from the united efforts of the catholics and presbyterians in
33 Lords' Journals, xi. 449.
4(»'
HISTOKY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP
I. 1661-
Petition of the ca- tholics.
the house of lords : but of the catholic peers, one only, the viscount Stafford, voted against it ; and . among the presbyterians the opposition was con- fined to the survivors of those who had originally supported the bill incapacitating clergymen from the exercise of temporal authority. The second was accomplished with equal facility ; but, at the same time, the ecclesiastical jurisdiction was cur- tailed of two of its most obnoxious appendages, the high commission court, and the power of ad- ministering the oath ex officio34.
Among others, the English catholics had che- rished a hope of profiting by the declaration from Breda ; and that hope was supported by the re- collection of their sufferings in the royal cause, and their knowledge of the promises made by Charles during his exile. The king was, indeed, well disposed in their favour. He deemed him- self bound in honour and gratitude to procure them relief ; he knew the execration in which the penal laws against them were held on the conti- nent, and had often declared his resolution to mitigate, whenever he should be restored to his
34 St. 13. Car. ii. c. 2, 12. Whoever will compare the account in Clarendon, 133, with the Journals, xi. 279, 81, 83, will be astonished at the inaccuracies of the historian. In five material points, including the principal part of his narrative, he is flatly contradicted by the testimony of the Journals. So far was the bill from being detained in the house of lords, that it was for- warded through all its stages with almost unprecedented rapidity. It was sent from the commons on Thursday, and passed by the lords on the Tuesday following.
CHAMLES II. 47
father's throne, the severity of such barbarous CHAP. enactments35. In June, 1661, the catholics met I- at Arundel-house, and presented to the lords a .
petition, complaining of the penalties to which June 8- they were liable for the refusal of oaths incom- patible with their religious opinions. The pres- byterian leaders lent their aid to the catholic peers ; and Clarendon placed himself at the head of their adversaries. Not a voice was raised in favour of the statutes inflicting capital punish- ments ; but, after several debates, the house re- solved that " nothing had been offered to move " their lordships to alter anything in the oaths of " allegiance and supremacy ". In the mean time, June 28. colonel Tuke 36 was heard at the bar against the June si. sanguinary laws ; and several papers stating the grievances and prayer of the catholics had been laid on the table. The petitioners claimed the benefit of the declaration from Breda, and ob- served, that the only objection to their claim rested on the supposition that the acknowledge- ment of the spiritual supremacy of the pope im- plied the admission of his temporal superiority. Against this they protested. The doctrine of his temporal authority was a problematical opinion, admitted indeed by some individuals, but no part of the catholic creed ; and the petitioners (so far were they from holding it), offered to bind them-
35 Clarendon, 140.
3<; Sir G. Tuke, of Cressing Temple, in Essex. Pepys, i. 3C4.
48 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, selves by oath "to oppose with their lives and 166*1. " fortunes, the pontiff himself, if he should ever
" attempt to execute that pretended power, and
" to obey their sovereign in opposition to all " foreign and domestic power whatsoever without " restriction 37 ". The house, having received the
July lo. report of a committee to inquire into " the san- " guinary laws ", resolved to abolish the writ de hseretico inquirendo, and to repeal all the statutes which imposed the penalties of treason on catho- lic clergymen found within the realm, or those of felony on the harbonrers of such clergymen, or those of premunire on all who maintained the authority of the bishop of Rome. But this measure of relief did not equal the expectations of the laity, who sought to be freed from the fines and forfeitures of recusancy ; and the whole pro- ject was quashed by the cunning of an adversary, who moved and carried a resolution that no mem- ber of the society of Jesuits should enjoy the benefit of the intended act. Immediately discord spread itself among the petitioners ; pamphlets in favour of and against the society were published ; and, on the one hand, it was contended that the boon, with whatever exceptions it were clogged, ought to be accepted, and that the Jesuits were bound in decency to resign their own pretensions for the common benefit of the body ; on the other, that the distinction sought to be established in
37 Kennet's Register, 47(>.
CHARLES II. M)
the bill was groundless and unjust, and that, if chap. the catholics consented to purchase relief for them- 1(Jg0>
selves by the proscription of the order, they
would entail on their memory the stigma of selfishness and perfidy. Amidst these alterca- tions, the committee at Arundel-house was dis- solved ; the progress of the bill was suspended, at the request of the catholic peers ; and, in the suc- ceeding session, no one ventured to recal it to the attention of parliament 3S.
From the restoration of the royal authority in England, we may turn to its re-establishment in Scotland and Ireland ; which countries, as they had not been mentioned in the declaration from Breda, depended for their subsequent fate on the good pleasure of the sovereign.
With respect to Scotland, the first question sub- Transac- mitted to the royal consideration was, whether it Scotland.
38 Journals, xi. 276, 286, 299, 310. Kennet's Register, 469, 176, 484, 495. Orleans, 236. Letter from a Person of Quality to a Peer of the Realm, &c. 1661. Clarendon, in his account of this transaction (p. 143), tells us that the Jesuits were appre- hensive of being excluded from the benefit of the act, and broke np the committee at Arundel-house by declaring, that "catholics " could not, with a good conscience, deprive the pope of his tem- " poral authority, which he hath in all kingdoms granted to him " by God himself." But Clarendon is, as usual, incorrect ; for they were actually excluded from the benefit of the act (Jouni. 310): and in their u reasons ", published by them at the time, they declare that ever since the year 161S all Jesuits, by order of their general, " are obliged, under pain of damnation, not to teach "the doctrine" which Clarendon ascribes to them, "either hi " word, writing, or print". Kennet's Reg. 196.
VOL. XII. E
50 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, should remain in its present state of an incorpo- 1G60 rated province, or be restored to its ancient dig-
nity of an independent kingdom. By his English
advisers Charles was reminded, that the Scots were the original authors of the calamities which had befallen his family : they were now a con- quered and prostrate people : let him beware how he replaced them in a situation to display their accustomed obstinacy, and to renew their disloyal engagements. But the king cherished more kindly feelings towards the land of his fathers, and willingly acquiesced in the prayer of the Scottish lords, whom loyalty or interest had drawn to his court. The survivors of the committee of estates, whom he had named previously to his disastrous expedition into England in 1651, received orders to resume the government of Scotland, and the earl of Middleton was appointed lord commissioner ; the earl of Glencairn, lord chancellor ; the earl of Lauderdale, secretary of state ; the earl of Rothes, president of the council, and the earl of Crawford, lord treasurer. The two first had repeatedly proved their loyalty in the field ; the other three had suffered a long im- prisonment for their services under the duke of Hamilton; of the five, Middleton chiefly possessed the confidence of the English cabinet, though Lauderdale, from the pliancy of his temper, and his constant attendance on Charles, had won the personal affection of the monarch.
CHARLES II. 51
In a short time a parliament was summoned to chat, meet at Edinburgh 40. The terrors of punishment L for past delinquency had been held out as a warning
to the prudence of the members ; and the house Proceed- was found to be composed of cavaliers by principle, parlia- or of proselytes eager to prove the sincerity of ment' their new political professions. To obtain from such men a recognition of the legitimate rights of the sovereign was an easy task ; but the commis- sioner had in view an object of more difficult at- tainment. In his opinion, the royal authority could never be secure till the church, by the re- storation of the hierarchy, should be rendered dependent on the crown ; and, for this purpose, he undertook to exalt the prerogative, to demolish the covenant and the pretensions which had been built upon it, and to humble the pride, and curb the presumption, of the kirkmen. By a series of acts it was declared that the power of appointing the chief officers in the state, of calling and dis- solving parliaments, of commanding the forces, and of making treaties with foreign potentates, resided solely in the king ; that without his assent no acts passed in parliament could obtain the force of law ; that it was high treason for subjects to rise, or continue in arms, without the sanction of
39 The proceedings of this parliament were afterwards called in question, because the members neglected to sign the covenant, a condition required by a law then in force, and declaring the con- stitution of parliament without it null and void. Kirkton, 88- From the habitual intoxication of Middlcton and his friends, it was called the drunken parliament. Id.
17 O
I.
1661.
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
(HAT. his authority ; that all assemblies under the pre- tence of treating of matters of state, civil or ec- clesiastical, were, if holden without Ins special con- sent, contrary to law ; that neither the solemn league and covenant, nor the treaties arising out of it, could authorize any seditious interference with the churches of England and Ireland ; that, for the future, no man should take, or offer to be taken by others, the said covenant without his majesty's special warrant and approbation ; and that every individual holding office should sub- scribe a declaration of his submission to these acts, and take an oath of allegiance, acknowledging the king to be " supreme governor over all persons " and in all cases ". The ministers had viewed these enactments, so rapidly succeeding each other, with misgivings and apprehension : they knew not how to reconcile with their consciences a declara- tion which seemed to make the destiny of millions dependent on the will of a single man ; and they discovered in the oath an implied acknowledgment of the king's spiritual supremacy, to the disherison of the kirk and of Christ. To their representa- tions Middleton replied, that the sovereign did not claim any ecclesiastical authority in "the word, " the sacraments, or the discipline "; but when they prayed that the explanatory epithet " civil " might therefore be inserted before " governor ", he con- temptuously rejected their petition"
,40
40 Scottish Acts, p. 10, 2, 3, 6, 8, 45. Kirkton, 90. Wodrow, 21—24, 2G. App. viii. Baillie, ii. 449, 450. Burnet, i. 197—9. Oxford, 1823, and Middleton's Narration in Miscel. Aid. 179.
CHARLES II. 53
Emboldened by his success, the commissioner chap, ventured to recommend a measure unprecedented l6(i[
in the annals of Scotland. Though much had
been done to clear the way before him, the lawyers ?^clsSDry still discovered a multitude of legal obstacles to the accomplishment of his object; and, to save time and debate, he resolved by one sweeping and decisive act to annul all the proceedings of all the Scottish parliaments during the last eight-and- twenty years. The lord-treasurer and the young duke of Hamilton 41 objected, that two of these parliaments had been honoured with the presence and sanction of Charles I. and of his son, and that to rescind them would be to repeal the act of in- demnity, and the approbation of the "engagement"- But Middleton replied, that on each occasion the king, though in possession of physical liberty, had been under moral restraint ; and that the alleged acts, laudable as they were in their object, were grounded on motives so false and hypocritical, as to prove a disgrace to the national legislation. His reasoning, or his authority, silenced his op- March 28. ponents ; the rescissory act was passed ; and at one blow every legal prop of the Scottish kirk was levelled with the ground. The ministers looked around them with astonishment. They met in several counties to consult and remonstrate ; but
*' A son of the marquess of Douglas, who obtained the title in consequence of his marriage with the heiress of the late duke of Hamilton,, with 20,000/. out of the customs of Leith. Baillie, li. 142.
54 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, their synods were everywhere dispersed or sus- L681. pended hy the authority of the government42.
■ Another object of the commissioner, subsidiary
Argyle. to ^ie former, was to intimidate by examples of punishment. In England, the demands of justice had been satisfied with the blood of the regicides : to expiate the guilt of Scotland, a more illustrious victim was selected, the marquess of Argyle. No man had more deeply offended in the opinion of the cavaliers ; they called for vengeance against the betrayer of his sovereign and the murderer of Montrose ; and they represented him to Charles as the most crafty and selfish of demagogues ; one, who, under every change, whether he swayed the councils of the Scottish rebels, or placed the crown on the head of the true heir at Scone, or sat as a commoner in the parliament of the usurper, Richard, had always contrived to conceal, under the mask of patriotism, his only real object, the aggrandize- ment of his family. The moment he arrived in 1660 London, to pay his court to the restored monarch, July 7. ne was secured and conducted to the Tower ; his petition for a personal interview was refused through the influence of those who were acquainted with his insinuating manner, and the easy temper of the king ; and Charles, to escape from the painful task of deciding on his fate, sent him back to Scotland, to be tried by his countrymen, or
*» Scottish Acts, p. 86. Wodrow, 27, 31—34. Burnet, 199. Miscel. Aul 182.
CHARLES II. 55
rather by his enemies in parliament 43. From them, c: II A r, Argyle had no reason to expect either justice or 16qL
mercy. He first sought to obtain delay, by so
licitina: a commission to examine witnesses ; then abandoning all defence, threw himself on the mercy Feb. 12. of the sovereign ; and, when his submission was rejected as unsatisfactory by the parliament, claim- March 5 ed the benefit of the amnesty formerly granted at March * 1 ■ Stirling. To this, in opposition to the remon- strances of Middleton, Charles declared that he was fully entitled ; and thus the charge against him was confined to offences alleged to have been com- mitted since 1651 ; which were, that he had re- peatedly employed defamatory and traitorous lan- guage in speaking of the royal family ; that he had obtained a grant of 12,000/. from Oliver Cromwell ; that he had given his aid to the Eng- lish invaders against the liberty of his country ; and that he sat and voted in the parliament of Richard Cromwell, which had passed a bill abjur- ing the right of the Stuarts to the crowns of the three kingdoms. It was replied, that of the words attributed to the accused, some had never been uttered by him at all, and others were susceptible
4i Warriston and Swintonwere almost as odious to the cavaliers as Argyle. The first escaped the search of his enemies, the second was discovered and apprehended. But the zealous and stubborn covenanter dwindled into a meek and humble quaker, and by the ingenuousness of his confession saved his life, though he forfeited his estate. The witlings, however, contended that, if he had not trembled, he never would have quaked. Baittie, ii. 446. Kirkton, 98, 9. Wodrow, 86.
I
t()Gl
56 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, of a very innocent meaning ; that the money had been received from Cromwell, not as a reward for services rendered to the usurper, but as a com- pensation for losses suffered by the marquess ; and that the laws which prevail under a legitimate government, ought not to be strictly applied to the conduct of subjects during a temporary usurpa- tion ; because, though it were treasonable to con- cur in transferring the sovereign authority to an unjust possessor, it might be meritorious to em- ploy the authority so transferred for the good of the country. Now this was the case of Argyle. He sat, indeed, in Richard's parliament ; but he sat there, not to support the usurper, but to pro- cure a diminution of the taxes imposed upon Scot- land, to prevent the incorporation of the country with England, and to lend a helping hand to the restoration of the legitimate monarch. For some time his fate remained in suspense : it was decided by the arrival of a small parcel of four or five let- ters, formerly written by him, partly to Monk, partly to other Cromwellian officers44. With their purport we are not accurately acquainted : but the result proves that they contained strong assertions of enmity to the king, or of attachment to the pro-
** That these letters were furnished by Monk, is, I think, vic- toriously proved by Laing, iv. 413 : how far they were letters of u friendship and confidence," appears to me very uncertain. Though Burnet and Cunninghame represent Monk and Argyle as living in habits of friendship, the documents in Thurloe show that they were distrustful of each other. Thurloe, v. 604 : yi. 311 ; vii. ,isi.
CHARLES II. W
tector. They were read in the house ; his friends, C H A P. oppressed with shame and despair, retired ; and lG'QU
judgment of death was pronounced against the un- ■
fortunate nobleman. Still, could he have appealed nation™" to the king, his life would probably have been May 25. spared ; but his judges allowed him only forty- eight hours to prepare for death, and he employed them in seeking from God that mercy which was refused to him by man. In the fervour of his prayer, he thought that he heard a voice, saying, " Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee;" Anddeath. and, under this persuasion, he mounted the scaffold with an intrepidity which disappointed the malice May 27. of his enemies, and expressed an attachment to the covenant, which raised him to the rank of a martyr in the estimation of the kirkmen. His head was struck oft' by the maiden, and fixed on the same spike which had supported that of his reputed victim, Montrose45.
That the forms of justice were violated in this celebrated trial, no one can doubt. Whatever may have been the offences of Argyle, they were not judicially proved. But he had rendered him- self odious to the cavaliers by his strenuous ad-
" State Trials, v. 1369—1508. Baillie, ii. 451, 2. Kirkton, 100 — i. Wodrow, 42—57. App. 23 — 8, 30 — 15. Clarendon, 58, i\2. Burnet, i. 207—14. At the same time " the parliament " thought fit to honour Montrose his carcase with a glorious " second burial, to compense the dishonour of the first, and with '• him one Hay, of Delgattie (a flagitious papist), and o!;e of '• his colonels". Kirkton, 122.
58 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
( ! l A i\ vocacy of the covenant ; to his countrymen by 1(j(ij his subserviency to their English conquerors ;
and to the more moderate part of the clergy, by
his adhesion to the remonstrants. It was sup- posed that his death had been hastened by his enemies, as much through the hope of enriching themselves from the wreck of his fortune, as for the gratification of revenge. But Charles rescued his vast possessions from their grasp, and gave them back, with some exceptions, to his eldest son, whom he created earl of Argyle46.
Other ex- The execution of this nobleman was followed by that of Guthrie, one of the most violent and influential among the protesting ministers. He had formerly excommunicated Middleton, had joined the western remonstrants, and been one of the compilers of the tract, entitled " The " Causes of God's Wrath " ; and since the restora- tion, he had called, in defiance of the committee of estates, a meeting to remind the king of the duties imposed on him by the covenant, and to warn him against the employment of malignants
April 11. in his service. He attempted to vindicate his conduct by appealing to the confession of faith, the national covenant, the solemn league and
46 The young Argyle., in a private letter to the lord Duffers, complained in no very measured terms of the commissioner and the parliament. The letter was intercepted, and the writer accused of leasingmaking, which by the Scottish law was a ca- pital offence. The parliament condemned him to death ; but Charles granted him a pardon, and, after some time, discharged him from prison. Kirkton, 143.
CHARLES II. 5<)
covenant, and the unbending opposition which he CHAP, had always offered to the usurpation of the 1G61 Cromwells. But it was resolved that one of the
clergy should suffer as an example to the rest ; and his colleague, Gillespie, who, by the turbu- lence of his zeal, and his proud contempt of the civil authority, had earned an equal, if not a better, claim to the crown of martyrdom, de- scended from his high pretensions, and submitted to solicit the royal pardon, on condition of pro- moting the cause of episcopacy. Guthrie ap- peared on the scaffold with an air of triumph, and harangued the spectators in his usual tone of invective and enthusiasm. He declared that God was wroth at the sins of the people ; he threat- ened them with the worst of the divine judg- ments ; and foretold that the candlestick of the kirk would be removed out of its place, a pre- diction which was verified sooner, perhaps, than he expected. In company with him perished the third and last victim, a captain Govan, who had laid down his arms at Hamilton, and deserted to Cromwell. Why he was selected to suffer in preference to so many others, no one knew ; but it was generally thought that his offence might have been passed over without notice, on account of the utter insignificance of the man47.
On the first news of the king's restoration, the Restora- Scottish ministers had most anxiously deprecated i^'/JL
*7 Baillie, ii. 455, 7, 453. Kirkton, 109,110,111. Wodrow,
.57— 70, 77. App. 17. Burnet, i. 2 1 1.
6o
IlISTOltY OF ENGLAND.
chap, the extension to Scotland of the indulgence to 166'l. tender consciences promised by him at Breda :
in the course of a year they were compelled to
solicit for themselves, and to solicit in vain, that indulgence which they had so sternly refused to others48. By the 16th act of the session " the " settling and securing of church government, as " might be consistent with scripture, monarchy, " and peace", had been entrusted to the king : Middleton now assured him that the restoration of episcopacy was the earnest wish of the nation ; and a proclamation soon announced the royal intention of gratifying that wish, and at the same time prohibited all meetings of synods and pres- Sq>. 6. byteries. Of the former prelates, Sydserfe alone survived ; but he was a man of no estimation with either party ; and though his ambition as- pired to the archiepiscopal see of St. Andrews, he was compelled to content himself with the dis- tant bishopric of Orkney. The first dignity in the restored hierarchy was given to one whose elevation filled the ministers with rage and de- spair— to Sharp, who had been sent to London as their agent for the purpose of preserving the independence of the kirk, and who now returned wearing the archiepiscopal mitre, the lord of his former equals, and the subverter of their spiri- tual rights. In revenge, they pried into the frailties of bis private, and condemned him of perfidy in public, life. The charges of incouti-
43 Baillie, ii. 459. Wodrow, Iutrocl. 21,2. App. to do. 57.
CHARLES II. 6l
nency and infanticide may with probability be c H AI>- attributed to the malice of his enemies ; but the iggi. result of his mission, so advantageous to himself, — " so disastrous to his employers, must throw doubts on his integrity ; and few will give credit to his assertions that he served the kirk faith- fully while there remained a chance of success, and only accepted the archbishopric, when he saw that his refusal would leave it open to the am- bition of men of violent and dangerous principles. By his advice, Fairfoul was named to the see of Glasgow, Hamilton to that of Galloway, and Leighton to that of Dumblain. The two first never equalled the expectations which they had raised ; the third, son of the Dr. Leighton, who under Charles I. suffered as the author of " Zion's " Plea against Prelates", was so distinguished by his piety, disinterestedness, and learning, that the enemies of episcopacy could offer no other objec- tion against him, than that he was in heart a papist. The four prelates were summoned to the English capital to receive episcopal ordination, " a flower not to be found in a Scottish gardine" ; they were consecrated at Westminster by Shel- don, bishop of London, and the event was cele- brated with a banquet, the luxury and splendour of which afforded matter of censure to their opponents, and scandalized the simplicity of Leighton. From the English capital they hasten- ed to their own country ; at Edinburgh they May h. were received in solemn procession, the parliament
62 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, invited them by deputation to take their seats in ]tl}6l the house, and an act was passed restoring them
, to " the exercise of the episcopal function, pre-
" cedence in the church, power of ordination, " infliction of censures, and all other acts of " church discipline" ; and ordaining that, " what- " ever should be determined by his majesty with " their advice and that of other clergymen no- " minated by him, in the external government " and policy of the church, should be valid and " effectual". In a short time the number of pre- lates was augmented to fourteen, and all minis- ters, who had entered on their livings since the year 1649, were ordered to receive collation from their respective bishops under the penalty of de- privation49. Recal of To gild this bitter pill, the commissioner ad- lish gam- vised the kin& t0 withdraw the English forces sons. from Scotland. This he thought reasonable, and his English counsellors, though they still wished
4» Baillie, ii. 459, 460. Kirkton, 81, 5, 135—8. Miscel. Aul. 184. Wodrow, i. 96—163, 114, 116. App. 52. Clarendon, 213. Burnet, i. 223 — 38. The English bishops would not allow of the presbyterian ordinations, nor admit that episcopacy, as the pleni- tude of the sacerdotal character, necessarily included the lower orders, a principle on which Spotiswood, in the reign of James I. had been consecrated bishop without receiving the inferior orders. On this account Sharp and Leighton, who had not received episcopal ordination, were compelled to receive the orders of deacon and priest, preparatory to that of bishop. But, on their return to Scotland, they acted on the principle previously adopted at the consecration of Spotiswood. Burnet, i. 237. Wodrow, i. 102, 3. Kirkton, 137.
CHARLES II. 63
to keep their northern neighbours under the yoke, CHAP, reluctantly acquiesced in the pleasure of their 1661
sovereign. The garrisons were recalled, and the
fortifications, the badges of Scottish slavery, were demolished. Such, to Scotland, was the imme- diate result of the restoration ; the nation re- covered its civil, and lost its ecclesiastical inde- pendence 50.
II. The reader is aware, that in Ireland a new Transac- race of proprietors had arisen, soldiers and adven- iSnd. turers of English birth, who, during the late revolutionary period, had shared among them- selves the lands of the natives, whether royalists or catholics. On the fall of Richard Cromwell, a council of officers was established in Dublin ; these summoned a convention of deputies from the pro- testant proprietors ; and the convention tendered to Charles the obedience of his ancient kingdom of Ireland. It was not that the members felt any strong attachment to the cause of royalty ; they had been among the most violent and enter- prising of its adversaries ; but their fear of the natives, whom they had trampled in the dust, compelled them to follow the footsteps of the English parliament. To secure the royal protec-
* Clarendon, 213-6. Burnet, i. 183. Wodrow, 107. To divert the attention of the more fervent from these changes, they were exhorted to exercise their zeal against papists and witches. All the acts against the former were ordered to he put in execu- tion, and commissioners, to search for the latter, were appointed in almost every parish. Multitudes were executed for this ima- ginary offence. Wodrow, 1"?, 8, !'•
GA> HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAl'. tion, they made the king an offer of a considerable 166i sum of money, assured him, though falsely, that
the Irish catholics meditated a general insurrec- tion, and prayed him to summon a protestant parliament in Ireland, which might confirm the existing proprietors in the undisturbed possession of their estates. The present was graciously accepted ; and the penal laws against the Irish catholics were ordered to be strictly enforced ; but Charles was unwilling to call a parliament, because it would necessarily consist of men, whose principles, both civil and religious, he had been taught to distrust 51.
Restora- The first measure recommended to him by his
tion of J
bishops. English advisers, with respect to Ireland, was the re-establishment of episcopacy. For this no legislative enactment was requisite. His return had given to the ancient laws their pristine authority, and by those laws no other form of church government was acknowledged. In virtue, therefore, of his supremacy, Charles directed the surviving bishops to take possession of their respective dioceses, nominated new prelates to the vacant sees, and authorised them to reclaim all ecclesiastical property which had fallen into the hands of laymen. The ministers petitioned against this measure ; and, had the recent settlers been true to their principles, a most formidable opposition would have been raised. But mam- s' Clar. Contin. 57.
CHARLES II. D5
mon got the better of conscience : they dared not chap. provoke a monarch, on whose pleasure they de- 1661
pended for the preservation of their lands ; and, >
in a short time, the episcopal hierarchy was quietly restored to the enjoyment of its former rights, and the exercise of its former jurisdic- tion 52.
To this, a work of easy accomplishment, sue- Disputes
respect-
ceeded a much more difficult attempt, — the settle- ing landed merit of landed property in Ireland. The military, P10Perty- whom it was dangerous to disoblige, and the adventurers, whose pretensions had been sanc- tioned by Charles I., demanded the royal con- firmation of the titles by which they held their estates 53 ; and the demand was opposed by a multitude of petitioners claiming restitution or compensation ; by officers who served in the royal army before 1649, and had not yet received the arrears of their pay ; by protestant loyalists, whose property had been confiscated under the commonwealth ; by catholics who had never joined
52 Clar. 105.
53 Charles I. had given his assent to the first act (17 Car. I.), hut the parliament had afterwards, in 1643, passed the doubling ordinance, by which, whoever advanced one-fourth more on his original subscription, received credit for twice the amount of the whole sum actually furnished. The subscriber of 1000/., by a, fling 250/., became creditor to the amount of 2.300/., and was entitled to lands in Ireland of that value. Where the original subscriber refused, any other person might advance the fourth, and receive the whole benefit arising from the advance, which the first had forfeited. Carte's Ormond, ii. 224. In the settle- ment of Ireland all claims of doubling were rejected.
VOL. XII. I
66' HISTORY OV ENGLAND.
CHAP, the confederate assembly at Kilkenny, or had 16gj faithfully observed the peace concluded with Or-
mond, or had served under the royal banners in
Flanders ; by heirs, whose estates had been for- feited on account of the misconduct of the last holders, though they were but tenants for life ; by widows, who had been deprived of their jointures ; and by creditors, who could no longer recover on bond or mortgage 54. Humanity, gratitude, and justice, called on the king to listen to many of these claims. He sincerely deplored the miserable state of the Irish natives, whom the republicans had swept from the soil of their birth, and " transplanted " on the barren district be- yond the Shannon ; and he deemed himself bound in honour and conscience to protect the interests of the loyalists, who had followed him in his exile abroad, or at his command had left the service of foreign powers to form the royal army on the continent 55.
The king's From an estimate delivered to the king, it ap-
tion *" peared, that there still remained at his disposal forfeited lands of the yearly rental of from eighty to one hundred thousand pounds ; a fund suffi- ciently amj)le, it was contended, to " reprize " or compensate all the Irish, really deserving of the 1660. royal favour. Under this impression, Charles Nov. so. published his celebrated declaration for the settle- ment of Ireland. It provided, that no person
?* Clar. 60 — 66. ss Clar. 112.
CHARLES II. <>7
deriving his title from the adventurers under the CHAP. parliament, or the soldiers under the common- l6'6l
wealth, should be disturbed in the possession of
his lands, without receiving an equivalent from the fund for reprisals ; that all innocents, whether protestants or catholics, that is, persons who had never adhered either to the parliament or the con- federates, should be restored to their rightful estates ; and that of those who claimed under the peace of 1648, such as had accepted locations in Clare and Connaught, should be bound by their own acts, compulsory as those acts had been ; but the others should recover their former posses- sions, or receive lands of equal value.
To this arrangement was appended a list of the qualifications of innocence, but so constructed as to exclude from the benefit of that plea the greatest possible number of catholics. Not only to have openly adhered to the confederates, but even to have corresponded with them, or to have derived advantage from the treaties concluded between them and Ormond, or to have lived quietly at home, if that home was situated within the quar- ters of the confederates, were to be taken as con- clusive evidence of guilt, and an effectual bar to relief36.
The subject now came before the Irish parlia- ment. The commons, who had been returned by the preponderating influence of the soldiers and
v> [rish Statutes, ii. 23ft— :ns. Carte's Ormortd, ii 21G.
i 2
68 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, adventurers, voted that the declaration should be itiVi passed into a law ; but by the lords it was con-
. tended that such a law would reduce the old
families, both catholic and protestant, to a state of penury, in order to establish a new and upstart June 12. interest in Ireland. By order of the former, a deputation of the house proceeded to London to lay the draught of a bill before the king in coun- cil ; but the lords appointed four commissioners to oppose some of its provisions ; and the catholics seized the opportunity to petition by agents in their own favour. The par- The contending parties were repeatedly heard beforethe ^Y Charles himself; and the Irish had reason to council, expect a favourable result, when they marred their 5ep* cause by their imprudence37. In the ardour of declamation, they not only defended themselves, but assailed others. Why, they asked, were they to be deprived of their estates in favour of rebels and traitors ? Because, it was answered, they stood there covered with the blood of one hundred thousand protestants massacred by them during their rebellion S8. They, indeed, denied the charge ;
57 See Ormond's Letter in Carte, ii. 233.
58 Walsh (Irish Colours Folded, p. 3.; asserts that their op- ponents raised the number to three hundred thousand. Mrs. Macauley (Hist. vi. 62.) tells us that " no attempt was made by " the papists to disprove the assertion " respecting the massacre. Most assuredly she could never have heard of the several tracts written at the time, and provoked by this charge, such as, The Irish Colours Folded, by P. W. ; A Collection of some of the Massacres and Murders Committed on the Irish since 1641 ; or
CHARLES II. fi0
they retorted it in the face of their accusers; CHAP, murder was a crime with respect to which they 1661
were more sinned against than sinning. Their
only wish was that an inquiry should be instituted ; and that the real murderers, whatever were their religion, should be excluded from the benefit of the bill of indemnity. But the patience of Charles (he had hitherto attended the debates with the most edifying assiduity), was exhausted ; he longed to withdraw himself from the recrimina- tions of these violent disputants ; and on the dis- covery of an obnoxious paper, formerly signed by sir Nicholas Plunkett, one of the agents, ordered the doors of the council to be closed against the deputies of the natives. The heads of the bill were then arranged, returned to Dublin, and 1662- ultimately passed into a law by the parliament 59. Ma?'
But to execute this act was found to be a task Decisions of considerable difficulty. By improvident grants courtof of lands to the church, the dukes of York, Ormond, claims.
Walsh's Reply to a Person of Quality ; or to a Person of Quality's Answer ; or his Letter to the Bishop of Lincoln, p. 225 — 230; or a Letter to a Member of Parliament, showing the Hardships, Cruelties, &c. ; or a Briefe Narrative of Cruelties Committed on the Irish. In Ireland's Case briefly Stated, p. 41, an attempt is made to prove that the number of persons murdered by the pro- testants exceeded by six times that of those murdered by the catholics.
s» Clar. 106 — 115. Carle, ii. 245. Memoirs of Orrery, 67 — 70. The obnoxious paper was the copy of instructions from the supreme council in 1648 to their agent, to offer Ireland to the pope, or any catholic power, that would undertake to defend them against the parliament, (arte, ibid.
"() HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, and Albemarle, the earls of Orrery, Montrath, 166'j Kingston, Massarene, and several others, the fund
for reprisals had been almost exhausted ; and yet
it was from that fund that compensation was to be furnished to the forty-nine officers, to the ensignmen, or those who served in Flanders, and to the soldiers and adventurers, who might be compelled to yield up their plantations by the 1663. court of claims. Among this class, indeed, a
Feb. 15. generai aiarm was excited ; for in the course of six months, during which the commissioners sate,
Aug. id. several hundred decrees of innocence had been issued, and three thousand petitions still remained for investigation. To secure themselves, they demanded an explanatory act : the duke of Or- mond, now lord-lieutenant, repaired to London, and ten months were spent in useless attempts to reconcile the jarring interests of the different par- ties.
Intrigues From the very beginning of these transactions,
of. ~Jf. , . the actual occupants of the lands had displayed a bold defiance of decency and justice in their efforts to bring the cause to a favourable termination. 1°. They had recourse to bribery. A fund of more than 20,000/. was subscribed, and placed in the hands of sir James Sheen, who hastened to Lon- don, and purchased at different rates, the patron- age and good offices of persons supposed to pos- sess influence in the council, or over the mind of the king60. 2°. To keep up the irritation of the
"• Orrery, Letters, 101. Carte, ii. 232.
CHARLES II. 71
public mind against the Irish catholics, they circu- CHAP, lated reports of an intended rebellion, forwarded 166'K to the council informations respecting imaginary
1661.
plots, and, at 1 ength produced a treasonable letter
Dec 2
supposed to be written by one clergyman to ano- ther, and dropped by the latter, as he made his escape from the officers of justice. Many priests were immediately apprehended ; all catholic shop- keepers and mechanics were banished out of the principal towns, and the houses of the catholic gentry were searched for the discovery of arms and ammunition. But the two clergymen, the supposed writer and receiver of the letter, boldly Dec. 20. came forward, and proved the forgery, to the en- tire satisfaction of the council, and the confusion of those who had fabricated the pretended conspi- racy61. 3°. The Irish house of commons, which
61 On this occasion a protestation of allegiance, composed by Richard Sellings, was approved at a private meeting in Dublin, and transmitted to London, where it was signed by the principal of the Irish catholics in the capital, one bishop, several clergy- men, and many peers and gentlemen. By Charles it was gra- ciously received ; but certain passages in it were disapproved in Rome, and censured by the university of Louvain. This did not prevent the leading catholics in Dublin from subscribing their names to a circular letter exhorting the laity to sign the protesta- tion or remonstranc . Ormond, however, ordered the letter to be suppressed ; and when other instruments were offered him, similar in their object, but less offensive to the court of Rome in their language, he rejected them as unsatisfactory. In 1666 a synod of the clergy subscribed a new form, founded on the celebrated articles of the Gallican church, but this he also refused to accept. See Walsh, History and Vindication, &c. 97, 694. What was Onnond's real motive? " My aim ", he says in a private letter,
72 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C HAP. M'as composed of persons deeply interested in the l66V result, submitted to the approbation of the lord-
lieutenant a new code of rules to be established in
the court of claims. By him it was rejected, on
the ground that such rules would render the proof
of innocence almost impossible ; and its authors,
16G3. in a moment of irritation, moved and carried a
Feb. 28. bold and dangerous vote, pledging the house to defend the protestants of Ireland against the un- just decisions of the commissioners. The conse- quence was soon apparent. The knowledge of this vote awakened from its slumbers the revolu- tionary spirit of the settlers, who had formerly borne commissions in the republican armies. They had won their lands with the sword, why should they not defend them with the sword ? Associa- tions were formed ; plans of attack were arranged • and two plots, having for their object to seize the castle of Dublin, and secure the person of the
May 25. lord-lieutenant, were defeated by the previous dis- closures of some among the conspirators. Of these, the greater part merited pardon by the humble confession of their guilt ; several suffered the penalty of death62.
Final set- The duration of this perplexing controversy at last induced the most obstinate to relax from their
" was to work a division among the Romish clergy, and I believe " I had accomplished it to the great security of the government " and the protestants, and against the opposition of the pope, " and his creatures and nuncios, if 1 had not been removed '\ Carte, ii. App. 101.
fi Carte, 261, 5, 6, ?0. Orrery, Letters, 134.
CHARLES II.
73
pretensions; and the soldiers, the adventurers, CHAT, and the grantees of the crown, unanimously con- 16^i_
sented to augment the fund for reprisals by the
surrender of one-third of their acquisitions. The king by this measure was placed in a situation, 1665. not indeed to do justice, but to silence the most AuS- importunate or most deserving among the peti- tioners ; and, by an explanatory act, he gave to the forty-nine protestant officers the security which they sought, and added twenty catholics to a former list of thirty-four nominees, or persons to be restored to their mansion-houses, and two thousand acres of land. But when compensation had thus been made to a few of the sufferers, what, it may be asked, became of the officers who had followed the royal fortune abroad, or of the three thousand catholics who had entered their claims of innocence ? To all these, the promises which had been made by the act of settlement were broken ; the unfortunate claimants were de- prived of their rights, and debarred from all hope of future relief. A measure of such sweeping and appalling oppression, is perhaps without a parallel in the history of civilized nations. Its injustice could not be denied ; and the only apo- logy offered in its behalf, was the stern necessity of quieting the fears and jealousies of the Crom- wellian settlers, and of establishing on a perma- nent basis the protestant ascendancy in Ireland 03.
Clar. 112, 134. Carte, 310— 6. Irish St. vol. Hi- 2— 137.
I.
1661.
Its conse quences.
74 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. Though, to facilitate the execution of the act, it was provided that any doubt on its construction should be interpreted in favour of the protestant party ; yet so many difficulties occurred, that se- veral years elapsed before the settlement was com- pletely accomplished. The following is the gene- ral result. The protestants were previously in possession of about one moiety of all the profitable lands in the island : of the second moiety, which had been forfeited under the commonwealth, some- thing less than two-thirds was by the act confirmed to the protestants ; and of the remainder, a por- tion almost equal in quantity, but not in quality, to one-third, was appropriated to the catholics M.
'4 From a valuable MS. paper belonging to Sheffield Grace, Esq., and published by him in his interesting Memoirs of the Family of Grace, it appears that the profitable lands forfeited in Ireland under the commonwealth, amounted to 7,708,237 statute acres, leaving undisturbed about 8,500,000 acres belonging to the protestants, the constant good affection men of the Irish, the church, and the crown, besides some lands never seized or sur- veyed.
In 1675, the forfeited lands had been disposed of as follows: —
GRANTED TO THE ENGLISH.
St. Acres.
Adventurers 787,326
Soldiers 2,385,915
Forty-nine officers 450,380
Royal Highness Duke of York 169,431
Provisors 477,873
Duke of Ormond and Col. Butler's lands 257,516
Bishops' augmentations 31,596
4,560,037
CHARLES II. 75
GRANTED OR DISPOSED OF TO THE IRISH. CHAP.
St. Acres. I.
Decrees of innocence 1,176,520 1661.
Provisors 491,001 ■
King's letters of restitution 46,398
Nominees in possession 68,360
Transplantation 541,530
2,323,809
The forty-nine officers are those who claimed arrears for ser- vice under the king before 1649. The duke of York received a grant of all the lands held by the regicides, who had been at- tainted. Provisors, were persons in whose favour provisoes had been made in the acts. Nominees were the catholics named by the king to be restored to their mansion-houses and two thousand acres contiguous. Transplantation refers to the catholics whom Cromwell forced from their own lands, and settled in Connaught.
There remained 824,391 acres still unappropriated, which were parts of towns, or possessed by English or Irish without title ; or, on account of some doubts, had never been set out. Mem. 37 — 39.
76 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. II.
CHARLES II.
MARRIAGE OF THE DUKE OF YORK OF THE KING SALE OF
DUNKIRK INDULGENCE TO TENDER CONSCIENCES ACT
AGAINST CONVENTICLES WAR WITH THE UNITED PRO- VINCES—GREAT NAVAL VICTORY THE PLAGUE IN LONDON
FIVE-MILE-ACT OBSTINATE ACTIONS AT SEA GREAT FIRE
OF LONDON PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT INSURRECTION
IN SCOTLAND SECRET TREATY WITH FRANCE CONFERENCES
OPENED AT BREDA — THE DUTCH FLEET IN THE THAMES
PEACE OF BREDA FALL OF CLARENDON.
CHAP. J\MONG the immediate consequences of the 1660. restoration, nothing appeared to the intelligent — observer more extraordinary than the almost in-
inulaorali- stantaneous revolution, which it wrought in the ty- moral habits of the people. Under the govern-
ment of men making profession of godliness, vice had been compelled to wear the exterior garb of virtue ; but the moment the restraint was re- moved, it stalked forth without disguise, and was everv where received with welcome. The cava- liers, to celebrate their triumph, abandoned them- selves to ebriety and debauchery ; and the new
CHARLES II. 17
loyalists, that they might prove the sincerity of CHAP, their conversion, strove to excel the cavaliers in 1660
licentiousness. Charles, who had not forgotten
his former reception in Scotland, gladly availed himself of the opportunity to indulge his favourite propensities. That affectation of piety and de- corum which had marked the palace of the pro- tector, Oliver, was soon exchanged for a perpetual round of pleasure and revelry ; and the court of the English king, if inferior in splendour, did not yield in refinement and voluptuousness, to that of his French contemporary, Louis XIV. Among the females who sought to win his attentions, (and this, we are told, was the ambition of se- veral \) the first place, both for beauty and influ- ence, must be allotted to Barbara Villiers, daugh- ter of viscount Grandison, and wife to a gentle- man of the name of Palmer. On the very day of the king's arrival in the capital, she established her dominion over his heart, and contrived to retain it for years, in defiance of the inconstancy of his disposition, and the intrigues of her rivals. With her Charles generally spent several hours of the day ; and, even when the council had assem- bled to deliberate in his presence, the truant monarch occasionally preferred to wile away his time in the bewitching company and conversation of his mistress 2.
1 Ileresby, 7.
'2 " He delighted in a bewitching kind of pleasure called sauu- ring". Sheffield, ii. 78.
78 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. James and Henry, the dukes of York and iMo. Glocester, religiously copied the example set
them by their sovereign and elder brother. But
before the lapse of six months, Henry was borne
m arn age r J
of James, to the grave 3 ; and soon afterwards it began to 166°- be whispered at court, that James was married to a woman of far inferior rank, Anne, the daughter of the chancellor Hyde. The duke had become acquainted with her in the court of his sister, the princess of Orange, to whom she was maid of honour. Anne possessed few pretensions to beauty ; but wit and manner supplied the place of personal charms 4 : she attracted the notice of the young prince, and had the address to draw
1659. from her lover a promise, and afterwards a private Nov. 24. contract, of marriage. From the Hague, she fol- lowed the royal family to England ; and, in a few months her situation induced James to marry her
1660. clandestinely, according to the rite of the church Sep. 3. of England 5, and to reveal the important secret to
the king, whose objections (for he heard it with pain) were soon subdued by the passionate impor- tunity of his brother. To most fathers this alli- ance would have proved a subject of joy ; but
3 The king- mourned in purple. Pep. i. 139.
4 La duchesse de York est fort laide; la bouche extraordinaire- ment fendue, et les yeux fort eraillez, mais tre's courtoise. Journal de Monconis, p. 522. Lyons, 1666. Hamilton says, that she had Pair grand, la taille assez belle, et beaucoup d'esprit. Mem. de Grammont, i. 149, Edition de Cazin. Pepys, that she was a plain woman, like her mother, i. 188.
5 Rennet's Register, from the council book. 381.
CHARLES II. 79
Hyde, with expressions of anger, the extravagance CHAP, of which might have provoked a doubt of its
1660.
reality, affected to deplore the disgrace of the
royal family, and advised Charles, after the pre- cedents of former reigns, to send the presumptuous female to the Tower. Unable to persuade the king, who, perhaps, laughed at his officiousness in secret, he confined, in virtue of his parental autho- rity, the undutiful daughter to a room in his own house ; while, by the connivance of one of the family, probably the mother, James had free access to the cell of the captive, and sought by his assiduity, to console her for the displeasure, whe- ther it were real or pretended, of her father. Neither had the father much reason to complain. The king made him a present of 20,000/., and raised him, by the title of baron Hindon, to the peerage 6.
The choice of James was severely condemned Disap- by his mother, by his eldest sister, and by the thtTroyaf political enemies of the chancellor. The princess family, of Orange, who had recently arrived in England, ep' declared to the king, that she would never yield the precedence to a woman, who had stood as a servant behind her chair. The queen-mother in- dulged in terms of the bitterest reproach ; and hastened her promised visit to her children, that she might prevent so foul a disgrace to the royal
Clarendon, 31,: 32.
so HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C II AP. houses of England and France7. Charles Berke- II 1660. l^y? whether he was influenced by enmity to
Hyde, or by the hope of making his fortune, came
to their aid, affirming with oaths, that Anne had formerly been his mistress, and bringing forward the earl of Arran, Jermyn, Talbot, and Killigrew, as witnesses of her loose and wanton behaviour. Lastly, divines and lawyers were produced, grave and learned casuists, who maintained in presence of the duke, that no private contract of marriage on his part could be valid without the previous consent of the sovereign. The resolution of James was shaken : he interrupted his visits to Wor- cester-house, and assured his mother and sister, that he had ceased to look upon Anne as his law- ful wife.
Oct. 22. In a few weeks she was delivered of a son. While she lay in the throes of childbirth, her con- fessor, Dr. Morley, bishop elect of Worcester 8,
7 She previously intended to come, that she might meet all her children together, and look after her dower. Clar. 32 -36. It would appear, that the lands settled on her as her dower, had been in a great measure shared among persons who had a hand in her husband's death. On inquiry, the present holders were found to be Okey, Walton, Scroop, Norton, Pride, Whalley, Edwards, and Tichborne, the king's judges ; Dendy, serjeant at arms to the court; Lambert, and Blackwell. Journ. of Com. 1660, June, 23.
8 Morley tells us, that she was accustomed to receive the sacra- ment every month, and then proceeds thus : " Always the day " before she received, she made a voluntary confession of what " she thought she had offended God in, either by omission or com- " mission, professing her sorrow for it, and promising amendment " in it; and then kneeling down, she desired and received absolu- " tion in the form and word? prescribed by our church"" Morley apud Kennet, Register 385.
CHARLES II. 8
standing by the bedside, adjured her in the name chap. of the living God, to speak the truth before the jgjj
noble ladies, who attended by order from the
king. To his questions she replied, that the duke was the father of her child, that they had been contracted to each other before witnesses, and that she had always been faithful to his bed.
For some days James had continued silent and Publicly melancholy. The birth of the child, and the as- ledgedT" sertions of the mother, revived his affection ; on Nov. 10. examination, Berkeley confessed that his charges against her were calumnies, and the duke, ashamed of his credulity, resolved to do her justice. He visited her at her father's house, sent for her ac- cusers, and introduced them to her by the title of duchess of York. They knelt, she gave them her hand to kiss, and, acting up to the instructions of her husband, never afterwards betrayed any hos- tility against them. One of her enemies, the prin- Dec 2t. cess of Orange, died ; and the queen-mother, at the request of the French minister Mazarin, who wished to conciliate the chancellor, desisted from her opposition. Anne was received by her at court 1661. with a smiling countenance, and the appellation Jan- '• of daughter ; and the new duchess supported her rank with as much ease and dignity as if she had never moved in an inferior situation 9.
9 See Clarendon's very minute and ridiculous account of the whole transaction, 28 — 40. Pepys, i. 144, 50, .57, 62, 64, 65. Mem. deGrani. i. 233—241.
vol,, xii <;
82 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. This marriage was founded in affection: two 1(J(jl others followed, the origin of which, is to be sought
in the policy of courts. The treaty which Ma-
of tile80 zarm concluded with Cromwell had taught the
princess French monarch to value the aid of that power by
which he had been enabled to conclude with honour
and profit the long and expensive war with Spain.
Still Spain was a formidable rival : the existing
peace was considered by the two cabinets as only
a breathing time preparatory to the renewal of
hostilities : and Louis, to Secure the services of
England under the restored dynasty, resolved to
cultivate the friendship of the prince whom, to
gratify Cromwell, he had formerly excluded from
his dominions. To secure this became, during the
whole reign of Charles, one great object of French
policy ; and the first step taken was the proposal,
through the queen-mother, of a marriage between
Henrietta, the youngest sister of Charles, and
Philip, the only brother of Louis. To Henrietta
it opened a brilliant and seducing prospect ; by
the English king it was received with joy and
March 31. gratitude ; and the ceremony was performed with
becoming magnificence, soon after the return of
Portu- the princess with her mother to France10.
match Charles himself, in 1659, with the hope of re- proposed.
10 These reasons are assigned by Louis himself, as his motive for proposing the marriage. CEuv. i. 61. Charles, by the marriage contract, bound himself to give his sister 40,000 jacobuses, by way of portion, and 20,000 as a present. Dumont. vi. par. ii. p. 354.
CHARLES II. 83
pairing by the assistance of France the loss which CHAP, his interests had suffered from the defeat of sir i66i.
George Booth, made the offer of his hand to the
niece of the cardinal Mazarin ; but that minister, having received an unfavourable account of the royal party in England, modestly declined the honour, as far above the pretensions and the wishes of his family. In a few weeks the tide of popular feeling turned in favour of royalty, and Mazarin sought to renew the negociation ; but the king's ardour for the lady had already cooled : to recover his crown, he wanted not the assistance of her uncle ; and he was unwilling to bind him- self in the trammels of wedlock n. After his re- turn, the more sober among his counsellors saw with pain the scandal which he gave by his amours; they repeatedly and earnestly advised him to marry ; and at last the example of his brother in- duced him to think seriously on the subject. But against the royal and princely families in the north of Europe he had, from some cause or other, con- tracted an invincible antipathy ; and to marry a catholic princess from the south was likely to shock the religious prepossessions of the majority of his subjects. From this state of indecision he was drawn by a tempting proposal, made through the Portugese ambassador, at the secret instigation of the French court. During the war between France and Spain, Portugal, with the aid of the
" James, Memoirs, i. 395. c; 2
! HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAT, former, had preserved its independence ; but, by Kiel, the treaty of the Pyrenees, Louis had bound him-
self to leave the house of Braganza and its rebel- lious adherents to their fate. It was not, however, his intention that Portugal should be again in- corporated with Spain, and, aware that the king Alphonso, a weak prince under the guardianship of his mother, could oppose no effectual resistance to his more powerful foe, he suggested to the court of Lisbon a marriage between Donna Caterina, the king's sister, and Charles king of England. It would induce the English monarch to support the pretensions of his wife's family, and would open a new channel, through which France might for- ward assistance to Portugal without any manifest violation of its friendly relations wtih Spain12. The advice was adopted ; and Francisco de Mello,
12 Le premier de soutenir les Portugais que je voyois en danger de succomber bientot sans cela ; le second de me donner plus de moyen de les assister moi-meme, si je le jugeois necessaire, non- obstant le traite des Pyre'nees, qui me le defendoit. Louis, GEuvres, i. 62. It is amusing to observe ho;v the royal casuist proceeds to justify this underhand dealing, the sending, under false names, of ^orces to the aid of a power, which he had bound himself by treaty entirely to desert. He tells us that the experience of centuries had taught the French and Spanish courts to know the real import of the words employed in the treaties between them : that the ex- pressions " perpetual peace" and ' ' sincere amity," &c. were used with as little meaning as compliments in ordinary conversation ; aud that neither party expected any thing more from the other than to abstain from manifest and public violations of the articles, while each remained at liberty to inflict on his rival, by clandes- tine and circuitous means, every injury in his power. This neces- sarily followed from the great principle of self-preservation. Ibid. 63—65.
CHARLES II. S5
the ambassador in London, offered with the prin- chap.
ii cess a dower of 500,000/., the possession of Tan- 1661
gier on the coast of Africa, and of Bombay in the
East Indies, and a free trade to Portugal and the Portuguese colonies. Charles consulted Hyde, Ormond, Southampton, and Nicholas; their advice concurred with the royal inclination ; and De Mello was given to unerstand that the proposal would be accepted 13.
The treaty with this minister had not escaped Opposi- tlie notice of Vatteville, the Spanish ambassador, Spanish who the moment he discovered its real object, re- a™bassa" presented to the king, that Spain would never forego her claim to the crown of Portugal ; that the Donna Caterina was known to be incapable of bearing children ; and that a marriage with her would infallibly lead him into a war, and deprive his subjects of the Spanish trade ; but that, if he chose to take one of the two princesses of Parma, Philip would give with either the dower of a daughter of Spain. Charles began to waver ; he listened to the suggestions of the earl of Bristol, the enemy of the Portuguese match ; and that no- bleman proceeded by his order on a secret mission to the city of Parma. There he saw the two prin- cesses on their way to church, and nothing more was necessary to hasten his return. One was so plain, the other so corpulent, that he dared not recommend either to the royal choice14.
■a Clarendon, 78—81.
* Clarendon^ 86 — 89. Clarendon, Pap. Supplem. ii. viii.
S6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. Iii the meantime Charles had been recalled to
J,!; his first intention by the remonstrances of his ad- 1001. j
visers, and the arguments of the French king.
Ehe , Bastide, secretary to the late ambassador, Bor- Frencn J
king ad- deaux, arrived in England with a commission to y!ses ! ' purchase lead for the royal buildings in France ;
March. J m °
but, in a private conference with Hyde, he in- formed that minister that his real object -was to propose the means of establishing a private com- munication between the two kings, to be conducted by the chancellor on one part, and Fouquet on the other, without the knowledge of their colleagues in the cabinet, or of the ordinary ambassadors at either court. Charles eagerly accepted the propo- sal ; and the correspondence was maintained dur- ing five months, till the disgrace of Fouquet. Aug. 26. During that time Louis continually inculcated the advantages of the Portuguese match, offered Charles a considerable sum of money to purchase votes in the parliament, consented to lend him 50,000/. whenever he might want it, and engaged to furnish two millions of livres, in the event of a war between England and Spain 15. Thus was
•s Clarendon, 90. CEuvres de Louis XIV. i. 67, and the corre- spondence itself in the supplement to the third volume of the Cla- rendon papers, i — xv. Charles acquainted no one but his brother James with the secret. Two others were employed in it: Bas- tide, as secretary to Fouquet, and lord Cornbury, Clarendon's eldest son, as secretary to his father. Hyde had the prudence or the honesty to refuse an offer of 10,000/. from Louis, though both Charles and James laughed at his simplicity, but he afterwards accepted a present of all the books which had been printed at the royal press, in the Louvre. Clar. 92; pap. iii. Supplcm. i. xi. xiv.
CHARLES II. 87
laid the foundation of that clandestine and conn- CHAP, dential correspondence between Charles and Louis, 166\
which, in a short time, rendered the king of Eng
land the pensionary, and therefore, in a great measure, the dependent, of his good brother, the king of France,
But Vatteville did not long rely on the success Resolved of Bristol's mission. The representative of the council, catholic king undertook to dissuade Charles from March 28. marriage with a catholic princess ; he proposed to him a daughter of the king of Denmark, or of the elector of Saxony, or of the prince of Orange, May 3. and engaged that his master should give with any of them the same portion which had been offered with a princess of Parma. At the same time he sought to form a party in the parliament and the city. He opened his table to the discontented, distributed money to the needy, and scattered in the streets printed copies of his memorials against a catholic, and of his offers in favour of a pro- testant, match. But these efforts proved fruit- less. The amount of the dower, the settlements in the Mediterranean and the East Indies, and the concession of an unrestricted trade to Portugal and its dependencies, presented advantages cer- tain and present ; while the dangers predicted on the score of the infanta's religion were at the best distant and uncertain. A full council of cioht- and-twenty members had, without a dissentient May 2. voice, advised the king to conclude the marriage ; the two houses presented to him addresses of ap- May 8.
JlllK
88 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
c H A P. probation ; the treaty was signed ; and Montague, 1661# now earl of Sandwich, received the command of a fleet, with instructions to cruize in the Medi- terranean, and, at the appointed time, to bring the Portuguese princess to England 10. Rencontre Vatteville bore the disappointment with impa- thenvo patience, and whether he thought to mortify the ambassa- French court for its interference, or only to gra- tify the pride of his countrymen, he announced his intention of reviving the ancient quarrel for precedency between the crowns of France and July 20. Spain. On the first occasion, the entry of Carara, the Venetian ambassador, Charles prevailed both on Vatteville and on D'Estrades, the representa- tive of Louis, to take no part in the ceremony : but the latter was reproved for his condescension by his court ; each prepared to assert his claim on the next opportunity, the expected entry of Brahe, the Swedish ambassador, and the king, unable to restrain these champions of vanity, for- bad his subjects by proclamation to interfere in the contest. D'Estrades summoned every French- man in London, on his allegiance, to support the honour of his sovereign ; he sent for reinforce- ments to Boulogne of which he was governor, and introduced into his house in disguise several of the officers and troopers belonging to that garri- son. Vatteville, who could not muster so forrnid-
"■ Clarendon, 89. Papers, iii. Sup. ii. v. vi. vil. L. Jouni. xi. 241; 4j 252. Kcnnct. Reg. 131.
CHARLES II. *9
able a force17, sought to compensate by art for CHAP. inferiority of number, ordering the traces of his 2 "
carriage to be made of chains of iron covered
with leather, and allotting to each of his followers his particular station and employment. The Tower wharf was selected for the field of battle ; gep. 30. at noon arrived the carriage of the Spanish am- bassador with about forty servants in liveries ; and about two, that of the French ambassador, attended by one hundred persons on foot, and about forty on horseback, armed with pistols, or musquetoons and carbines. At three Brahe landed at the stairs ; and the moment he departed in one of the royal carriages, those of the two ambassa- dors started for the place of honour. The oppo- site parties charged each other ; the shouts of the crowd animated the combatants ; blood began to flow, and more than fifty j>ersons were killed or wounded in this extraordinary fray. The victory remained with the Spaniards. The French coach- man fell from his seat ; the horses were disabled, and the traces cut. Vatteville's carriage instantly took the place of honour ; its attendants, though repeatedly charged, gallantly repulsed the assail- ants ; and the conquerors, as they passed through the streets, were loudly cheered by the populace and the soldiery 18. Louis received the news with
17 D'Estrades assured his master that the Spaniards were aided by several thousand Englishmen. He can only mean that they encouraged the Spaniards by their shouts.
" It is strange to see how all the city did rejoice. And, in- " deed, we do all naturally love the Spanish, and hate the French/"
9© HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, feelings of grief and indignation, not that he la- ,*?.', raented the fate of those whose lives had been so
wantonly sacrificed, but that he deemed his reputa- tion lowered in the opinion of other powers, be- cause the representative of a rival crown had gained the superiority in a senseless and disgraceful quarrel. Without a moment's hesitation he sent Fuensaldagna, the Spanish minister, out of his dominions, demanded ample reparation from the court of Madrid, and refused to listen to any ac- commodation, till Philip had expressed his sorrow at so untoward an occurrence, recalled his pugna- cious representative from London, and promised that his ambassadors should always absent them- selves from ceremonies, in which there might be danger of their coining into competition with those of the French crown !9.
Arrival of In the meanwhile, the earl of Sandwich with
the prin- cess.
Pepys, i. 223. I have taken the particulars of this fray from Eve- lyn's official account, ii. 458. Pepys, i. 2 — 214. Clarendon Papers, iii. Suppl. xvii. Rugge's MS. 297, and Louis XIV. i. 118.
'9 CEuvres de Louis, i. 125, 131. Dumont, vi. part. ii. p. 403, 4. Para se abstengan y no concurran con les embaxadores y ministros de V. Majestad en todas las funciones y ceremonias publicas. Dumont, ibid. This voluntary absence was explained by Louis to be an acknowledgment of his superior rank ; and it is amusing to observe how vain he was of it. Je ne scais, si depuis le commencement de la monarchic il s'est rien passe de plus glo- rieux pour elle . . . c'est une espece de hommage, qui ne laisse plus doubter a nos ennemis mcme, que notre couronne ne soit la pre- miere de toute la chretiente . . . C'etoit un malheur que ce tumulte de Londres ; ce seroit maintenant un malheur qu'il ne fut pas arrive, i. 132, 130.
CHARLES II. 91
the English fleet, having swept the Mediterranean CHAP.
II.
1661.
of the Turkish corsairs, and made a bold, but
fruitless attempt on the shipping behind the mole
at Algiers, received from the Portuguese posses- July 31* sion of Tangier, part of the marriage portion of 1662' the infanta. The return of spring summoned him to Lisbon, and Donna Caterina, bidding adieu to her relatives and native land, embarked April 13. on board his ship, the destined bride of the English monarch20.
To Mrs. Palmer the approaching marriage was a subject of anxiety and distrust. Charles, that he might pacify the temper of his imperious mis- tress, redoubled his attentions. He generally dined and supped at her house ; he made her the most costly presents ; he created her husband, against his will, earl of Castlemain in Ireland, with remainder to the issue male of the body of his wife, the lady Barbara, and he solemnly pro- mised, that, instead of banishing her from court, he would appoint her lady of the bedchamber to the new queen. The birth of a son at Hampton- court confirmed her influence over her lover21.
On the arrival of the fleet at Spithead, Charles King's he- quitted the house of Castlemain to meet the in- jjer. fanta. In point of personal attractions and fa- May 20. shionable acquirements, she could not stand the competition with her dazzling and formidable
,0 Rennet's Register, .512 — 617, 6.52. Clarendon, 165. »' PepySj i. 235, 21.3, 261, 267.
92 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CH AT. rival : yet she was not without claims to heauty ; .Jjj her good nature and good sense gave a charm to
her conversation, and the more she was known,
the more she displayed the amiable qualities of her heart. The king was gratified beyond his expectations ; he thought himself fortunate in the acquisition of such a wife, and so little did he know of his own heart, that he boasted to his friends of the pattern of conjugal fidelity which he should thenceforth set to his court22. The royal pair came by easy journeys to Hampton- court, and lived for a few days in the most edify- ing harmony. But it was not the intention of Charles to estrange himself from the company of Castlemain, nor had he forgotten the imprudent promise which had been wrung from him by her tears. One day, taking " the lady " (such was her usual designation) by the hand, he presented her to the queen in the midst of a brilliant court. Catherine was able to subdue her feelings for the
32 If Hume talk of " the homely person" of Catherine, others who knew her better, describe her differently. Clarendon, Contin. 167. Clar. Pap. iii. Supplem. xx. Charles himself, in a letter to the chancellor, speaks of her thus: "Her face is not so exact " as to be called a beauty, though her eyes are excellent good, and " not any thing on her face that in the least degree can shoque " one. On the contrary, she has as much agreeableness in her " looks altogether, as ever I saw ; and, if I have any skill in " physiognomy, which I think I have, she must be as good a " woman as ever was born. Her conversation, as much as I can " perceive, is very good ; for she has wit enough, and a most " agreeable Voice. You would much wonder to see how well we " are acquainted already. In a word, I think myself very happy." Macpherson Papers, i. 22, note.
CHARLES II. 93
moment. She gave to her rival a most gracious CHAP, reception: but in a few minutes her eyes were 1661
suffused with tears ; the blood gushed from her
nose : and she was conveyed in a fit to her apart- ment23. By the king, this incident was con- sidered a most heinous offence. He declared that he would never submit to the whims of his wife : he had been the cause of Castlemain's dis- grace ; he was bound in honour to make her reparation. His dissolute companions applauded his firmness : Ormond and Clarendon ventured to remonstrate against the indecency and cruelty of the appointment. To their surprise, he replied, that whoever should oppose his design, would become the object of his everlasting displeasure, and that they, if they wished to please him, should employ their influence to overcome the obstinacy of the queen'24. Clarendon had the meanness to undertake an office which he ab- horred ; but Catherine refused to listen to his advice. Charles at the same time subjected her to the most painful mortifications. The Portu- guese ambassador was insulted on her account ; her countrywomen were sent back to Portugal ; Castlemain was daily introduced into her apart- ment, where the mistress received the attentions of the king and the courtiers, while the queen sate alone, silent and unnoticed. For several weeks she maintained the unequal contest : at last
23 Clarendon, 168. 24 See the letter of Charles, note (A).
J)4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAT, her resolution failed : she consented to accept the II.
1661.
services of her rival, and even treated her with
kindness in private as well as public. But it was now too late : Charles applauded himself for his victory over what he called her wayward and wilful temper ; and those who had before admired her constancy, pronounced her a weak and mu- table woman25. The empire of Castlemain was established. She waited, indeed, (for such was the will of the king,) on Catherine ; to the scan- dal of all good protestants, she even attended her to mass ; but, on other occasions, the mistress proved the centre of attraction ; the king was always to be found at her suppers and entertain- ments ; officers were placed and displaced at her suggestion ; and she at last obtained the higher rank of duchess of Cleveland for herself, with remainder to Charles and George Fitzroy, her children by the king. Catherine, on the con- trary, abstained from all political intrigue ; and, notwithstanding the prejudice against her reli- gion, by her continual study to please her hus- band, the meekness with which she bore her wrongs, and the dignity and grace with which she performed the duties of her station, grew daily in the esteem of the public. Charles him- self condemned, though he did not reform, his conduct, and, on occasion of her sickness, dis- played all the anxiety and grief of the most
95 Clar. 169—180.
CHARLES II. 95
affectionate husband. The physicians had de- chap. spaired of her life ; and when she prayed him to l66\^
allow her body to be interred with the remains of
her fathers, and to protect her native country °ct- 2- from the tyranny of Spain, he fell on his knees, and bathed her hands with his tears. Yet from this affecting scene he repaired immediately to the house of Castlemain, and sought amusement in the conversation of a new mistress, la Belle Stuart, the daughter of Walter, son of lord Blantyre26. Catherine, however, recovered, and the king pursued his wonted course of dissipation and gallantry.
With the infanta, Charles had received in money Sale of and merchandize a portion of 350,000/. This sum afforded a temporary relief to the needy monarch ; but the expenses of the armament under lord Inchiquin for the protection of Portugal, and of the expedition destined to take possession of Bombay, soon involved him in fresh pecuniary embarrassments. The chancellor, to whose neg- ligence he imputed the insufficient provision made for him by the convention parliament, saw that, to prop up his declining credit, it was necessary to discover some new resource ; and he suggested to Charles and the duke of York, the sale of
*s Lettres du comte de Comminges, Pepys, v. App. 455, 456. He was sure to find Stewart at Castlemain's, for " il menaca la " dame, ou il soupe tons les soirs, dc ne mettre jamais le pied " chez clle, si la demoiselle n'y e"toit." 1.5.5. Sec also the Diary of Pepya himself, ii. 41, 50, 61, 103, 5, 6, 116, 143, 355.
96 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. Dunkirk to the French kino-. A few weeks only
had elapsed since he had described in strong
- colours the advantages which the nation derived
May 19. from the possession of that sea port : Charles, however, assented to the proposal ; Bellings was secretly despatched to Paris ; and D'Estrades, who had been appointed ambassador to Holland, came to England, at the invitation of the king, but under pretence of private business, in his way to the Hague. Clarendon's first attempt was to shift the responsibility of the measure from him- self to the council ; and with that view Charles mentioned it at his house before the duke, the treasurer, the lord-general, and the earl of Sand- wich, who, though they acknowledged that the charge of the place, amounting to the annual sum of 120,000/. exceeded its real value, were still un- willing to part with it, unless at a price which might justify the sale in the eyes of the public.
Aug. ?. The negociation now began. Clarendon asked twelve, D'Estrades offered two millions of livres ; but the first descended by degrees to seven, the other rose to four, and the bargain was at last
Sep. a. concluded for five millions. Here, however, a new difficulty arose. Charles required to be paid in ready money ; Louis would only advance two millions at once, and pay the remaining three by instalment, in the course of two years. Both were inflexible ; and D'Estrades had sent his ser- vants on board a vessel preparatory to his depar- Sep. 1.5. ture, when an expedient was proposed and ac-
CHARLES II. 97
cepted, that Louis should give bills for the CHAP, remainder, payable at different dates, which 1662. Charles might sell at the highest price which he
could procure. The treaty was now signed ; 1T" and the conditions on both sides were faithfully executed 27. But the French king proved too adroit for his English brother. A banker from Paris arrived in London, and, after a short nego- ciation, discounted the bills at something more than sixteen per cent. But the man was in reality a secret agent of the French cabinet ; the money which he paid was supplied by the French treasury ; and Louis, by this artifice, was enabled to buy up his own securities at a profit of five hundred thousand livres ~28.
Though Charles and his minister congratulated themselves on their success, they afterwards looked back on it with feelings of regret. The sale of Dunkirk had no small influence on the subsequent fortune of each. The possession of it had flattered the national pride : it was a com- pensation for the loss of Calais ; it might equally
*7 Clarendon, in the continuation of his own life, has given a detailed account of this transaction, written evidently for the pur- pose of exculpating himself: but his narrative is perpetually be- lied by the original documents in the " Lettres d'E^trades, 279, " 282, 283, 421, &c. in the supplement to the third volume of the " Clarendon Papers, xxi. — xxv., in Combe's Sale of Dunkirk, " London, 1728, and Pepys, ii. 369."
38 Je gagnai sur ce marche cinq cent mille livres, sans que les Angloiss'en appercussent .... le banquier c-toit un homme interpose par moi, qui faisant le paiementde mes propres deniers, ne profi- toit point de la remise. (Euvres de Louis XIV. i. 17(i.
VOL. XII. II
98 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAT, open a way into the territory of England's most ~~' ancient and natural enemy. But Charles had sold
it, not, it was said, to defray the expences of the
state, but to satisfy the rapacity of his mistresses, and to indulge in his wonted extravagance ; and Clarendon had advised the sale, not through any wish to gratify his sovereign, but in consequence of an enormous bribe from the king of France. This charge was undoubtedly false ; but the mag- nificent pile which lie built for the residence of his family, was taken as a proof of his guilt, and the name of Dunkirk-house, which it soon ob- tained, served to confirm and perpetuate the belief of the people'29. The public discontent began to be openly expressed ; Charles saw a for- midable party growing up against him ; and Clarendon, after a protracted struggle, submitted to his fate, and fled to the continent 30. Disputes We may now proceed to an important and per- toferatioii! Pyxing question, on which it was impossible for the king to decide, without giving offence to a considerable portion of his subjects — the indul- gence to tender consciences, which he had pro- mised in the declaration from Breda. Two years had been suffered to elapse, and yet he had done nothing to fulfil, but much that seemed to violate his word. The advocates of intolerance main-
•9 Pepys, ii. 250.
3° It is singular, that though Clarendon had spent so many years in exile, he employed Bellings, throughout the negotiation, as inte "prater b itween him and D'.Estrades.
CHARLES II. 9.')
tained that he was no longer bound by the decla- CHAP, ration. To whom, they asked, had it been 1G6'2
made ? To the parliament then sitting ? But
that parliament had released him from all re- sponsibility, by neglecting to remind him of the subject. To the people at large ? But the people had transferred their rights to their repre- sentatives in the succeeding parliament, and those representatives had set the question at rest by enactments incompatible with such indulgence31. This sophistry, however, did not satisfy the royal mind. Charles thought himself bound in honour to redeem his pledge ; and, anxious as he was to replace the church on its former foundation, he still deprecated every measure which savoured of hardship or persecution against those who dis- sented from it. At the request of the presby- terians, whose deputies were introduced to him by the lord-general, he promised to suspend the execution of the act of uniformity for three months, provided they would consent to read the book of common prayer during that period. Cla- rendon, though lie disapproved of the promise, thought that, since it had been made, it ought also to be observed ; but the bishops and their friends pronounced it dangerous ; the judges illegal ; and all agreed that, in defiance of the royal prohibi- tion, the patrons of benefices held bv non-con-
■" Kennet's Reg. 650. Address of ( 'ommonsj Journals, Feb. 27, 1663.
II 2
10O HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, formists would present on the appointed day, and !66-2. that their presentations would be allowed by the
courts of law. With feelings of shame the king
recalled his word : the act came into force on the 2<Ath of August, and two thousand ministers (the number is perhaps exaggerated,) resigned, or were
Aug. 24. deprived. The whole kingdom resounded with apologies on the one side, and complaints on the other. It was said that those who would not comply with the regulations, ought not to partake of the good things of the church ; that the non- conformists were previously intruders ; and that they suffered no more than they originally in- flicted. It was replied, that the established clergy were ejected during the rage of civil war, the mi- nisters in a season of domestic tranquillity : the former incumbents, by their hostility, provoked the resentment of the ruling power ; the present by their services in the restoration deserved its grati- tude : the crime of the first was their political conduct ; of the latter adhesion to the dictates of conscience : then a pittance, at least one-fifth of the income, was reserved for the family of the sufferer ; now he was turned adrift, with no other resource but the casual benevolence of the pious and the humane 32.
Declara- The king, though he had been compelled to
dulgence!" Yie^> vet ne^c^ nimself bound by his promise ; and this feeling was kept alive by repeated petitions
Clarendon, 156 — lco. Kennet, 747.
CHARLES II.
101
from the presbyterians, the independents, and the CHAP. Roman catholics, who all claimed the benefit of the l66'2-
declaration from Breda 33. The question was
again referred to the council ; the leading mem- bers argued against indulgence ; Robartes, lord privy seal, and Bennet, the new secretary of state, in its favour. The sovereign, they contended, possessed in virtue of his supremacy, the right of suspending penal laws in matters of religion; James and Charles had raised a yearly revenue by the sale of such protections ; and the king might lawfully exercise a power which had never been denied in his father or grandfather. The sug- gestion was approved ; and notice of the royal intention was given in the declaration which he Dec. 6. published for the purpose of refuting " the four scandals cast on the government". J°. There- publicans feared, and the discontented maintained, that the act of indemnity had been passed merely as a temporary measure, and that it was still in- tended to sacrifice, to the revenge and rapacity of the royalists, the lives and fortunes of those who had served the protector or the commonwealth. To this " scandal " the king replied by promising that, as he had freely confirmed, so he would most
33 Both independents and presbyterians were true to their prin- ciples. The independents sought to obtain indulgence for all, catholics as well as others : the presbyterians could not in con- science concur in favour of the catholics, though they would not oppose them. The king might do as he pleased, but they would not advise him, or encourage him to do it. Baxter's Life, part ii. p. 129.
»02 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
(HAT. religiously observe, every provision in the act. 1662. 2°. The successive revolutions of the last twenty
years had taught men to doubt the stability even
of the present government. It was the conviction of the royal brothers that, if at the commencement of the civil war, their father had possessed a small regular force, he might at once have put down his opponents ; and under this notion, when the army was disbanded, they retained in pay two or three regiments, with three troops of horse guards. The whole establishment did not amount to five thousand men °4. Yet this force, small as it was, excited alarm. It might be augmented, and em- ployed not to suppress insurrection, but to sub- vert the national liberties. Most of the nations on the continent had been originally free : it was by the institution of standing armies that they had been enslaved by despotic monarchs. Charles defended his conduct on the ground of necessity. While so many factious spirits were employed in agitating the public mind, neither the person of the sovereign nor the freedom of the parliament,
34 July 4, 1663. " I saw his majesty's guards, being of horse " and foot 4000, led by the general the duke of Albermarle, in "extraordinary equipage and gallantry, consisting of gentlemen " of quality and veteran soldiers, excellently clad, mounted and " ordered, drawn up in battalia before their majties in Hide- " park, where the old earle of Cleveland trail'd a pike, and led the " right-hand file in a foote company, commanded by the lord " Wentworth his son, a worthy spectacle and example, being both " of them old and valiant soldiers". Evelyn, ii. 202. See also the Travels of Cosmo^ iii. 306.
CHARLES II. 103
could be secure without an armed force. Of this CHAP, proof had been furnished by the insurrection 1662.
under Vernier. But let the laws resume their
former empire, let the discontented abandon their rebellious designs, and he would reduce that force to the smallest number consistent with the dignity of the crown ; for he would not yield to the most liberal among his subjects in his detestation of military and arbitrary rule. 3°. By many it was said that the act of uniformity proved him to be a faithless unprincipled persecutor. He denied the charge. He had, in the first place, as in duty bound, provided by the act of uniformity for the settlement of the church ; it was his intention, in the next place, to fulfil his promise of securing case to those who, through the scruples of a mis- guided conscience, refused to conform. For this purpose, he would make it his special care to solicit from parliament an act enabling him " to " exercise with more universal satisfaction that " power of dispensing, which he conceived to " be inherent in the crown." Nor did he doubt of the concurrence of the two houses. It was a measure to which he was pledged by his declaration from Breda, and without which it was unreasonable to expect the restoration of public tranquillity. 4°. But the most pernicious scandal remained, that- the king was a favourer of popery. This was the artifice by which so many well-meaning protestants had been seduced to bear arms against his father, and his enemies
104 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, had recourse to it at the present time with inten- 1662. tions equally disloyal. Of his firm adhesion to the true protestant religion he had given convinc- ing proofs under the most trying circumstances. Yet he could not but know that the greater part of the English catholics had adhered, at the risk of their lives and fortunes, to the cause of the crown, and consequently of the church, against those, who under the name of protestants, em- ployed fire and sword for the subversion of both ; and therefore he openly avowed that he did not mean to exclude catholics from some share of that indulgence which he had promised to tender con- sciences. It would be unjust to refuse to those who had deserved well, the boon which was granted to those who had not; and the laws against catholics were so rigorous, so sanguinary, that to execute them would be to do violence to his nature. Let them not, however, presume so much on his goodness, as to look for toleration, or to scandalize protestants by the open practice of their worship ; otherwise they would find that he knew as well how to be severe when wisdom required it, as indulgent when charity and a sense of merit claimed indulgence from him 35. Disap- But these were doctrines ill-adapted to the both1 y intolerant notions of the age. The declaration, houses, instead of making proselytes, was received by the majority of the people with distrust of the
35 See the Declaration in Kennet, Rcgist. 848 — 91.
CHARLES II. 105
motives, and a resolution of withstanding the CHAP, wishes, of the king. They could not compre- 166'3
hend how an attachment to the interests of pro
testantism could exist with a willingness to grant any portion of indulgence to catholics : they recalled to mind the former reports of the king's apostacy, which had been circulated by the policy of his enemies during the commonwealth, and they openly asserted that he cared little for the sufferings of the dissenters, but merely sought, under the pretence of relieving them, to extend the same benefit to the papists. Charles, at the Feb. 18. opening of the next session, condescended to vindicate himself from these aspersions, and, in proof of his own orthodoxy, demanded the enact- ment of new laws to check the progress of popery But with respect to the dissenters, he represented it desirable that the crown were vested with the power of extending indulgence to the peaceable among them, in circumstances when they might otherwise be tempted to expatriate themselves, or to conspire against the state. In accordance with Feb. 23. the sentiments of the sovereign, the lord privy seal, aided by lord Ashley, brought into the upper house a bill enabling the king to dispense at his discretion with the laws and statutes, requiring oaths, or subscriptions, or obedience to the doc- trine and discipline of the established church. Both houses were immediately in a flame. The lower, though the bill was not before it, presented Feb. 27. to the king an address, in which, having thanked
H)6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, him for the other parts of the declaration, they *}' contended that the indulgence which was sought,
would amount to the legal establishment of
schism, would expose his majesty to the ceaseless importunities of the dissenters, would lead to the multiplication of sects and sectaries, and, ending in universal toleration, would produce disturbance instead of tranquillity, because men of every religious persuasion form a distinct party, pur- suing their peculiar interests, and acting in accord- ance with their peculiar prepossessions. In the higher house, the lord-treasurer placed himself at
March 5. the head of the opposition : during the first day's debate he was zealously supported by the bishops :
March 12. on the second day the chancellor, though confined by a severe fit of the gout, left his room to lend his powerful aid to the cause of the church, and, in the vehemence of his zeal, indulged in a severity of language highly offensive to the sovereign. Their efforts succeeded ; the house passed to a different subject ; and the bill was suffered to remain unnoticed on the table ;36. Though Charles appeared to bear with composure the loss of this his favourite measure, he felt the disappointment keenly ; and expressed his opinion to Clarendon with a warmth which surprised and terrified the minister. From that day it became manifest that neither Clarendon nor Southampton possessed his former credit with the sovereign. As to the
* C. Journals, Feb. 27, 28. L. Jouin. xi. 178, 82, 6,91,
CHARLES II. 107
bishops, Charles hesitated not to charge them with C HAP. ingratitude and bigotry. It was, he said, to his 16ti'3,
promise from Breda that they owed their restora
tion to power, and now they employed that power to prevent him from fulfilling his promise. It was, the intolerance of the prelates under his father which led to the destruction of prelacy, and now, as soon as they were replaced in their former situation, they reverted to the practice of into- lerance. His carriage altered with his sentiments. Hitherto he had been accustomed to receive and treat them with the most marked respect. But henceforth he was careful to show bv his manner that he held them in no esteem ; and the courtiers, aware of the change in the royal mind, turned their persons and their sermons into subjects of sarcasm and ridicule !".
The king was, however, doomed to drink more deeply of the cup of mortification. He had asked permission to shelter the catholics, who had served the royal cause, from the extreme severity of the March 31. penal statutes, and in return both houses pre- sented to him an address for a proclamation order- ing all catholic priests to quit the kingdom, under April 2. the penalty of death. After a faint struggle he acquiesced. The champions of orthodoxy followed up their success ; and, affecting to comply with the royal recommendation, introduced a bill to April 27. check the growth of popery, but coupled with it
j7 Clarendon, 21j — y. Lite of James, i. 1 iS.
108
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
1664.
July 25.
Conventi
cle act.
CHAP, another to arrest the diffusion of non-conformity. Both passed with rapidity through the house of commons ; but in the house of lords their progress was continually impeded by the objections of the presbyterian and catholic peers ; and their patrons, at the close of the session, substituted in their place an address to the king, to put in execution all the penal laws against catholics, dissenters and sectaries of every description 38.
In the summer, the cause of intolerance ac- quired additional strength from a partial rising of enthusiasts in the northern counties. The govern- ment had been apprized of their intentions : the duke of Buckingham, in quality of the king's lieutenant, proceeded with a detachment of guards to York, and summoned the militia ; and about fifty persons were arrested in Yorkshire and Westmoreland, of whom several paid the forfeit of their folly with their lives. From their situa- tion in life it was plain that they acted under the secret guidance of others. Some professed the doctrines of the fifth-monarchy men : others jus- tified themselves on the plea that the parliament had sitten more than three years, and that by the triennial act, passed in the 16th of Charles I., in default of writs issued by the king, they were permitted to assemble of themselves for the choice of new members. When Charles opened the next session he embraced the opportunity to sug-
Oct.
1664. March 16
38 L. Jouru. xi. 5.58, 578. C. Journ. Ap. 27;, May 30.
CHARLES II. 109
gest the repeal of an act which thus furnished a chap. plea for seditious meetings, while the patrons of 1664.
intolerance drew from the insurrection a new ar-
gument in favour of additional severities for the suppression of religious dissent. A compromise April 5. took place. It was indeed, enacted that parlia- ment should never be discontinued for more than three years ; but, to satisfy the king, all the compulsory clauses of the triennial act, which directed the keeper of the great seal to issue writs, and the sheriffs to hold elections, in de- fiance of the royal pleasure, were repealed ; and, on the other hand, Charles reluctantly gave his consent to the conventicle act, which, it was hoped, would extinguish every form of heterodox worship. All meetings of more than five indi- May 16. viduals, besides those of the family, for any reli- gious purpose not according to the Book of Com- mon Prayer, were declared seditious and unlaw- ful conventicles : and it was enacted that the punishment of attendance at such meeting by any person above sixteen years of age should be, for the first offence, a fine of five pounds, or impri- sonment during three months ; for the second, a fine of ten pounds, or imprisonment during six months ; for the third, a fine of one hundred pounds, or transportation for seven years ; and that, if the conscience of the offender led him to transgress the law more than thrice, the fine at each repetition of the offence should be aug- mented by the additional sum of one hundred
HO HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, pounds19. This act, so intolerant in its principle, iggI. all(l so penal in its consequences, was immediately
enforced : it equally affected catholics and every
denomination of dissenters ; but it was felt the most severely by the quakers, because, while others, when they met for the purpose of wor- ship, sought to elude detection, these religionists, under the guidance, as they thought, of the Spirit of God, deemed it their duty to assemble openly, and to set at defiance the law of man. To describe the numerous and vexatious informa- tions, prosecutions, fines and imprisonments which followed, would only fatigue the patience and pain the feelings of the reader. I may, how- ever, observe that the world had seldom witnessed a more flagrant violation of a most solemn en- gagement. Toleration had been offered and was accepted, the king had been restored, and the
39 Miscel. Aul. 316, 19, 30. L. Journ. 620. C. Journ. Ap. 28 ; May 12, 14, 16. St. 16. Car. 11, c. i.4. Pepys, ii. 172. The con- venticle act was limited as an experiment, to the duration of three years. Of the tricks sometimes employed in parliament at these periods the reader may form some notion from the following in- stances : on the last day of the preceding session a bill for the better observance of the sabbath was stolen off the table, and when the king came to give the royal assent, was not to be found. Of course it did not pass into an act. In like manner, on the last day of the present session, a proviso to the conventicle act res- pecting the quakers was also stolen : bnt the former accident had awakened the vigilance of the clerk, and he discovered the theft in time to provide another copy of the proviso, and to have it passed through both houses before the king's arrival. L. Journ. xi. 577, 619, 20.
CHAHLES II. HI
church re-established; and now, that the price chap.
II.
1664.
was paid, the benefit was withheld ; and, instead
of the indulgence promised in the contract, was
substituted a system of penalties and persecution. The blame, however, ought not to rest with the king. He did his best to fulfil his word. But the benevolent intentions of the monarch were opposed by the most powerful of his ministers ; and the bigotry of these ministers was sanctioned by the prejudices and resentments of the parlia- ment.
Charles had now reigned four years, respected Com- and courted by his neighbours : in an evil hour Lainst he was persuaded, against his better judgment, totheDutch* unsheath the sword, and to encounter the uncer- tain chances of war. He had formed a correct notion of the importance of commerce to the in- terests of his kingdom, and was encouraged and seconded by his brother James, in his attempts to improve and extend the foreign trade of the English merchants. With this view, the African company had been established by charter ; the duke accepted the office of governor ; and the committee of management, of which he was chairman, constantly met in his apartments at Whitehall. The company flourished ; they im- ported gold dust from the coast of Guinea, and supplied, at a great profit, the West India planters with slaves ; but they met with formidable rivals in the Dutch traders, who, during the civil war, had erected several forts along the coast of*
1 vl HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C II A P. Africa, and now employed their superior power iggI. and influence to thwart the efforts, and arrest the
progress of the English intruders. The African
company complained ; their complaints were echoed by the East India company, whose com- merce was exposed to similar impediments and injuries ; and the merchants in the city called aloud for war, to protect their interests, and curb the insolence of the Hollanders. James advocated their cause with his brother. Such, he main- tained, was the commercial rivalry between the two nations, that in the course of a few years war would inevitably ensue. But then it would be too late. Now was the proper time, before the race of naval commanders, formed during the commonwealth, should become extinct. But Charles (and he was supported by Clarendon) rejected the advice. He had learned wisdom from the history of his father and his grand- father. They had been driven into war by the clamour of the nation ; and the charges of war, in a short time, rendered them dependent on the will of the popular leaders in parliament 40.
Contrast There was at this time a marked contrast be-
theldng tween the characters of the royal brothers.
and his Charles, though oppressed with debt, scattered his money heedlessly and profusely ; James was careful to measure his expenses by the amount of his income. The king seemed to make gallantry
*' Clarendon,, 196— 201. PepyS/ii. 173.
CHARLES II.
113
the chief occupation of life ; the duke to look CHAP.
, II.
upon it as an amusement ; and, while the one i664.
daily spent his time, " sauntering " in the com- ■
pany of his mistresses, the other attended to his duties in the admiralty with the exactitude of the meanest clerk on the establishment. In point of abilities, Charles was considered superior ; but he wanted strength of mind to refuse an importu- nate suitor, or to resist the raillery and sarcasm of those whom he made his companions. James, with a judgment less correct, and with knowledge less extensive, formed his resolutions with slow- ness, but adhered to them with obstinacy. His word was esteemed sacred ; his friends relied with confidence on his support, whatever sacri- fice it might cost him ; and his enemies knew that, till he had brought them on their knees, he would never forgive their offences. Yet no di- versity of temper or opinion could diminish the affection of the two brothers. James was the most dutiful of subjects ; and, however he might disapprove the judgment, he always concurred in seconding the will, of the sovereign. He was easy of access, and affable in discourse ; but his constant attention to preserve the dignity of his rank, gave to his manner a stateliness and distance repulsive of that freedom and familiarity which the laughter-loving king indulged in the asso- ciates of his pleasures. In private life the duke was loved by few, but feared or respected by all : in public, his industry was the theme of com- VOL. XII. I
lit HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, inendation ; and the fame which he had acquired II.
16(51
in the French army, was taken as an earnest of
his future military prowess
41
Address of Qn j-ne iast meeting of parliament, the corn- houses, plaints of the merchants were heard before a March 21. committee of the lower house. They contended that the treaty concluded by the Dutch with Cromwell, and since renewed by them with the king, was not yet executed ; that the injuries sus- tained by the English traders had not been re- dressed, nor the island of Pulo Ron restored ; that English ships were still seized and con- demned under frivolous pretences ; that the natives of Africa and the Indies were frequently induced by promises and bribes to demolish the English factories ; that the Dutch, by proclaim- ing fictitious wars, and establishing pretended blockades, assumed the right of excluding their rivals from the most frequented ports, and the most valuable sources of profit ; and that the losses of the English merchants amounted, on a moderate calculation, to the enormous sum of seven or eight hundred thousand pounds 42. The committee decided in favour of the complainants ; Clifford, the chairman, supported their cause with considerable warmth, and Downing added the weight of his authority, derived from the office
4' Sheffield, duke of Buckingham, ii. 78. Mem. de Grammont, i. 141. Burnet, i. 287. Pepys, ii. 143, 188. 4* L. Journ. xi. 599, 620, 626.
CHARLES II. n-
which he held as English resident at the Hague, CHAP.
II both for the protector and the king. He was a 166^
bold, rapacious, and unprincipled man, who under
Cromwell had extorted by menaces considerable sums, in the form of presents, from the Dutch merchants, and who now, by the violence of his speeches in parliament, and afterwards by the haughtiness of his carriage to the States, pro- voked a suspicion that he looked forward to a similar termination of the existing quarrel. The commons voted an address, in which they peti- April 21. tioned the king to take an effectual course for the speedy redress of these injuries, with a promise to stand by him, with their lives and fortunes, against all opposition : the lords concurred ; and Charles replied, that he would demand justice by APril 29. his ambassador, and, in case of denial, would rely on the offer which they had made him. Still, to dispassionate observers, it appeared that, with a little conciliation on either part, the quarrel might be amicably adjusted. But Charles no longer listened to the suggestions of prudence : he found that by acceding to the popular wish, he might gratify his personal resentments against the Lou- vestein faction, which had long ruled the destinies of the republic. That faction had heaped in- dignities on him during his exile, had stripped the house of Orange, of which his nephew was the head, of its ancient dignities, and what was perhaps a more unpardonable offence, had suffered caricatures to be published in ridicule of his
1 2
n6
CHAP.
il. 1664-
Hostili- ties com- menced.
1664. Feb.
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
apathy, his amours, and his indigence'13. On the other hand, De Witt, who was acknowledged as the Louvestein leader, felt no disposition to make any concession to the menaces of a rival nation. He was resolved to maintain the commercial su- periority of his countrymen ; he considered the Dutch navy as a match for that of England, and, by a defensive alliance, he had already secured the assistance of France. By some it was thought that the obstinacy of the States had been supported by the intrigues of Louis. But the contrary was the fact. For it suited not the interests of that prince to provoke or foment a quarrel, which must involve him in a war with England, at a time when he meditated hostilities against Spain 4\
In the mean while the African company had despatched sir Robert Holmes, with a few small ships of war, to recover the castle of Cape Corse, of which they had been dispossessed by their rivals. In searching a Dutch vessel., he discovered certain documents respecting Valkenberg, the Dutch go- vernor, and the hostile tenor of these papers in- duced him to exceed his own commission, and to assume offensive operations 45. He compelled the
43 Pepys, ii. 125.
44 L. Journ. 600, 3. Com. Journ. Ap. 21, 29. Temple, i.305, 7. Louis ii. 5. De Clerc, ii. 62. Basnage, 711.
^ The king of Fantine had been supplied with money and ammunition to induce him to attack the English fort at Cor- mantine. The Dutch denied the charge, but Charles replied, ee that he has as full evidence of it, as he can have that there is " such a fort". L. Journ. xi. 627.
CHARLES II. 1]7
forts on Goree to surrender, reduced the castle of CHAP. Cape Corse, destroyed several factories on the 166^
coast, and then stretched across the Atlantic to the
settlement of New Amsterdam, originally an Eng- lish colony, and lately recovered by sir Richard Nicholas, who, in honour of the duke, his patron, had given to it the name of New York 4G. On the first intelligence of these proceedings, the Dutch ambassador presented an energetic remonstrance to the king, who replied, that the expedition had been sent out by the private authority of the com- pany, that Holmes should be put on his trial at his return, and that strict justice should be mea- sured out to all the parties concerned 47. With this assurance the States-general were satisfied ; but De Witt refused to sit down tamely under the affront. By his intrigues with the States of Hol- land, he procured an order, loosely and ambigu- ously worded, to pass through the States-general, July 31- and this, with a secret explanation, was forwarded to De Ruyter, the commander of the Dutch squad- ron in the Mediterranean. He had been sent there to cruize against the Turkish corsairs, in company with Lawson, the English admiral ; but now, pretending that he had orders to destroy a
«• Charles granted this tract of land to his brother, 12th March, 1664. Sir Richard Nicholas was groom of the bed-chamber to the duke of York. Life of James, i. 400. Dalrymple, ii. App. 27. By mistake he has printed the letter with the date of 1669.
4? Holmes, on his return, was committed to the Tower, but cleared himself to the satisfaction of the king. Heath, Contin. ?32. Pepys, ii. 23.5.
118 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, squadron of pirates at the Canaries, he separated 1(J(J4. from his allies, retaliated on the English, along the
coast of Africa, the injuries which they had in-
eP' flicted on his countrymen, and, crossing to the 1665 West India islands, captured above twenty sail of April. English merchantmen. Lawson, through want of instructions, did not follow De Ruyter, but he was careful to inform the duke of York of his probable destination ; and, by order of that prince, two English fleets swept the narrow seas of the Dutch traders, which, to the number of one hundred and thirty sail, were carefully guarded in the Eng- lish ports, as a fund of indemnification to the suf- ferers from the expedition under De Ruyter 48. Supply Charles, however, before he would rush blindly
voted. .
into the contest, determined to secure a provision of money adequate to the undertaking. The charge of the war was calculated at two millions and a half, a sum unprecedented in the annals of English finance : but the passions of the people were roused, and the council had the art to remove from themselves the odium of the demand. By Nov. 25. their secret persuasion, sir Richard Paston, a
*3 Life of James, i. 403. Clarendon, 225, 227. Le Clerc. ii. 65, 67. Basnage, 714. His majesty's Narrative in Lords' Joum. ii. 275. The complaint of Charles in this narrative is confirmed by D'Estrades, who attributes the war to the expedition of Ruyter in obedience to the order of De Witt, " sans attendre selon la dis- '' position du 14 article de 1662 que le terme d'un (an) fut passe, " pendant lequel le Roi de la Grande Bretagne devoit fairc reparer " l'enterprise du chevalier Holmes". D'Estrades., iv.315. " In- •" tra anni spatium ". Dumont, vi. par. ii. p. i'2i.
CHARLES II.
H9
country gentlemen of independent fortune, brought CHAP, forward the proposition in the house of commons ; 166'5m
and when, to carry on the deception, a known de
pendent of the ministers rose to suggest a smaller sum, he was eagerly interrupted by two members, supposed to have no connection with the court. The artifice escaped notice, and the original motion was carried, after an animated debate, by a ma- jority of seventy voices. The lords assented, and Feb. 22. the king issued a declaration of war 49.
The provisions of this money-bill deserve the New "ie" reader's attention, because they put an end to the taxation. ancient system of taxation, and effected a con- siderable change in the acknowledged immunities of the clergy. 1°. He is aware that, from the commencement of the contest between Charles I. and his parliament, down to the restoration of his son, the manner of raising supplies by grants of subsidies, tenths and fifteenths had been abandoned, for the more certain and less cumbrous expedient of levying monthly assessments on the several counties. The ministers of Charles were not ignorant of the superior merit of the new plan ; but, as it was originally a revolutionary measure and had excited the complaints of the people, they had deemed it prudent, in a former session, to
49 Com. Journ. Nov. 25 — Feb. 3. Lords' Journ. xi. 654. Cla- rendon, as usual, will appear inaccurate, if lie be compared with the journals. See Clar. 228 — 231. Pepys tells us that, in fram- ing the estimates, the Admiralty studied to make the charges of the last year as high as possible, ii. 228.
1:0 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, revert to the old monarchical model. The ex- ic(j5. periment, however, failed ; the four last subsidies
had not raised more than one half of the sum at
which they were calculated ; the house consented that the new grant should be levied by twelve Loss of quarterly assessments on the counties 50 ; and from b"thege that period the ancient subsidies fell into desue- clergy. tude. 2°. Hitherto the clergy had preserved the honourable privilege of taxing themselves, and had usually granted in convocation the same number of clerical subsidies as was voted of lay subsidies by the two houses of parliament. But this dis- tinction could not conveniently be maintained, when money was to be raised by county rates ; and it was therefore agreed that the right of the clergy should be waived in the present instance, but, at the same time, be preserved for them by a proviso in the act. The proviso, however, was illusory, and the right has never since been exer- cised. In return, the clergy claimed, what could not in justice be denied, the privilege of voting as freeholders at elections ; a privilege which, though never expressly granted, has since been recognized by different statutes51. But a consequence fol- lowed from this arrangement, which probably was not foreseen. From the moment that the convo- cation ceased to vote money, it became of little service to the crown. It was no longer suffered
'" 17 Car. ii. c. i.
»' IOtli Anne, c. 23. lfeth George, ii. e. 18.
CHARLES II. 121
to deliberate, to frame ecclesiastical canons, or to (j h a p. investigate the conduct, or regulate the concerns, *{•
of the church. It was, indeed, summoned, and
the members met as usual, but merely as a matter of form ; for a royal mandate immediately arrived, and an adjournment, prorogation, or dissolution followed. That, however, which seems the most extraordinary is, that this change in the constitu- tion, by which one of the three estates ceased, in fact, to exist, and a new class of freeholders, un- known to the law, was created, owes its origin, not to any legislative enactment, but to a merely verbal agreement between the lord chancellor and archbishop Sheldon 5~.
From parliament, the lord high admiral hastened Naval re
gulations.
to Gunfleet to superintend the naval preparations ; Charles, by his commands, and occasionally by his presence, seconded the industry of his brother 53 ; and, before the end of April, the most formidable fleet that England had ever witnessed, was ready to contend for the empire of the sea. The duke, despising the narrow prejudices of party, had called around him the seamen who fought and conquered in the last war ; and when the duke of
32 SeeEchard, 818. Burnet, i. 310., note; iv.508, note.
» Charles paid much attention to naval affairs. He studied the art of ship-building, and persuaded himself that he could make improvements in it. In a letter to prince Rupert, he says, " I believe that if you trie the two sloopes that were builte at " Woolidge, which have my invention in them, they will outsail " any of the French sloopes". Lansdowue, MSS. MCCVI. p. 162.
122 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. Buckingham and other noblemen, whose only re- IL commendation was their birth and quality, solicited
1665. , •tit
commissions, he laconically replied, that they
might serve as volunteers : experience alone could qualify them to command. The future operations were arranged with his council, and, at his sug- gestion, an improvement was adopted, that some- thing of that order should be introduced into naval, which was observed in military, engagements. It was agreed that the fleet should be divided into three squadrons ; the red under the command of the duke, the white under that of prince Rupert, and the blue under the earl of Sandwich : that it should be formed in line preparatory to battle ; and that the several captains should be enjoined to keep the stations allotted to them by their re- spective commanders M. James unfurled his flag
April 21. on board the Royal Charles ; ninety-eight sail of the line and four fire ships followed him to sea 55, and for more than a month this formidable arma- ment insulted the coast of Holland, and rode triumphant in the German ocean.
54 " This was the first war wherein fighting in a line, and a " regular form of battle was observed ". Life of James, i. 405. This system introduced by the duke was invariably followed till Clerk's "Essay on Naval Tactics " induced Lord Rodney to break through the enemy's line in his victory of the 12th of April, 1782.
55 Three were first rates, eleven second, fifteen third, thirty-two fourth, eleven fifth, and twenty-six merchant ships carrying from forty to fifty guns. Life of James, 405. Macpherson's Papers, i. 31.
CHARLES II. VK
At length an easterly wind drove the English CHAP,
to their own shores, and the Dutch fleet iramedi- 166"5> ately put to sea. It sailed in seven divisions,
comprising one hundred and thirteen ships of war, ^ ^J under the command in chief of Opdam, an officer, June, who in the late war had deserved the confidence of his countrymen. It exhibited a gallant and ani- mating spectacle : the bravest and the noblest youths of Holland repaired on board to share the dangers of the expedition ; and, as the admiral had received a positive order to fight, every heart beat high with the hope or assurance of victory. Opdam himself was an exception. His experienced eye discovered, in the insufficiency of many among his captains, and the constitution of their crews, reason to doubt the result of a battle ; and to his confidants he observed : — " I know what prudence " would suggest ; but I must obey my orders, and " by this time to-morrow you shall see me crowned " with laurel or with cypress 54 ".
Early in the morning of the 3d of June the June 3. hostile fleets descried each other near LowestofTe. Seven hours were spent in attempts on each side to gain and keep the advantage of the wind : at length the English, by a skilful manoeuvre, tacked in the same direction with the enemy, and accom- panied them in a parallel line, till the signal was made for each ship to bear down and engage its opponent. The sea was calm : not a cloud could
;1 Basnugo, i. 741.
1 2 I HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C HA P. be seen in the sky ; and a gentle breeze blew from 1(i(i- the south-west. The two nations fought with
their characteristic obstinacy ; and, during four
hours, the issue hung in suspense. On one occa- sion the duke was in the most imminent peril. All the ships of the red squadron, with the ex- ception of two, had dropped out of the line to refit ; and the weight of the enemy's fire was di- rected against his flag-ship, the Royal Charles. The earl of Falmouth, the lord Muskerry, and Boyle, son to the earl of Burlington, who stood by his side were slain by the same shot ; and James himself was covered with the blood of his slaughtered friends. Gradually, however, the disabled ships resumed their stations ; the English obtained the superiority : and the fire of the enemy was observed to slacken. A short pause allowed the smoke to clear away ; and the confusion, which the duke observed on board his opponent, the Eendracht, bearing Opdam's flag, induced him to order all his guns to be discharged into her in succession, and with deliberate aim. At the third shot from the lower tier, she blew up, and the admiral, with five hundred men, perished in the explosion. Alarmed at the loss of their com- mander, the Dutch fled : James led the chace ; the four sternmost sail of the enemy ran foul of each other, and were consumed by a fire-ship, and three others shortly afterwards experienced the same fate. Van Tromp endeavoured to keep the fugitives together ; the darkness of the night
CHARLES II. 125
retarded the pursuit of the conquerors; and in CHAP, the morning the Dutch fleet was moored in safety l66'5
within the shallows 5\ In this action, the most
glorious hitherto fought by the navy of England, the enemy lost four admirals, seven thousand men slain, or made prisoners, and eighteen sail either burnt or taken. The loss of the victors was small in proportion. One ship of fifty guns had been taken in the beginning of the action ; and the killed, and wounded amounted to six hundred men. But among the slain, besides the noblemen already mentioned, were the earls of Marlborough and Portland, and two distinguished naval command- ers, the admirals Lawson and Sampson 56.
At another time the report of such a victory The would have been received with the most enthusi- {Jjf\lQ m astic demonstrations of joy ; but it came at a time when the spirits of men were depressed by one of
55 The result of the victory would have been more complete, had not the Royal Charles during the night slackened sail and brought to, which detained the rest of the fleet. For some time the fact was concealed from the duke, who had retired to rest : but it gradually became known, and, from an inquiry instituted by the house of commons, it appeared that Brunkhard, one of the duke's servants who had been greatly alarmed during the battle, endeavoured at night to persuade the master to shorten sail, lest he should lead the ship into the midst of the enemy ; and, failing in this, after a pause, delivered to him an order, or something like an order, to the same effect. Bui net insinuates that the order came from the duke (i. 377) : that it was forged by Brunkhard appears from the inquiry before the bouse (Ibid. 378, note), from Cla- rendon, 2G9, and from the Life of James, i. 415.
•'6 There are numerous accounts of this battle : I have preferred that given by James himself. Life, i. 407 — 415.
II.
1663.
12()' HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, the most calamitous visitations ever experienced by this or any other nation. In the depth of the last winter two or three isolated cases of plague had occurred in the outskirts of the metropolis. The fact excited alarm, and directed the attention of the public to the weekly variations in the bills of mortality. On the one hand, the cool tempe- rature of the air, and the frequent changes in the weather, were hailed as favourable circumstances ; on the other, it could not be concealed that the number of deaths, from whatever cause it arose, was progressively on the advance. In this state of suspense, alternately agitated by their hopes and fears, men looked to the result with the most intense anxiety ; and, at length, about the end of May, under the influence of a warmer sun, and with the aid of a close and stagnant atmosphere, the evil burst forth in all its terrors. From the centre of St. Giles's the infection spread with ra- pidity over the adjacent parishes, threatened the court at Whitehall, and, in defiance of every pre- caution, stole its way into the city. A general
June 29. panic ensued. The nobility and gentry were the first to flee ; the royal family followed ; and then all, who valued their personal safety more than the considerations of home and interest, prepared to imitate the example. For some weeks the tide of emigration flowed from every outlet towards the country ; it was checked at last by the refusal of the lord mayor to grant certificates of health,
CHARLES II. 127
and by the opposition of the neighbouring* town- CHAP, ships, which rose in their own defence, and formed 166'5> a barrier round the devoted city.
The absence of the fugitives, and the conse- Regula- quent cessation of trade and breaking up of esta- SUppress blishments, served to aggravate the calamity. It 't- was calculated that forty thousand servants had been left without a home, and the number of ar- tisans and labourers thrown out of employment was still more considerable. It is true that the charity of the opulent seemed to keep pace with the progress of distress. The king subscribed the weekly sum of 1000/; the city of 600/.; the queen dowager, the archbishop of Canterbury, the earl of Craven, and the lord mayor, distinguished themselves by the amount of their benefactions ; and the magistrates were careful to ensure a con- stant supply of provisions in the markets : yet the families that depended on casual relief for the means of subsistence were necessarily subjected to privations, which rendered them more liable to receive, and less able to subdue, the contagion. The mortality was at first confined chiefly to the lower classes, carrying off in a larger proportion the children than the adult, the females than the men. But, by the end of June, so rapid was the diffusion, so destructive were the ravages of the disease, that the civil authorities deemed it time to exercise the powers with which they had been juJy , invested by an act of James I. " for the charitable
128 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND.
(HAT. a relief and ordering of persons infected with the tgg5 "plague57". 1°. They divided the parishes into
districts, and allotted to each district a competent
number of officers, under the denomination of examiners, searchers, nurses, and watchmen. 2°. They ordered that the existence of the dis- ease, wherever it might penetrate, should be made known to the public by a red cross, one foot in length, painted on the door, with the words, " Lord have mercy on us ", placed above it. From that moment the house was closed ; all egress for the space of one month was inexorably refused ; and the wretched inmates were doomed to remain under the same roof, communicating death one to the other. Of these many sunk under the horrors of their situation : many were rendered desperate. They eluded the vigilance, or corrupted the fide- lity of the watchmen, and by their escape, instead of avoiding, served only to disseminate the conta- gion 58. 3°. Provision was also made for the speedy interment of the dead. In the day time officers were always on the watch to withdraw from public view the bodies of those who expired in the streets ; during the night the tinkling of a
57 St. i. James, i. c 31. In the next session of parliament a bill was introduced to extend these powers, but was lost through the refusal of the lords to allow their houses to be shut up at the discretion of the constables. L. Journ. xi. 698. Marvel, i. 52.
58 Persons thus escaping, if taken in company with others, and found to have infectious sores upon them were liable to suffer death as felons : if without sores, to be treated as rogues and vaga- bonds. Ibid. vii.
CHARLES II. 129
ball, accompanied with the glare of links, an- CHAP, nounced the approach of the pest-cart, making its 16ti"5.
round to receive the victims of the last twenty-
four hours. No coffins were prepared ; no funeral service was read : no mourners were permitted to follow the remains of their relatives or friends. The cart proceeded to the nearest cemetery, and shot its burthen into the common grave, a deep and spacious pit, capable of holding some scores of bodies, and dug in the church-yard, or, when the church-yard was full, in the outskirts of the parish. Of the hardened and brutal conduct of the men to whom this duty was committed, men taken from the refuse of society, and lost to all sense of morality or decency, instances were re- lated, to which it would be difficult to find a pa- rallel in the annals of human depravity 59.
The disease generally manifested itself by the Symp-
_ , ., f. , . , t toms of
usual febrile symptoms ot shivering, nausea, head- tiie ,ijs_ ache, and delirium. In some these affections were ease- so mild as to be mistaken for a slight and tran- sient indisposition. The victim saw not, or would not see, the insidious approach of his foe ; he ap- plied to his usual avocations, till a sudden faint-
H Rugge, MS. 573. Echard, 823. Hodges, Loimologia, 23. De Foe, History of the Plague in London. Though De Foe, for dramatic effect, wrote as an eye witness, which he could not he, yet his narrative, as to the substance of the facts, is confirmed by all the other authorities. Hodges and De Foe attribute also the deaths of many to the avarice of their nurses, who destroyed the lives, that they might carry off the money and trinkets of the patients.
VOL. XII K
130 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, ness came on, the maculae, the fatal "tokens", i(j(L appeared on his breast, and within an hour life
was extinct. But, in most cases, the pain and
the delirium left no room for doubt. On the third or fourth day, buboes or carbuncles arose : if these could be made to suppurate, recovery might be anticipated ; if they resisted the efforts of nature, and the skill of the physician, death was inevit- able. The sufferings of the patients often threw them into paroxysms of phrenzy. They burst the bands by which they were confined to their beds ; they precipitated themselves from the win- dows ; they ran naked into the street, and plunged into the river60. Terrors of Men of the strongest minds were lost in amaze- pie, ment, when they contemplated this scene of woe and desolation : the weak and the credulous be- came the dupes of their own fears and imagina- tions. Tales the most improbable, and predictions the most terrific, were circulated ; numbers assem- bled at different cemeteries to behold the ghosts of the dead walk round the pits in which their bodies had been deposited ; and crowds believed that they saw in the heavens a sword of flame, stretching from Westminster to the Tower. To add to their terrors, came the fanatics, who felt themselves inspired to act the part of prophets. One of these, in a state of nudity, walked through the city, bearing on his head a pan of burning
Hodges, 57, 97—132.
CHARLES II. ,31
coals, and denouncing the judgments of God on CHAP, its sinful inhabitants ; another, assuming the cha- 1665.
racter of Jonah, proclaimed aloud as he passed, ■
" Yet forty days, and London shall be destroyed " ; and a third might be met, sometimes by day, sometimes by night, advancing with a hurried step, and exclaiming with a deep sepulchral voice, " Oh the great and dreadful God " !
During the months of July and August the Desola-
t i, ,1 i i tionofthc
weather was sultry, the heat more and more op- cjty. pressive. The eastern parishes, which at first had been spared, became the chief seat of the pes- tilence, and the more substantial citizens, whom it had hitherto respected, suffered in common with their less opulent neighbours 61. In many places the regulations of the magistrates could no longer be enforced. The nights did not suffice for the burial of the dead, who were now borne in coffins to their graves at all hours of the day ; and it was inhuman to shut up the dwellings of the infected poor, whose families must have perished through want, had they not been permitted to go and seek relief. London presented a wide and heart- rending scene of misery and desolation. Rows of houses stood tenantless and open to the winds ; others, in almost equal numbers, exhibited the
61 The weekly returns of the dead for these months were, 1006, 1268, 1761, 2785, 3011, 4030, 5312, 5568, 7496. I take no notice of the distinction made by the bills between those who died of the plague, and those who died of other diseases, because I conceive no reliance can be placed on it.
K 2
132 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, red cross flaming on the doors. The chief ii 1665. thoroughfares, so lately trodden by the feet of
thousands, were overgrown with grass. The few
individuals who ventured abroad walked in the middle, and, when they met, declined on opposite sides, to avoid the contact of each other. But, if the solitude and stillness of the streets impressed the mind with awe, there was something yet more appalling in the sounds, which occasionally burst upon the ear. At one moment were heard the ravings of delirium, or the wail of woe, from the infected dwelling ; at another, the merry song, or the loud and careless laugh issuing from the wassailers at the tavern, or the inmates of the brothel. Men became so familiarized with the form, that they steeled their feelings against the terors, of death. They waited each for his turn with the resignation of the Christian, or the in- difference of the stoic. Some devoted themselves to exercises of piety ; others sought relief in the riot of dissipation, and the recklessness of despair.
The pes- September came ; the heat of the atmosphere
lence . . , .,
abates. began to abate ; but, contrary to expectation, the mortality increased 62. Formerly, a hope of recovery might be indulged ; now infection was the certain harbinger of death, which followed, generally, in the course of three days, often
^
The return for the week ending Sep. 5, was 8252.
CHARLES II 133
within the space of twenty-four hours. The CHAP, privy council ordered an experiment to be tried, 166'5
which was grounded on the practice of former
times. To dissipate the pestilential miasm, fires ep- ' of sea-coal, in the proportion of one fire to every twelve houses, were kindled in every street, court, and alley of London and Westminster. They were kept burning three days and nights, and were at last extinguished by a heavy and continuous fall of rain. The next bill exhibited Sep. 5—
12.
a considerable reduction in the amount of deaths ; and the survivors congratulated each other on the cheering prospect63. But the cup was soon dashed from their lips ; and in the following Sep. 12- week more than ten thousand victims, a number hitherto unknown, sank under the augmented violence of the disease 6i. Yet, even now, when hope had yielded to despair, their deliverance was at hand. The high winds, which usually accom- pany the autumnal equinox, cooled and purified the air ; the fever, though equally contagious, assumed a less malignant form, and its ravages were necessarily more confined from the diminu- tion of the population, on which it had hitherto fed. The weekly burials successively decreased from thousands to hundreds, and, in the beginning
63 The return fell to 7690.
''i The number returned was 8297, but it was generally acknow- ledged that the bills were very incorrect, and seldom gave more than two-thirds of the real number.
Dec. 12.
13+ IIISTOHY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, of December, seventy-three parishes were pro- 1665. nounced clear of the disease05. The intelligence was hailed with joy by the emigrants, who re- turned in crowds to take possession of their homes, i(j(i6. and resume their usual occupations : in February Feb. l. the court was once more fixed at Whitehall, and the nobility and gentry followed the footsteps of the sovereign. Though more than one hundred thousand individuals are said to have perished, yet in a short time, the chasm in the population was no longer discernible. The plague continued, indeed, to linger in particular spots 66, but its terrors were forgotten or despised ; and the streets, so recently abandoned by the inhabitants, were again thronged with multitudes in the eager pur- suit of profit, or pleasure, or crime. Failure of From the metropolis, the pestilence had ex- tempt at tended its destructive sway over the greater part Bergen. 0f the kingdom. The fugitives carried the infec- tion with them wherever they found an asylum ;
65 The decrease was as follows,, 6460, 5720, 5068, 1806, 1388, 1787, 1359, 905, 544.
66 There was not a week in the year in which some cases of plague were not returned. For all these particulars, see Hodges, Loimologia ; De Foe; the newspapers of the year; Evelyn, Diary, ii. 245 ; Ellis, Letters, second series, iv. 35. Pepys, ii. 266, 73, 6, 81, 86, 93, 7, 305, 9, 10. Clarendon, with his usual inaccuracy, makes the number of dead, according to the weekly bills, to amount to 160,000, which, he says, ought, in the opinion of well-informed persons, to be doubled. (Clarendon, 326). The number of burials, according to the bills, was only 97,306. (Tabic prefixed to Loimologia.) If we add one-third for omissions, the amount will be about 130,000; but from these must be deducted the deaths from other causes than the plague.
CHARLES II. 135
and the mortality was generally proportionate to CHAP, the density of the population 67. Fortunately it 1665.
confined its ravages to the land ; the fleet continued — — healthy ; and, as soon as the ships damaged in the late engagement were repaired, the duke of York hastened to take the command ; but his eagerness was checked by the prohibition of the king, who had been solicited by the queen-mother not to expose the life of the presumptive heir to the un- certain chances of battle. The earl of Sandwich succeeded him, and sailed to watch the hostile navy in the Texel. In the meanwhile two fleets of Dutch merchantmen, the one from the East Indies, the other from Smyrna, valued at twenty- five million of livres, steering round the north of Ireland and Scotland, had taken shelter in the neutral harbour of Bergen in Norway. The temptation was too powerful for the honesty of the king of Denmark : and, on condition that he July, should receive a moiety of the profits, he con- sented to connive at the capture of the Hollanders by the English fleet. Sandwich sailed immediately to Bergen, and Clifford; afterwards lord-treasurer, held an unsatisfactory conference with Alefeldt, the governor. That officer proposed that the English should wait till he had received instruc- tions from Copenhagen ; but Sandwich refused ;
6? In August of the following year it raged with violence in Colchester, Norwich, Winchester, Cambridge, and Salisbury. Itugge, MS.
1 \6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
(HAP. Tyddimah entered the harbour with a powerful .II*. squadron; and the Dutch moored their ships
across the bay, and raised a battery of forty-one
Aug. 3. guns on the shore. A sudden change in the di- rection of the wind compelled the English to cast anchor under the cannon of the castle ; but Tyd- diman, trusting to the neutrality of the governor, commenced the attack, and had already driven the enemy from most of their defences, when the gar- rison opened a destructive fire on the assailants. One ship was sunk ; the others, cutting their cables, ran out to sea, and the enterprize was abandoned. With whom the blame of the failure ought to rest, Clarendon professes himself unable to determine : Sandwich complained loudly of the duplicity and bad faith of the king of Denmark ; but sir Gilbert Talbot, the English ambassador, acquits the Danish authorities, and asserts that Sandwich refused to wait but one day for the arrival of instructions from Copenhagen, under the notion that, by acting without the permission of the Dane, he should exclude him from any right of participation in the expected booty 67.
Captures To the pensionary De Witt, the principal advo- cate of the war in Holland, to preserve the mer- chantmen in Bergen was an object of the first importance. Though a mere landsman, he took
«• Clarendon, 270, 277—281. Pepys, ii. 324. Miscel. Aul. 359. Echard, 821 ; and sir Gilbert Talbot's Narrative among the Lansdownc MSS., 6"S59, p. 1.5.
CHARLES II. 13'
the command of the fleet, and, impatient of the chap. obstruction caused by a contrary wind, sought lg6^
and discovered a new passage out of the Texel.
He sailed to Bergen, and the merchantmen placed themselves under his protection : but the fleet was dispersed by a storm, and Sandwich had the Sep. 4. good fortune to capture eight men-of-war, two of the richest Indiamen, and about twenty other vessels. But avarice tempted him to take from the Indiamen a part of their cargo to the value of 2,000/., and the other flag-officers, with his per- mission, followed his example. The king and the duke as lord high admiral, condemned his presumption : he acknowledged his offence before the council ; and was in punishment deprived of the command, but, to save his honour in the eyes of the public, received the appointment of ambas- sador to the court of Spain 68.
Charles, on account of the pestilence in Lon- Parlia- don, had summoned the parliament to meet in Oxford. Oxford. His object was to obtain another supply of money. The expenses of the war, partly through the want of naval stores 69, partly through the negligence and rapacity of the offi- cers, had considerably exceeded the calculations
6i Lords' Journ. xi. 687. Clarendon, 300 — 6. Coke, ii. 38. Miscel. Aul. 361. D'Estrades, ii. 364. Pepys, ii. 324, 9, 347, 352. Evelyn, ii. 248.
6j To supply the naval arsenals, Charles, of his own authority, suspended the navigation act, and yet the parliament took no notice of it. Coke, ii. 140.
Oct. 11.
138 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, of his ministers, and the whole of the last parlia- 1(i65 mentary grant was already mortgaged to the creditors of the public. With the king's request, that the two houses, by their liberality, would complete their own work, they cheerfully com- plied ; and an additional grant of 1,250,000/., with a present of J 20,000/. to the duke of York,
Oct. 23. was voted without a murmur. The next object which claimed their attention, was the danger to be feared from the enemies of monarchy. Alger- non Sydney, and many of the exiles, had hastened to Holland, and offered their services to the States. Whether the latter seriously meditated an invasion of England or Scotland, may be doubted : but they certainly gave naval and mili- tary commands to several of the refugees, and encouraged the formation of a council of English malcontents at the Hague. These corresponded with their friends in England ; the most sinister reports were put in circulation ; strangers, not- withstanding the mortality, were observed to resort to the capital ; and information was sent to Monk of secret meetings of conspirators, and of plots for the seizure of the Tower and the burning
Sep. l . of the city. Rathbone, Tucker, and six of their associates were apprehended, and paid the forfeit of their lives ; but colonel Danvers, the leader, escaped from the grasp of the officers, and found
Oct. 3. an asylum in the country. Alarmed by this insignificant plot, the parliament attainted several of the conspirators by name, and, in addition,
CHARLES II. 139
every natural born subject who should remain in CHAP, the service of the States after a fixed day 70. ices.
These enactments, however, did not satisfy the ~
more timid or more zealous. During the pes- A.ct." tilence, many of the orthodox clergy in the metropolis persisted with the most laudable con- stancy in the discharge of their duties ; many, yielding to their fears, had skulked away from the scene of danger, and sought security in the country. The presbyterian ministers who had recently been ejected, seized the opportunity to ascend the vacant pulpits amidst the loud cries of their congregations " what must we do to be " saved ". The self-devotion of these men, who braved the perils of death that they might ad- minister the consolations of religion to their afflicted brethren, is said to have provoked the jealousy of their rivals ; and that jealousy, if it really existed, was speedily gratified by new penal enactments. That the law had been violated, no
'• L. Journ. xi. GS8, 692. St. 17. Car. ii. c. 5. Parker, 78— 87. Burnet, i. 393. Clarendon, 290. It has often been asserted that these plots, and the correspondence said to be carried on be- tween the disatFected in England and the Dutch, were mere fic- tions. The following extracts from the letters of D'Estrades, the French minister at the Hague, to his sovereign, will perhaps prove the contrary. Les c'tats ont de grandes intelligences en Ecosse, et parmi les ministrcs de leur religion en Angleterre. Mernoires d'Estrades, ii. 383. Oct. 3, 1GG.5. L'Ecosse fait entendre aux etats cpie des que votre majeste se declarera, elle a un fort parti a mettre en campagne, et (pie les ministrcs de l'Angleterre de la meme religion de ceux de ce pays mandent la name chose. Id. 385.
140 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
(II A P. one could deny; but the violation had been com- ,,.:.'. niitted in circumstances so extraordinary as to be
1065. *
more worthy of praise than censure. To add,
therefore, to the legal offence, it was pretended that the ministers had employed the opportunity to disseminate from the pulpit principles of sedi- tion and treason, representing the plague as a visitation from Providence, partly on account of their own expulsion from the churches, and partly on account of the immorality of the sovereign and his court : charges in which it is probable that the indiscretion of one or two individuals was not only exaggerated, but unjustly extended to the whole body. However that may be, an
Oct. 30. act was passed, prohibiting every non-conforming minister to come, unless he were passing on the road, within five miles of any town sending mem- bers to parliament, or of any village in which he had ever lawfully or unlawfully exercised his ministry, under the penalty of a fine of 40/. for every such offence, and of six months' imprison- ment, if he refused in addition to take the oath of non-resistance. For the better execution of this, the five-mile act, the bishops received from the orthodox clergy the names of all non-conform- ing ministers within their respective parishes ; spies and informers were everywhere employed and encouraged ; and the objects of suspicion were compelled to fix themselves and their fami- lies in obscure parts of the country, where they depended for support on their own labour and the
CHARLES II. 141
casual charity of others. But the oath was still chap. refused ; and the sufferings of the victims served II;
only to rivet their doctrines more firmly in the
minds of their hearers 71.
De Witt had long sought to strengthen himself Louis and his party with the protection of the king of wilhthe France ; and Louis was not unwilling to purchase Dlltch. the services of a man, who governed the states of Holland, and through them was able to con- trol the other provinces of the republic. To him De Witt had communicated several proposals for the partition of the Spanish Netherlands ; and the king, though he nourished a more ambitious project in his own breast, to humour the Dutch- man, consented to enter into a negotiation re- specting the conditions72. But, in 1665, Philip of Spain died, leaving the crown, and all the dominions dependent on it, to the infant his son, under the regency of Marianne of Austria, the queen-mother. Louis now determined, as he had previously intended, to take possession of Flanders, under the pretence, that by the custom of several provinces in the Netherlands, called
? L. Journ. xi. 700. St. 17. Car. ii. c. 2. Wilkins, Con. iv. 58:5. Burnet, i. 392 — 3. Clarendon, who, as usual, is very in- accurate, 217, 290. The act did not mention non-conformist ministers, but included them under the description of'persons, who had enjoyed ecclesiastical promotion, or preached at unlawful con- venticles.
w All the letters of D'Estrades, from his arrival in Holland till 1 664-, shew how firmly this unfortunate statesman had devoted himself to the interests of France.
1665.
142 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. tne rignt of devolution, those provinces belonged II; to his wife, Maria Teresa, the daughter of Philip by his first marriage. It was, indeed, true that Louis by contract, and his young queen by a se- parate instrument, had solemnly renounced all claim to the succession to the Spanish monarchy in general, and to Flanders, Burgundy, and Charo- lais in particular 73 : but it was contended that the king had been released from the obligation of the contract by the non-payment of the marriage portion on the part of Spain, and that Maria Teresa had never been bound by the renunciation, because it was made during her minority. It chanced, however, that the Dutch, in virtue of the defensive alliance concluded between them and France in 1662, called upon Louis to join as their ally in the war ; and it seemed impolitic to provoke hostilities at the same moment with two such powers as England and Spain. It was, indeed, easy to elude the demand, by replying that a defensive treaty did not bind, when the party claiming aid had provoked the war ; but, on the other hand, it was argued that Louis, by cheerfully uniting with the States, would render them less hostile to his intended occupation of
73 Dumont, vi. part i. 283, 8. By the law of devolution, which prevailed in several provinces of the Netherlands, the right of in- heritance was given to the children of the first marriage, even females, to the exclusion of the issue by the second. Maria Teresa, the consort of Louis, was the daughter of Philip of Spain by his first wife ; Charles, the inheritor of the monarchy, was his son by 1 lie second.
CHARLES IT. u3
Flanders ; and that, under the pretext of prevent- CHAP, ing the descents of the English, he might covertly 166^
make preparations, and assemble troops on the
nearest parts of the coast "4. Louis followed this counsel : his ambassador informed Charles that unless peace were speedily concluded, his master would feel himself bound to take part against him in the war ; and the English king had the spirit to defy the power, rather than submit to the dictation, of a foreign prince.
In January the French monarch, though with Treaties. many expressions of regret, declared war ; but, 1G66; at the reclamation of the English ambassador, granted three months to British subjects to with- draw with their effects from his territories 75. The approach of a French force soon compelled the bishop of Minister, who, as the ally of Charles, had made a formidable inroad into the province of Overyssel, to submit to a disadvantageous Aprils, peace ; and the French agent at Copenhagen pre- vailed on the king of Denmark to withdraw from Feb. 1. his alliance with England, and to make common cause with the States. Charles, on his side, concluded a treaty with the king of Sweden, by Feb. s. which each party engaged not to furnish muni-
74 Dumont, vi. partii.p. 412. (Euvres de Louis XIV., ii. 5 — 11, 25, 130.
?s Dumont, part iii. 82. Clar. 282, 8. Misccl. Aul. 373. Me- moires D'Estrades, iii. 54, 64. Charles, on his part, offered freedom from molestation in person or property to all natives of France, or the United Provinces, residing in, or coming into his dominions, "especially to those of the reformed religion, whose " interest should particularly be owned by him". Ralph, i. 1 59.
II.
1665.
Ill HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
(HAT. tions of war to the enemies of the other; but failed in an attempt to create an opposition to De Witt in Holland through the intrigues of De Buat, a partisan of the house of Orange, who forfeited his life as a traitor to the republic 76.
The four These negotiations occupied the first months of
days' bat- tlie new year . }n May, prince Rupert and the duke of Albemarle assumed the joint command of the English fleet, and insulted with impunity the coast of Holland. There was but little cor- diality between the two admirals. The pride of Rupert could hardly brook an equal in rank and authority ; but the people remembered the former victories of Monk over the Dutch, and Charles gratified the general wish by associating him with the prince in the chief command. They had returned to the Downs, when advice was received that the Dutch navy was not in a state to put to sea for several weeks, and that a French squadron, under the duke of Beaufort, had reached Relleisle from the Mediterranean. Unfortunately neither report was true. De Ruyter, accompanied by De Witt, had already left the Texel : the duke of Beaufort had not passed the Straits of Gibraltar.
May 29. Rupert, however, procured an order from court to hasten with twenty sail in search of the
May 31. French, while Albemarle, with fifty-four, directed his course to the Gun-fleet. The next morning
June i. the duke, to his surprise, descried the Dutch fleet
■''• Clarendon, 327, 9, 333— S. Dumont, vi. par. iii. .09, 83, 106.
CHARLES II, ,45
of more than eighty men of war lying at anchor CHAP, off the north Foreland. He had so often spoken 166(;.
with contempt of the enemy, had severely criti-
cized the caution of the earl of Sandwich, that to retire without fighting would have exposed him to the censure and derision of the public. A council of war was instantly summoned ; the majority, in opposition to their own judgment, acquiesced in the rash, but decided opinion of their commander, and the signal was made to bear down without delay on the enemy. No line was formed, no order observed ; the blue squa- dron, which led the van, fought its way through the hostile fleet ; but most of the ships of which it consisted were captured, or destroyed, or dis- abled. Darkness separated the combatants, and the action re-commenced with the return of light, But, if Monk on the preceding day had fought for victory, he was now reduced to fight for safety. A reinforcement of sixteen sail added J""** 2. to the hopes and the courage of the enemy : nor was it without the most heroic exertions that the English were able to protract the unequal contest till night. Monk having burnt a part of his disabled ships, and ordered the others to make for the nearest harbour, opposed in the morning sixteen, that remained as a rear- guard to the pursuit of De Iluyter. But, in the June :$ hurry of their flight, they ran on the Galloper Sand, where the Prince Royal, the boast of the English navy, was lost, and where the rest would vol. XII. j,
II.
I66G.
1 16 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, probably have shared its fate, had not Rupert, with his squadron of twenty sail, at last arrived to their relief. He had received orders to return from St. Helen's on the first day of the battle; nor was it ever explained why he did not join Albe- marle till the evening of the third. The force of the hostile fleets was now more nearly balanced :
June 4. they renewed the engagement on the following morning ; and, having passed each other five times in line, separated under the cover of a mist77. Such was the result of this succession of obstinate and sanguinary engagements. That the Dutch had a just claim to the victory, cannot be doubted ; though, if we consider the fearful dis- parity of force, we must own that no disgrace could attach to the English. " They may be " killed", exclaimed De Witt, " but they will not " be conquered ". At home the conduct of Monk was severely and deservedly censured ; but no one could convince him that he acted imprudently in provoking the battle, or that he had not in- flicted more injury than he had received 78.
Both fleets stood in need of repairs : both, by
June 25. extraordinary efforts, were in a short time again
n Com. Journals, 1667, Oct. 31. Clarendon, 343, 4. Coke, 144. Heath, 550. Le Clerc, ii. 139. Basnage, i. 773. Pepys, ii. 398—402, 410, 1, 2, 5, 424, 434, 5.
78 Pepys, ii. 422. Com. Journ. Oct. 31. According to Evelyn, the English lost ten ships, one thousand seven hundred men killed and wounded, and two thousand taken (ii. 25b.): the Dutch ac- knowledged the loss of two admirals, seven captains, and one thousand eight hundred men. Le Clerc, ii. 142.
CHARLES II. u'
at sea. They met; the victory was fiercely and CHAP, obstinately disputed ; but the better fortune, or 166'6.
more desperate valour, of the English prevailed. ■
Few prizes were, however, made. With rash but successful daring, De Ruyter repeatedly turned on the pursuers, and kept them at bay, till the fugi- tives found a secure asylum in the Weirings. Rupert and Monk rode for weeks triumphant along the coast, interrupting the commerce, and insulting the pride of their enemies. At the sug- gestion of a native, Holmes, with a squadron of Aug. s. boats and fire-ships, was ordered to enter the channel between Ulie and Schilling, the usual rendezvous of vessels trading to the Baltic : in a Aug. 9. short time two men of war, and one hundred and fifty merchantmen with their cargoes, were in flames, and the next day the neighbouring town of Brandaris, consisting of one thousand houses, Aug. 10. was reduced to ashes. At the sight of the con- flagration De Witt maddened with rage, and swore by the almighty God that he would never sheath the sword till he had obtained his revenge : an oath which he religiously observed "''.
Louis was not unwilling that the two great Intrigues
tiii i i • °f Louis.
maritime powers should exhaust themselves m this tremendous struggle. To his allies he had promised the co-operation of his fleet, but that promise was yet to be fulfilled ; and instead of risking the French navy in battle against the
'9 Clarendon, 345. Pepys, ii. 1 1 1. Miscel. Aul. 411, g. Me- moirea D'Estrades, iii. 346, 361.
i Q
1 J *m>
148 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. English, he sought to occupy the attention of ,n\ Charles by exciting rebellion in his dominions.
1666. J °
With this view he employed agents to intrigue
with the catholics of Ireland, who had lost their lands by the late act of settlement ; and encou- raged the hopes of the English exiles, who per- suaded themselves that their party was still powerful in England. Algernon Sydney hastened to Paris : to the French ministers he maintained that the interest of France demanded the esta- blishment of a republic in England ; and to the French king he presented a memorial soliciting the gift of 100,000/. to enable his party to com- mence operations against the English government. But Louis paused before he would part with so large a sum of money. In conclusion he offered Sydney 20,000/. in the first instance, with a pro- mise of additional aid, if the rising should take place 80. Opera- About the middle of August, however, the duke
tions by 0f Beaufort, contrary to the general expectation, Au~. 13. arrived at La Rochelle from the Mediterranean, and a plan was arranged between the two powers for the junction of their respective fleets in the British Channel. The Dutch, for this purpose, had already passed the Strait of Dover, when they descried the English under prince Rupert. De Ruyter, though on board, was confined by
80 Louis XIV. ii.203, ami note ibid. Miscel. Aul. 433.
CHARLES II. 149
severe indisposition; the men betrayed a disin- chap. clination to fight without the presence and orders 16Gg.
of their favourite commander ; and the fleet ran
close into the shore in St. John's Road, near Bou- logne. Rupert dared not follow : he turned to oppose Beaufort, as he came up the Channel ; but the violence of the wind compelled him to seek shelter at St. Helen's, and the French squadron Sep. 3. had the good fortune to arrive safely at Dieppe. Louis, alarmed at the proximity of his fleet to the superior force of the English, by repeated mes- sages insisted that the Dutch should proceed to give it protection. But their ships had suffered severely from the weather ; the admiral was still unable to take the command ; and instead of joining their allies, they embraced the first oppor- tunity of returning to their own ports. Beaufort, however, extricated himself from the danger, and stole his way down the Channel with no other loss than that of the Ruby, of fifty -four guns81.
The storm which had driven the English fleet Fire of into St. Helen's was productive of the most dis-
Sen 2.
astrous consequences by land. On the night of Sunday, the 2d of September, a fire burst out in Pudding-lane, near Fish-street, one of the most crowded quarters of the metropolis. It originated in a bake-house ; the buildings in the neighbour- hood, formed of wood, with pitched roofs, quickly
91 Clarendon, 317. Heath, 353. Misccl. Aul. 418. Louis XIV. ii. 219, 221— 226. Temple, i. 477.
150 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
(II A P. caught the flames; and the stores with which 1666 tnev were filled, consisting of those combustible
articles used in the equipment of shipping, nou- rished the conflagration. To add to the mischief, the pipes from the new river were found empty82, and the engine, which raised water from the Thames, was reduced to ashes. The lord mayor arrived on the first alarm : but his timidity and inexperience shrunk from the adoption of decisive measures : he refused for several hours to admit the aid of the military, and to those who advised the demolition of a range of houses, replied that he must previously obtain the consent of their respective owners 83. Sep. 3. During the day the wind, which blew from the east, hourly augmented in violence ; and the fire spread with astonishing velocity, leaping from roof to roof, and frequently igniting houses at a dis- tance, and in apparent security. The following night (" if night, " says an eye-witness, " that
82 On the authority of an old woman, the countess of Clarendon, and of a divine, Dr. Lloyd, whose brain had been affected by the study of the Apocalypse, Burnet gravely tells a story of one Grant, a papist, a partner in the works at Islington, having on the preceding Saturday turned the cocks, and carried away the keys. (Hist. i. 4-01.) But the fire happened on the 2d of September, and Higgons (Remarks, 219.) proves from the books of the company, that Grant had no share in the works before the 25th of that month.
83 The duke of York says, that the expedient of blowing up houses with gunpowder was suggested by an old woman (Macpher. Pap. i. 3fi.) ; Evelyn, by a party of sailors ; but " some tenacious " and avaritious men, aldermen, &c. would not permit it, because " their houses must have been the first", ii. 266.
CHARLES II. 151
" could be called, which was light as day for ten CHAP. "miles round,") presented a most magnificent, 166'6.
but appalling spectacle. A vast column of fire, a
mile in diameter, was seen ascending to the clouds ; the flames, as they rose, were bent and broken, and shivered by the fury of the wind ; and every blast scattered through the air innumerable flakes of fire, which falling on inflammable substances kindled new conflagrations. The lurid glare of the sky, the oppressive heat of the atmosphere, the crackling of the flames, and the falling of the houses and churches, combined to fill every breast with astonishment and terror.
Instead, however, of adverting to the natural causes of the calamity, causes too obvious to es- cape an observant eye, the public credulity listened to stories of malice and treachery. It was said and believed, that men had been apprehended carrying with them parcels of an unknown sub- stance, which on compression produced heat and flame ; that others had been seen throwing fire balls into houses as they passed along the street ; that the foreign enemy had combined with the republicans and papists to burn the city ; and that the French residents in the capital, to the number of twenty thousand, had taken up arms, and were massacring every native, who came in the way. These reports augmented the general terror and confusion. All were mingled together, men la- bouring to extinguish the flames, citizens convey- ing away their families and goods, crowds flying
[»? HISTORY OF ENGLAND,
c il AT. from the imaginary massacre, others in arms has- 's tening to oppose the murderers, and mobs sur-
rounding and ill-treating every stranger, foreigner,
and reputed papist, who ventured into the streets. Exertions Charles never appeared so deeply affected as at king. the sight of the conflagration. Breaking from his pleasures and his mistresses, he displayed an energy of mind and body of which his most inti- mate friends thought him no longer capable. Wherever the danger appeared the greatest, the king was to be found with his brother, mixing among the workmen, animating them by his example, and with his own hand rewarding their exertions 8\ He divided the city into districts, and gave the command of each district to one of the privy council. He ordered biscuits and other necessaries to be brought from the royal stores for the relief of the families in the fields, and sent out strong patroles of his guards, to prevent robbery, and to conduct to prison all persons suspected and arrested by the populace, as the most likely means of preserving their lives. Endofthe While the storm continued, the conflagration tion. " bftde defiance to all the exertions of human inge- nuity or power. In many places houses had been blown up or demolished : but the ignited flakes were carried over the einjrty space, or the ruins
y,t " It is not indeed imaginable how extraordinary the vigilance " and activity of the king and the duke was, even labouring in '•' person, and being present to command, order, reward, orencou- " rage workmen". Evelyn, ii. 268. Life of James, i. 424.
CHARLES II. 153
again took fire, or the flames unexpectedly turned CHAP, in a new direction. On the evening of Wednes- j^.
day the violence of the wind began to abate ; the
duke of York saved the church of the Temple bySeP 5- the destruction of the neighbouring buildings ; and the next morning a similar precaution was Sep. c. adopted by the king to preserve Westminster- abbey and the palace of Whitehall. About five in the evening of Thursday the weather became calm ; and every heart beat with the hope that this dreadful visitation was approaching to its close. But in the night new alarms were excited. The fire burst out again in the Temple ; it was still seen to rage with unabated fury near Cripplegate, and a large body of flame made rapid advance towards the Tower. The duke and the other no- blemen were immediately at their posts. With the aid of gunpowder large openings were made ; Charles attended at the demolition of the houses on the graff near the magazine in the Tower ; and the conflagration, b'jing thus prohibited from extending its ravages, gradually died away, though months elapsed before the immense accumulation of ruins ceased to present appearances of internal heat and combustion 85.
By this deplorable accident two-thirds of the Its ex- metropolis, the whole space from the Tower to the Temple, had been reduced to ashes. The number
' London Gazette, No. 8.5. Clarend. 318— 3.52. Evelyn, ii. 263— 7. Philips, 652. Burnet, i. 401, 2 ; and Pepys, who in the confusion has divided one day into two. Diary, iii. 1G — 35.
11.
1666.
154 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
(II A P. of houses consumed amounted to thirteen thousand two hundred ; of churches, including St. Paul's, to eighty-nine, covering- three hundred and seventy- three acres within, and sixty-three without the
Sep. 7. walls. In the fields ahout Islington and High- gate were seen lying on the bare ground, or under huts hastily erected, two hundred thousand indi- viduals, many in a state of utter destitution, and the others watching the small remnant of their property which they had snatched from the flames. Charles was indefatigable in his exertions to afford relief, and to procure them lodgings in the nearest towns and villages 86.
Its cause. Whoever considers the place in which the fire began, the violence of the wind, and the materials of which the houses were built, will not be at a loss to account for the origin and the extent of the conflagration. But it was an age in which poli- tical and religious prejudices had perverted the judgments of men. Some considered it as an evident visitation of Providence in punishment of sin ; but of what sin ? Of the immorality of the king and the courtiers, replied the more rigid reli- gionists ; of the late rebellion, recriminated the cavaliers 87. Others attributed it to the disloyalty
86 St. Trials, vi. 807. Evelyn, ii. 271.
87 Two remarkable coincidences have been noticed. At the trials of certain conspirators in the preceding April, it appeared that they had intended to set fire to London on the 3d of Sep- tember of the last year, that they might avail themselves of the
CHARLES H. 155
and revenge, either of the republicans, who sought CHAP, to destroy the seat of the monarchy, or of the 1666
papists, who wished to punish the strong hold of
orthodoxy. But of these charges, though the in- dividuals suspected were examined before the council and the lord chief justice, though the house of commons ordered a strict inquiry to be instituted, though every species of conjectural and hearsay evidence was admitted, yet no vestige of proof could ever be discovered. The report of the committee still exists, a complete refutation of the calumny 88. Subsequently, however, on the monument erected to perpetuate this calamitous event, it was, and still stands, recorded, that " the " burning of this protestant city was begun and " carried on by the treachery and malice of the
confusion to overturn the government (London Gazette, Ap. 23 — 26) : and it was about one in the morning of Sep. 3, of this year, that the fire made its appearance. Again, in 1656, a treatise was advertised, purporting to show from the Apocalypse, that in the year 1666 the Romish Babylon would be destroyed by fire. (Merc. Pol. in Burton's Diary, i. cxlvii.) Now this great fire actually happened in 1666, the year foretold, though it destroyed not the Romish, but the English Babylon.
88 The examinations are printed in Howell's State Trials, vi. 807 — 866. One Hubert, a French protestant, who formerly worked as a silversmith in the city, gave himself up as the incen- diary, was examined before the committee (see his examination, p. 824), and, persisting in his story, was condemned and executed. The man was clearly insane. " Neither the judges, nor any pre- " sent at the trial, did believe him guilty ; but that he was a poor " distracted wretch, weary of his life, and chose to part with it " this way". Clarendon, 3.53. See also Higgons on Burnet, 215.
1^6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. " popish faction". Next to the guilt of him who 166*6. perpetrates an atrocious crime, is the guilt of those, who charge it on the innocent 89.
Proceed- In the same month, when the parliament as- parlia- sembled, it became manifest that the popularity of ment. the king was on the wane in the lower house. The late disaster had thrown a gloom over the public mind ; and the murmurs of the people were echoed in the speeches of their representatives. The duke of Buckingham sought the company of the discontented ; by tales of the royal extrava- gance and immorality, he sharpened their indigna- tion and won their confidence ; and, in a short time, a formidable party was arrayed against the advocates of the court. No man, indeed, could be more immoral than Buckingham himself; but Charles, to gratify the anger of Castlemaine, had banished him from court, and resentment made him a saint and a patriot. The commons began, indeed, by voting a supply of 1,800,000/. ; yet, while they held out the money as a lure to the king, they required several concessions before they would deliver it into his hands. 1°. According to ancient custom, they displayed their zeal against the catholics. The attempt to fasten on them the charge of having fired the capital unfortunately failed ; but a committee was appointed " to inquire " into the insolence of the papists and the increase
"9 The monument was begun in 1671, and finished in 1677; the inscription was written by Dr. Thomas Gale, afterward dean of York. Pennant's London, 317.
CHARLES II. 1^7
" of popery" ; and, though the information which CHAP, they procured, consisted of tales so childish and 1666. improbable that they dared not pronounce an opinion 90, yet it served as the foundation of an address to the king ; and Charles, in accordance with their petition, commanded, by proclamation, all priests and Jesuits to quit the kingdom ; gave directions to the judges and magistrates to exe- cute the laws against recusants, to disarm all papists, and to administer the oaths of allegiance and supremacy to all persons suspected of popery ; and ordered the commanders of regiments to dis- miss from the army every officer and soldier who should refuse the oaths, or had not received the sacrament.
2°. In 1663 complaint had been made in par- Debate on liament that the agricultural interest of England tie# was sacrificed to that of Ireland ; that the annual importation of Irish cattle, amounting to more than sixty thousand beeves and a proportionate number of sheep, depressed the prices in the Eng- lish market ; and that the English farmers were no longer able to pay their rents to their landlords or their taxes to the king. The result was an act prohibiting under severe penalties the importation of cattle from the Irish to the English ports. There now remained but one resource for the Irish farmer, the introduction of the dead carcase in place of the live animal ; and to meet this a bill
90 It is published in the State Trials, vi. 851—9.
16(3 (j.
L58 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAT, was brought in during the session at Oxford, to extend the prohibition to salt beef, bacon, and pork. It was lost by the hasty prorogation of parliament, but revived in the present session. Never, for many years, had any question excited such agitation in the public mind, or such animo- sities in the two houses. On the one part, it was contended that the parliament was bound in duty to protect the agricultural interest, which com- prised not only the farmers and their servants, but all the landlords in the kingdom ; on the other, that the people had a right to purchase their food at the cheapest market ; that it was unjust to pro- tect one interest at the expense of another ; and that, if the Irish were not allowed to export their cattle, they would not be able to import the ma- nufactures of England. The bill, after much contestation, was sent to the lords, and returned by them with amendments, to which the commons objected. The opponents of the measure hoped, by fomenting the dissension, to suppress the bill : but the king was so anxious not to lose by delay the supply which had been voted, and so alarmed by the tumultuous meetings of the agriculturists in the country, that he commanded the duke of York and his friends in the house of lords to de- sist from their opposition. They withdrew before the division, and the bill was suffered to pass into a law91.
'" Miscel. Aul. 432, 6, 7, 9, 436. Coke, 151—144. Clarendon, 371— 3S3. Carte, ii. 317 — 322, 329—334. In tlie course of these
CHARLES II. 159
3°. Reports were circulated that the supplies CHAP.
1666.
previously voted for the war had been diverted
from their original destination ; and a bill was
carried through the commons appointing commis- 2"litiM sioners to audit the public accounts. Charles, at of th.e the solicitation of sir George Carteret, treasurer counts.30 of the navy, and of Cooper, recently created lord Ashley, treasurer of the prize money, openly de- clared that he would never yield his consent. It was a direct invasion of the royal prerogative ; it would prevent men from taking office if, instead of the regular method of auditing accounts, they were to be interrogated at will by the commons, and subjected to the arbitrary judgment of that house ; and, which was the most cogent argument of all, it would reveal to the public the many and valuable grants which the king had made of the national money to his favourites and mistresses. But to oppose it openly might provoke and con- firm suspicion : when the bill came to the upper house, the lords voted an address to the king to appoint a commission of inquiry ; the commons
debates, Buckingham said that whoever opposed the bill, must have an Irish interest in his heart, or an Irish intellect in his head. Lord Ossery challenged him ; but he chose to mistake the place of meeting, and to give an account of the whole proceeding to the house. Both were put under custody, and afterwards reconciled. Next he quarrelled with lord Dorchester, respecting a seat in a conference with the commons. The marquess in the scuffle lost his periwig, the duke a handful of hair. The two champions were sent to the Tower, and reconciled. L. Journ. xii. 18, 19, 52. Clarendon, 376—9. Miscel. Aul. 423— fi.
l60 IIISTOllY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, resolved that such an address, pending the bill, ,~' was unparliamentary, and the two houses found
1(>67. l J
themselves involved in an endless controversy re- specting their rights and privileges. Charles, however, was now assailed from a different quar- ter. His opponents threatened to impeach the countess of Castlemaine ; and his anxiety to screen her from prosecution induced him to employ his
Jan. 24. influence in favour of the bill. The lords passed it with a few trifling amendments ; and then its supporters, as if their only object had been to ex- cite the distrust of the nation, instead of proceed- ing with a measure which they had so warmly pursued, suffered the bill to lie without notice on the table. The means of raising the supply by a pole tax and by eleven monthly assessments were
Feb. 8. voted, and the king having obtained his end, pro- rogued the parliament 9i.
Insurrec- During this session, the council was seriously
Scotland, alarmed by the news of an insurrection in Scot- land, an insurrection attributed at first to foreign
'■* L. Journ. xii. 34, 47, 52, 72, 81, 88. C. Journal, Jan. 24; Feb. 7. Clarendon, 3(J8, 374. Charles, however, in the April following, did appoint a commission of lords and commons, "for " taking accounts of the several sums of money which had been " raised and assigned to his majesty's use during the war, and of " all such moneys and profits as had been made of prizes taken " since the beginning of the war, with power to call to account all " treasurers, receivers, &c. and all such authority, as might serve " for the effectual and impartial execution of the said commis- " sion". They sate, continued the inquiry for many months, and made reports to the house of commons. There was, however, no important result.
CHARLES II.
161
intrigue, but provoked in reality by religious per- CHAP, sedition. The eastern and northern counties had 1(iC'7
apparently acquiesced in the restoration of episco
pacy ; but in the west and south a strong spirit of resistance had been manifested. Most of the ministers were ejected, and their places supplied by clergymen, whose youth and habits were not calculated to render them acceptable to the people. When they took possession of their cures, they were generally received with contumely, sometimes with vollies of stones from crowds of women and children ; and when they ascended the pulpit, their churches were deserted by the majority of the pa- rishioners. These followed their former pastor to the barn and the moor ; the circumstances under which they met kindled the enthusiasm both of the preacher and his hearers ; and they separated with a firm determination to adhere to the national co- venant, and to oppose to the death the " anti- christian" institution of bishops. The parlia- ment made laws to put down conventicles, and enforce attendance at the parish church ; the high commission court endeavoured to subdue the most refractory by arbitrary and disproportionate pu- nishments ; and, as a last resource, a body of sol- diers, under sir James Turner, an Englishman, was sent into the west to levy fines, and secure obc- dience to the law. Without attaching entire credit to the exaggerated tales of the sufferers, we may presume that these military missionaries did net discharge their duties in a manner to please or
VOL. XII. M
1666. Nov. 13
l"" HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, conciliate the natives; numerous frays occurred leer, between them and the religionists on whom they were quartered : one of the soldiers was shot at Dairy in Galloway ; the offenders secured his com- panions for their own safety ; their number quickly
Nov. is. increased ; they surprised and made prisoner sir James Turner himself ; and, astonished at their success, began to deliberate respecting their future proceedings. They scarcely exceeded two thou- sand men ; but, on the ground that " God was " able to save by few as well as by many ", they
Nov. 2?. chose officers, renewed the covenant, and resolved to march towards Edinburgh. The night was cold and dark ; and, on their arrival at Bathgate their force had dwindled to less than one half of its original amount. They nevertheless continued to advance ; but the gates were shut ; and the royal army under Dalziel followed their footsteps. They retreated from Collingtown to Rullion-green,
Nov. 28. near the Pentland Hills, where their commander, colonel Wallace, faced the enemy. Of the minis- ters who accompanied them, Crookshank and Mac- cormick, natives of Ireland, took their station among the cavalry to fight the battle of the Lord ; Welch and Semple, natives of Scotland, ascended a neighbouring eminence to pray. The former fell in the first charge ; the latter, as soon as they saw the loss of the battle, saved their lives by flight. About fifty of the insurgents were left dead on the field, and one hundred and thirty were made prisoners. It was a time when per-
CHAHLES II. l6$
haps some effect might have been produced by the CHAP, lenity of government : but the prelates deemed it 166'7 more prudent to intimidate by severity. Twenty
were executed in the capital, and about the same ec* ' '
. -^ Dec. it.
number in Glasgow, Ayr, Irvine, and Dumfries. Dcc> 22>
All refused the oath, and died professing their adhesion to the covenant. The king ordered a rigorous inquiry to be made into the origin of the insurrection ; and the chief of the prisoners were tortured in the " boots ", to draw from them the confession of their real object. But no trace could be discovered of any correspondence between them and the foreign enemy : the court became con- vinced that persecution had goaded them to resist- ance ; and an order was issued that the whigs (the name by which the covenanters were now designated) should be treated with less severity 9'3.
The suppression of this tumult relieved the Difficulty king from one source of disquietude : there re- out the mained another, which he knew not how to remove — the poverty of the exchequer. To pre- pare the fleet for sea required an immediate supply of money ; and the grant made by the par- liament, though liberal in the amount, offered but a distant resource. In the former years the royal
13 Kirkton, 229—255. Wodrow, 217—256. App. 86, 7, S. Burnet, i. 151. " The poor people, who were at this time in con- " tempt called whiggs, became name-fathers to all that owned ane " honest interest in Britain, who were called whiggs after them " even at the court of England ; so strangely doth Providence " improve man's mistakes for the furthering of the Lord's pur- "pose". Kirkton, 255.
3M 2
t6l HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAT wants liai1 ^een Promptly accommodated by the IT- bankers, a few opulent individuals, members of the ' company of goldsmiths, and aldermen in the city. These it was customary to introduce into the royal presence; they were acquainted with the amount of the intended loan ; each subscribed for such portion as he chose to take, and received in return the assignation of some branch of the pub- lic revenue, entitling him to its produce till the capital, with the interest at eight per cent., should be entirely discharged 9t. But this expedient was now impracticable, on account of the embarrass- ments, caused by the plague and the fire, in mer- cantile and pecuniary transactions. The bankers had suffered considerable losses ; money had grown scarce ; the destruction of merchandize had diminished the receipt of the customs and excise ; and the inability of the treasury to fulfil its en- gagements had impaired the royal credit. In an evil hour, sir William Coventry proposed to lay
s* Clarendon, 393—6, 314, 5. Life of James, i. 425. Mac- pherson, Pap. i. 367. The bankers were accustomed to charge eight per cent, on loans, and to give six per cent, on deposits. The manner of payment may be understood from the following order in council, published in March of this year : " that all persons " who had lent money for his Majesty's service in the present war, " upon the credit of the late act for 125,000/., whose orders were " of the numbers of 99, 100, and so forwards to 126, should take *' notice that there remained money for them in bank at the re- " ceipt of his Majesty's exchequer, ready to pay both their prin- " cipal and interest, and should therefore cause their respective ' < orders and tallies to be brought into the exchequer ; and give " their acquittances, that they might receive their loans and inte- " rests according to the said act."
CHARLES II.
165
up the larger ships in ordinary, and to equip only CHAP, two squadrons of light frigates, one to harass the 166*7#
enemy's trade in the Channel, and the other that
in the German Ocean. The duke of York ob- jected with considerable force, that such an ex- pedient was in truth an abandonment of the sovereignty of the sea, and an invitation to the Dutch to insult the English coast, and plunder the maritime counties. But the difficulty of pro- curing money, and the expectation of a speedy peace, weighed with the rest of the council ; and Charles consented to a measure which subse- quently gave him keener regret, and brought on him more lasting disgrace, than, perhaps, any other act of his government.
The king of France, who had completed his Secret preparations for the invasion of Flanders in the ^J/ spring, was anxious to free himself from the in- Louis. cumbrance of the war with England. Through Ruvigni, the agent of the French protestants at his court, he persuaded the earl of St. Alban's, who, it was rumoured, had privately married the queen-mother, to proceed to London and sound the disposition of Charles. The English king earnestly wished to try again his fortune by sea ; but the difficulty of fitting out the fleet subdued his repugnance to a treaty, and he consented to send commissioners to Breda, on condition that an armistice should accompany the negociation 9\
w Clarendon, 119.
1'Cfi HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. Louis met with greater difficulty on the part of 16(i7. the States, who, aware that his intended conquest
— of Flanders must prove injurious to their inter-
1666. ests, sought to divert him from his purpose by
Dec. 14. continuing the war, from which he had recently pledged himself not to withdraw without their consent. But the monarch, irritated by their ob- jections and delays, discovered an expedient by which he disappointed their hopes. Without the knowledge of the ministers at either court, he opened a secret negociation with Charles. Each prince addressed his letters to the queen Henrietta Maria, Louis as to his aunt, Charles as to his mother ; and that princess forwarded them to their destination, under covers as from herself. Neither had any real cause of hostility against the other, and the only difficulty arose from a desire in the English king to recover the isles in the West Indies, which had been taken by the French, and on the part of Louis to obtain a pledge that England should not oppose his designs against Spain. At length they compromised these pre- tensions, and it was agreed that each should abstain from hostilities against the other; that France should restore her conquests in the West Indies ; that England, during the space of one year, should afford no assistance to Spain ; and that so much of this treaty as was fit to meet the eye of the public should be afterwards inserted in
April H. a public treaty. Both kings solemnly pledged themselves to the observance of the articles in a
CHARLES II. 167
paper under their respective signatures, which for CHAP, greater privacy and security was deposited with 16li'7
Henrietta Maria, as their common relation and
friend 96.
While the secret treaty proceeded, the French The ambassador reiterated his demands at the Hague, fleet in and four out of the seven provinces, eager for the nver' peace, resolved to withdraw their contributions towards the expences of the war. De Witt with his party was compelled to yield ; Breda was named for the place of the congress, and in the month of May the ambassadors of the several May u. powers assembled. But the pensionary still thirsted for revenge : he knew that the Dutch fleet was ready to sail, and that England had no fleet to oppose ; and he determined not to throw away the opportunity which fortune had placed in his hands. When the armistice was pixmosed, the Dutch immediately refused their consent, on the ground that it would occupy as much time to discuss its conditions as those of the peace itself; and while the English argued, and the French remonstrated, De Witt left the Texel in company with De Ruyter, and ordered the fleet to the amount of seventy sail, to join him in separate squadrons at the buoy off the Nore.
The English government was not taken by surprise. The warnings of the duke of York had
8 For the knowledge of this singular transaction, the first of the secret treaties betw< en Louis and Charles, we are indebted to Louis himself, in his (Envies, ii. 256, 286, 8., 9 ; v. 399, 405.
lO'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
chap, awakened them to a sense of the danger ; and All three months before, orders had been issued to
1007.
raise a fort at Sheerness, to throw a boom across Feb. 27. tj]e Medway at the stakes, to mount the guns on the batteries, and to prepare a competent number of fireships. But it was not easy to carry these orders into execution. The commissioners of the navy already owed more than 900,000/. Their credit was gone : the sailors refused to serve, the labourers to work, the merchants to sell, without immediate payment : and to procure ready money, either by application to the treasury, or by loan from the bankers, was impossible 97. De Witt, that he might distract the attention of the council, ordered one division of his fleet to sail up the Thames as far as Gravesend, and the other to destroy, which was his chief object, the shipping in the Med way. The fort at Sheerness opposed
June o. but a feeble resistance. Though Charles, to hasten the completion of the works, had visited them twice during the winter, they were still in an unfinished state, and a xew broadsides levelled them with the ground. At the first alarm, Monk, by the royal order, hastened to the mouth of the Medway. He erected batteries, and moored guard-ships for the protection of the boom, and sunk five ships before it in the narrowest part of the channel. He had not completed these pre-
June n. parations, when the Dutch advanced with the
;7 See Pepys, iii. 156, 162, V, 171.
CHA11LES II. 16'9
wind and tide in their favour ; but the obstruc- CHAP, tion in the passage opposed an insuperable bar to 166^
their progress, and they were compelled to fall
back with the ebb. During the night, however, they discovered a new channel, sufficiently deep for large ships at high water, and in the morning worked their way without impediment in this direction. The men of war immediately pointed June is. their guns against the batteries ; and a heavy fireship, running against the boom, hung upon it. A second followed in like manner ; the chain broke under their united weight ; and, in a short time, the guardships were in a blaze. The hull of the Royal Charles, a first rate, which through neglect of orders had not been removed, became the prize of the conquerors.
Monk, disappointed but not disheartened, Advances hastened back to Upnor Castle. The night was t0 uPnor- employed in mounting guns and collecting am- munition : in the morning the batteries were manned with volunteers from the navy ; and the return of the tide exhibited a sight most galling to the pride of every Englishman, — the Dutch fleet advancing triumphantly up the river. Two June 13. men of Avar led the line ; then came six enormous fire-ships ; after them followed the rest of the squadron. The men of war anchored to receive and return the fire of the batteries ; and the fireships, passing behind them, pursued their course, reducing to ashes the three first-rates, the RoyalJames, the Oak, and the London. At
]70 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, the ebb, their commander Van Ghent, whether 1(i(J'7- he had fully executed his orders, or was intimi-
teut.
■ ■ dated by the warm reception which he experi- enced, made the signal to the fleet to fall down the river, and, having burnt two of his own vessels which had grounded, rejoined in safety the other division at the Nore ".
Public To the English, if we consider the force of the
enemy and the defenceless state of the river, the loss was much less than they had reason to expect ; but the disgrace sunk deep into the heart of the king, and the hearts of his subjects. That England, so lately the mis- tress of the ocean, should be unable to meet her enemies at sea, and that the Dutch, whom she had so often defeated, should ride triumphant in her rivers, burn her ships, and scatter dismay through the capital and the country, were uni- versally subjects of grief and indignation. Many attributed it to that eternal source of every cala- mity, the imaginary machinations of the pa- pists"; others were taught to believe that the king had secretly leagued with the enemy for the purpose of depressing the nation, that he might the more easily establish a despotic government ; and numbers contrasted the disastrous result of the present war against the Dutch under a king, with the glorious result of the former war under
98 C. Journals, Oct. 31. Pepys, iii. 237, 241, 2, 5, 50; v. 17. Evelyn, ii. 287, 8, 291. m Pepys, iii. 245, 252.
CHARLES II. 171
a protector. But their reasoning was evidently CHAP, unjust. Whatever might be the faults of Charles,
1667.
he had conducted the war with equal spirit, and
till this moment with more signal success. Even the disgrace at Chatham, originating from a measure which had been forced upon him by pecu- niary distress, had not in reality diminished the power nor impaired the resources of the country.
For six weeks De Ruyter continued to sweep Treaty of the English coast. But his attempts to burn the Peace- ships at Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Torbay, were successively defeated ; and, though he twice threatened to remount the Thames, the spirited opposition with which he was received by a squa- dron of eighteen sail, under sir Edward Spragge, induced him to renounce the design. In the mean time the Dutch negotiators, who had pur- posely protracted the conferences at Breda, began to be alarmed by the rapid progress of the French army in Flanders ; for Louis, soon after his se- cret treaty with Charles, passed the frontiers with May 11. an army of seventy thousand men, nominally commanded by himself, but really under the guid- ance of Turenne. Castel-Rodrigo, the Spanish governor, dismantled several fortresses ; Binche, Tournay, Oudenarde, Courtrai, and Douai opened their gates ; and Louis was actually occupied in the siege of Lisle, when the States hastened to withdraw their objections to the proposals of England, that they might have leisure to secure themselves against the ambition of their powerful
L72 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C II A P. ally ". Three treaties were signed by the Eng-
16G*7t lish commissioners on the same day. By one
with Holland it was stipulated that both parties
July 21. s]louici forget past injuries, and remain in their present condition, which confirmed to the States the possession of the disputed island of Pulo Ron, and to the English, their conquests of Albany and New York. By the second with France, Louis obtained the restoration of Nova Scotia, and Charles that of Antigua, Monserrat, and part of St. Kitts ; and by the last with Denmark, which country had acceded to the war, as the ally of the Dutch, the relations of amity were re- established between the two crowns 10°. Unpopu- There was nothing in the conditions of peace Claren- *° mortify the pride or to prejudice the interests don. 0f the nation ; yet the calamities which had ac- companied the war, the plague, the fire, and the disgrace at Chatham, though over the two first no human counsels could have had any control,
93 The success of Louis produced a benefit to England, which was unexpected : it induced "one Brewer, with about fifty Wal- " loons, who wrought and dyed fine woollen cloths ", to migrate to this kingdom. " The king entertained them against our bar- et barous law, or rather usage, against foreigners partaking the * benefit of natural-bom English ; and by them the English, in a " few years time., were instructed to make and dye fine woollen " cloths cheaper by forty per cent, than they could do before ". Coke, ii. 161.
100 See them in Dumont, vii. par. i. 40 -57. Mem. d'Estrades, iv. 395—4.28. Temple, i. 481.
CHARLES II. 173
had soured the temper of the people ; and Charles, chap. anxious to divert attention from his own miscon- 166'7
duct, was not unwilling to sacrifice a victim to
the public discontent. Ever since the restoration, Clarendon had exercised the power, though with- out the name, of prime minister ; and to his pernicious counsels it was become the fashion to attribute every national calamity. It must be confessed that, with a correct judgment and brilliant talents, he had contrived, whether it arose from the infirmity of his nature, or the necessity of his situation, to make himself ene- mies among every class of men. The courtiers had been alienated from him by the haughtiness of his manner, and his perpetual opposition to their suits, their projects, and their extravagance ; the friends of liberty, by his strenuous advocacy of every claim which he conceived to belong to the prerogative, and his marked antipathy to every doctrine, which seemed to him to savour of republicanism ; and the catholics, the presbyte- rians, and the several classes of dissenters, by his obstinate and successful opposition to the indulgence to tender consciences, promised by the king in his declaration from Breda. He had offended the house of commons by reproaching them with conduct similar to that of the long parliament, and the house of lords by complaining that they suffered the commons to usurp the lead in public busineSvS, and were content with main-
17 V HISTOB.Y OF ENGLAND.
C hat. taming their own privileges l01. The king, indeed, 16(J'7 had been accustomed to listen to him with respect,
almost with awe. But these sentiments gradually
wore away. The courtiers mimicked the gravity of Clarendon in the royal presence ; they ridiculed his person and manner ; they charged him with interested motives ; and represented him as a morose pedagogue, claiming to retain the same control over the mind of the man, which he had once exercised over that of the boy. Charles laughed and reproved ; but frequency of repeti- tion insensibly produced effect ; and feelings of suspicion and aversion were occasionally awakened in the royal breast. Nor did Clarendon himself fail to aid the efforts of his enemies. He often contradicted the favourite opinions of the king ; sometimes carried measures against him in the house of lords ; and, on more than one occasion, so far forgot himself at the council table, as to speak with a vehemence and authority which hurt the pride of the monarch. His opposition in the house of lords to the bill for indulgence to tender consciences was never forgotten ; and recently, when the plan of putting the treasury in com- mission was debated during the parliament at Oxford, his conduct had given deep and lasting offence. He was at last taught to feel that, though he might still be consulted as formerly, he no longer enjoyed the royal friendship ; and
"" Clarendon, 3S3— 5.
CHARLES II. !'5
his political opponents, seeing the slippery ground CHAP, on which he stood, laboured to precipitate his 1667.
fall 102.
As early as the year 1663, the earl of Bristol, Heisim- a catholic peer, in a moment of irritation, pro- byBristol. ceeding from some supposed injury offered to him iec3. by Clarendon, requested an audience of Charles July 9. in the presence of lord Arlington ; and, forget- ting the respect due to the monarch, openly reproached him with his indolence, his expenses, and his amours ; charged him with sacrificing his best friends, and among them himself, to the ambition of the chancellor, and ended with a threat that, unless justice were done to him within twenty-four hours, he would raise a storm, which should astonish both the king and his minister. Bristol escaped with difficulty from the personal resentment of his sovereign ; and the next day, rising in the house of lords, im- peached Clarendon of high treason, and of divers heinous misdemeanors. But this pomp- ous denouncement, when he descended into par- ticulars, dwindled into the ridiculous charge that the chancellor had laboured both by his pub- lic conduct and private discourse, to create a belief that the king was in heart a papist, and that on himself, his vigilance, and authority, depended the preservation of the protestant esta- blishment. The judges being consulted, replied
io« Clarendon, 215, 8, 321, 358, 361. Life of James, i 398, 428. Pepys, iv. 268.
17<» IIISTOllY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, that none of the offences charged, supposing them n;67 proved, could amount to high treason ; and the
king, by issuing a warrant for the apprehension
of the accuser, put an end to the prosecution. Bristol absconded for a time, and returned not to court till the fall of his adversary 103.
The king This abortive attempt did not dishearten the
abandons enemjes 0f the chancellor. Thev lost no oppor- tunity of undermining his credit with the king or the nation : men of opposite interests gradually crept into the council ; and his refusal to allow his wife to visit Castlemain gave mortal offence both to Charles and his mistress 1C4. The reader is aware of Buckingham's conduct during the last session of parliament. At its conclusion, the king, who had obtained from one of his agents secret information of his intrigues, deprived him
"•3 Clarendon, 208. L. Journals, xi. 55, 59, 60. St. Trials, 312—8. Life of James, i. 427. Pepys, ii. 62, 70, 90, 95. Cla- rendon attributes Bristol's enmity to the king's refusal of supply- ing him with money, which refusal he attributed to the chancellor. But the real offence arose out of the following circumstance : — When Charles was annoyed by the reflections made in the house of commons during the debate on the revenue, he informed the house that sir Richard Temple, a leader of the opposition, had offered, on certain conditions, to obtain for him a more ample revenue than he coidd desire. At the request of the commons, he named the earl of Bristol as the bearer of the offer; who hastened to the house, and, being admitted, in an ingenious and eloquent speech vindicated both himself and Temple from the imputation. C. Journals, 1663, June 13, 20, 26; July 1. The giving up of his name was the offence, which he imputed to the advice of Clarendon.
1 * Clarendon, 361. Life of James, 28. Macpherson, 35, 7.
CHARLES II. l77
of his offices at court, and ordered him to sur- CHAP, render to the lieutenant of the Tower. The duke ]66'7
concealed himself ; but the agent died ; Bucking
ham made his peace with Castlemain, presented March ll-
. June 18.
himself to the lieutenant, was examined before the council, discharged, permitted to kiss the king's hand, and restored to his former employ- July 16. ments 105. From that moment the doom of Cla- rendon was sealed. When the Dutch fleet rode victorious in the mouth of the river, he had ad- vised the king to dissolve the parliament, and support the troops on the coast by forced contri- butions from the neighbouring counties, to be repaid out of the next supply. This counsel was divulged by some of his enemies, and represented as a plan to govern the kingdom with a standing army in the place of the parliament. The im- putation was every where received with expres- sions of abhorrence, and provoked the additional charges of venality and ambition. The presents which he had been in the habit of receiving from all who sought his friendship or protection, were held forth as proofs of his rapacity : that magni- ficent pile called Clarendon-house was said to be so far beyond the resources of his private fortune, that it must have been raised with the aid of money received from the enemies of his country ; and the marriage of his daughter to the duke of
■w Clarendon, 431. Pepys, iii. 276, 287, 8, 292. Carte, H. 347, 9.
VOL. XII. N
L667.
178 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C HAP. York was attributed to his desire of becoming the father of a race of monarchs ; a desire which had moreover led him to introduce to the royal bed a princess incapable of bearing children, that the crown might descend to the issue of the duchess106. The latter charge was not only circulated in public, but insinuated to Charles himself, together with the information, that the convention parlia- ment would have settled a much more ample revenue on the crown, had not its liberality been checked by the jealousy or the presumption of Clarendon 107. If the king appeared to listen to these suggestions, he still refused to believe that the chancellor had been unfaithful to his trust in any point of importance : but he was daily beset by Buckingham, Arlington, sir William Coventry, and lady Castlemain, who represented to him the discontent of the nation, the power of the chan- cellor's enemies, and the probable consequences of an impeachment in parliament ; and he at last informed that minister, through the duke of York, that he expected him to resign, as an expe- dient by which he might at the same time save
' ' " How far this jealousy may have entered into the king him- " self, to make him more easily part with his minister, I leave it " for others to guess ". Life of James, 393. Burnet, i. 435.
107 " Some have thought, not improbably, that this remissness " of his proceeded from a jealousy that the king was inwardly in- " clined to popery ". Life of James, 393. On the contrary, it is said by sir William Coventry, that it proceeded from an over- weening opinion of his own influence, " that he could have the " command of parliaments for ever". Pepys, iv. 276.
CHARLES II. 1*79
himself from prosecution, and spare his sovereign CHAP, the pain of taking his office from him. 16G7
But the pride of Clarendon scorned to bend to — ■
the storm; and consciousness of innocence urged Antlde- him to brave the malice of his enemies. He him of the
SGclI.
waited on the king, and avowed his determination . ' „„
°' Aug. 26.
not to resign — it would amount to a confession of guilt ; expressed a hope that the seal would not be taken from him — it would prove that his sove- reign was dissatisfied with his services ; and con- jured him to disbelieve the suggestions of lady Castlemain — for she was an angry and vindictive woman. After a conference of two hours, he retired, leaving the king disappointed by his ob- stinacy, and offended by his allusions to " the " lady". The duke of York pleaded strongly in behalf of his father-in-law. But he himself was no longer in favour : the influence of the brother yielded to that of the mistress ; and the chancellor received a positive order to surrender the great Aug-. 30. seal, which was delivered to sir Orlando Bridge- man, chief justice of the common pleas 10S.
l°a Clarendon, 422— 5, 7, 435—40. Life of James, 427—9. Macpherson, Pap. 138. Pcpys, iii. 332, 8. Pepys tells a laugh- able story of Castlemain, who, when she heard about noon that Clarendon had left the king after their interview, leaped out of bed, and ran into the aviary, that she might observe his coun- tenance as he passed. 334. — Bridgeman was unfortunate in liis promotion. Afraid of deciding wrong, he laboured to please both sides, and always gave something to each of the contending par- ties in his court. He lost his reputation. North's Lives, &c. i. 179.
\ 2
II.
16(37. He is im-
1&0 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHA P. Iii six weeks the parliament assembled. Buck- ingham had previously been restored to his place in the council and the bed-chamber ; and Bristol, "j1" issuing from his retirement, had appeared again
by the at court. To an address of thanks from the two
Oct 15 houses for the removal of the chancellor, the king replied, by promising never more to employ him in any capacity whatsoever. It may be that by this promise he hoped to satisfy the enemies of Clarendon ; but they argued that the fallen statesman might, on some future day, recover the favour of his sovereign, or be restored by his son- in-law, should that prince succeed to the throne ; their personal safety demanded precautions against his subsequent revenge ; and, to consummate his ruin, it was resolved to proceed against him by
Nov. 6. impeachment. Seventeen charges were fabricated in a committee of the lower house, imputing to him venality and cruelty in the discharge of his office of chancellor, the acquisition by unlawful means of enormous wealth, the sale of Dunkirk to France, the disclosure of the king's secrets to his enemies, and the design of introducing a mili- tary government without the intervention of parliament. Nothing, however, could be more informal than the proceedings on this occasion. No papers were ordered, no witnesses were exa- mined ; the several charges were adopted on the credit of members, who engaged to produce proof whenever it might be deemed necessary; and the
CHARLES II. 181
house in a body impeached Clarendon at the bar C HAP. of the house of lords of high treason, and other 166'7. crimes and misdemeanors, requesting, at the same
Nov. 12.
time, that he might be committed to custody, till they should exhibit articles against him ll)9.
It is probable, that from the absence of the duke And pro- of York, (he was confined to his chamber by the the lords> small-pox,) the enemies of Clarendon had promised themselves an easy victory. But the duke com- missioned his friends to defend his father-in-law ; the bishops felt themselves bound to support him as the patron of orthodoxy ; and several peers, convinced of his innocence, cheerfully seconded their efforts. They did not, indeed, dare openly to advocate his cause, but they entrenched them- selves behind forms and privileges; they contended that to commit on a general charge was contrary to ancient practice ; that the first precedent in its favour was furnished by the impeachment of the earl of Strafford, a precedent which the house would not follow, because the attainder had been reversed, and the proceedings erased from the journals ; and they maintained that the lords ought to be careful how they sanctioned a preten- sion, which might prove in future times prejudi- cial to them and their posterity. After several Nov. it. animated debates, it was twice resolved by a small Nov. 20.
"" C. Journals, Nov. 6, 8, 11. State Trials, vi. 330. Claren- don, 415—8, 450. Life of James, i. 431. Pepys, iii. 410, 411, 420.
IS: HISTOltY OF ENGLAND.
CHAT, majority, that the accused should not be com- leJy, mitted, because no specific charge was contained
in the impeachment uo.
Charles The commons resented this decision of the him to lords : conferences were repeatedly held, and each kingdom nouse pertinaciously adhered to its former opinion. The king's perplexity daily increased. He ob- served that the proceedings began to take the same course as in the impeachment of the earl of Straf- ford ; and the calamities which followed the con- demnation of that nobleman stared him in the face. He proposed, as an expedient, that the earl should clandestinely leave the kingdom : but no argument, no entreaty, could pervail on Clarendon to take a step which he deemed derogatory from his character ; and the monarch, irritated by his obstinacy, began to speak of him in terms of aver- sion. His enemies now ventured to make use of the royal name. It was rumoured that the king had also offences to punish ; that Clarendon had presumed to thwart him in his amour with the beautiful Miss Stewart, and had persuaded her to Nov. lc. marry the duke of Richmond. The earl, in a letter which he sent by the lord keeper, denied this charge : the king read it, burnt it deliberately in the flame of a candle, and coolly replied, that he
110 Clar. 450. L. Joum. 135 — 7. Pepys, iii. 415. Clarendon^ in a letter to Ormond, says, " I must not omit to tell you that the " duke of York hath been and is as gracious to me, and as much " concerned for me, as is possible. I have not many other friends " to brag of." Carte, ii. App. 38.
CHARLES II. 183
was unable to understand its contents, but won- CHAP, dered what Clarendon was doing in England m. l66'7t
This hint, however, was lost on the determined
mind of the fallen minister. It was followed by an unavowed message delivered by the bishop of Hereford ; the same advice was then urged by the French ambassador, and, when every other ex- pedient had failed, the duke of York, by express command, carried to him a royal order to retire to the continent. He reluctantly obeyed ; and hav- Nov. 29. ing addressed a vindication of himself to the house of lords, secretly withdrew to France n2. TT .
J He is
His departure put an end to the quarrel between banished the two houses m, but did not satisfy the resent- pariia-
merit.
1,1 Clarendon, 4.54— 6. Life of James, i. 432. L. Journ. 154. That Charles was offended with the marriage, is certain. Clar. 453. If we may believe Stewart herself, she wished to marry to relieve herself from his importunities, and therefore accepted the offer of the duke of Richmond with the king's acquiescence. lVpys, iii. 203. But the report was that Charles thought of her for his own wife, that he consulted Sheldon, archbishop of Canter- bury, on the means of procuring a divorce, that Sheldon revealed the secret to Clarendon, and that Clarendon, to secure the suc- cession to his daughter's issue, brought about the marriage of Stewart with the duke of Richmond. Burnet, i. 436. Lord Dart- mouth's Note, 438. Pepys, iii. 293. It makes against this story, that, when a divorce was suggested afterwards to Charles, he replied that his conscience would not permit it. Life of James, i. 439.
112 It is certain that the duke took the order to Clarendon ; yet lord Cornbury says, that his father withdrew, because it was in- tended to dissolve the parliament, and try him by a jury of peers. Carte, ii. App. 39.
"s The commons, however, entered two resolutions on their journals, that in such cases the accused ought to be secured, and
184 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, merit or the apprehensions of his enemies. His 16(J'7. vindication was voted a scandalous and seditious
libel, and ordered to be burnt by the hands of the
common hangman. In a few days followed an
Dec. 29. act banishing him for life, disabling him from holding office, subjecting him to the penalties of high treason, if he returned to England, and ren- dering him incapable of pardon unless by act of parliament ua.
Notwithstanding this severity, it is certain that he fell a victim to the hostility of party. The charges against him were not supported by any lawful proof, and most, if not all, were satisfactorily refuted in his answer m. Yet he must not be considered an immaculate character. His dread of republicanism taught him to advocate every claim of the prerogative, however unreason- able, and his zeal for orthodoxy led him to perse- cute all who dissented from the establishment. He was haughty and overbearing ; his writings betray in many instances his contempt for vera- city : and his desire of amassing wealth provoked Evelyn to remark of him, that " the lord chan- " cellor never did, nor would do, any thing but "for money115". He bore with impatience the
that, when he is in custody, the lords may limit a time within which the particular charge may be specified. C. Journ. De- cember, 5.
"> L. Journ. 151, 157, 162, 7, 9. St. 19, Car. ii.c. 10. "4 Clarendon, 478. 5 Sec Historical I mjuiry respecting the character of Clarendon, by the Hon. George Agar Ellis, 1827.
II.
1667.
CHARLES II. 185
tedium of exile ; but his frequent solicitations for CHAP, permission to return were treated with neglect by- Charles, who felt no inclination to engage in a new contest for the sake of a man, whom he had long before ceased to esteem. Clarendon died at Rouen in Normandy, in 1674.
1S6 JIISTORV OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. III.
CHARLES II.
THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE SECRET NEGOTIATION WITH FRANCE
CONVERSION OF THE DUKE OF YORK INTRIGUES TO ALTER
THE SUCCESSION — DIVORCE OF LORD ROOS VISIT OF THE
DUCHESS OF ORLEANS — SECRET TREATY WITH FRANCE
DEATH OF THE DUCHESS SECOND SECRET TREATY MIS- CELLANEOUS EVENTS CHARACTER OF THE CABAL STOP- PAGE OF PAYMENTS FROM THE EXCHEQUER DECLARATION
OF INDULGENCE OF WAR AGAINST THE STATES VICTORY
AT SOUTHWOLD BAY FRENCH CONQUESTS BY LAND PRO- CEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT THE INDULGENCE RE-CALLED
THE TEST ACT PASSED.
CHAP. HY the exile of Clarendon the ministry, which in. l668_ had been established at the restoration, was en-
tirely dissolved. The duke of Ormond resided
ministry! m ms government of Ireland, Southampton was dead, Albemarle incapacitated by age and infirmi- ty, and Nicholas had resigned. The new cabinet, or, as it was called in the language of the time, " the king's cabal 1 ", consisted of the duke of
1 Pepys, iv. 243. The word "cabal" at this period meant a secret council. Sec the Diaries of Pepys and Evelyn, and White- luck, (p. 47?) as early as the year 1650. By D'Estrades the
CHARLES II. 187
Buckingham, who held no ostensible office till he chap.
T T T
purchased that of master of the horse from 166S"
Monk, of sir Henry Bennet, now lord Arlington,
principal secretary of state, of the lord keeper Bridgman, and of sir William Coventry, one of the commissioners of the treasury 2. Of these, Coventry, by his superior information and abili- ties excited the jealousy of his colleagues ; but unfortunately possessed not the art of pleasing the king, who, from his habit of j>redicting evil, gave him the name of " the visionary ". Buck- ingham and Arlington were bitter enemies at heart ; though the necessity of their situation made them apparent friends. Bridgman was consulted for convenience. Hitherto he had ac- quired no particular claim to the favour of the monarch, or the confidence of the people.
The rapid conquests of the French king in The triple Flanders during the last summer, had drawn the a iance* eyes of Europe towards the seat of war in that country. The pope, Clement IX. through pity for the young king of Spain, and the States, alarmed at the approach of the French arms to
present ministers are called " la caballe d'Espagne". D'Estrades, v. 39. The whole council was divided into three committees ; one for foreign affairs, the real cabal ; another for military and naval affairs ; a third for trade ; and a fourth for the redress of grievances. Jan. 31.
Q Southampton, the lord treasurer, died May 16th, 1667, and June 1st the treasury was put into commission. The commis- sioners were, the duke of Albemarle, lord Ashley, sir Thomas Clifford, sir William Coventry, and sir John Duncombe.
188 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, their frontier, offered their mediation. To both A11; Louis returned the same answer, that he sought
nothing more than to vindicate the rights of his
wife : that he should be content to retain posses- sion of the conquests which he had already made, or to exchange them either for Luxembourg, or Franche-comte, with the addition of Aire, St. Omer, Douai, Cambrai, and Charleroi, to strengthen his northern frontier ; and that he was willing to consent to an armistice for three months, that the Spanish government might have leisure to make its election between these alterna- 1668. tives. But Spain was not sufficiently humbled to
Jan. 17. submit to so flagrant an injustice ; the time was sullenly suffered to pass by, and the mediators renewed their instances to obtain from Louis a prolongation of the armistice for the additional space of three months. He consented to abide by his former offer during that term ; but refus- ing the armistice, overran in the mean time the whole province of Franche-comte, for the sole purpose, as he pretended, of compelling Spain to come to a decision 3.
Temple if jt was tne interest of England, it was still
sent to the °
Hague, more the interest of the States, to exclude France from the possession of Flanders. Under this per- suasion, the new ministers had despatched sir William Temple to the Hague, with a proposal
3 (Euvres dc Louis XIV. ii. 326, 334, 344—55 ; v. 419.
1C67. Dec. 22.
CHARLES II. 189
that both nations should unite with Spain, and CHAP.
in compel the French monarch to retire within the 166g.
former limits of his kingdom. The States were
embarrassed. On the one hand, they considered an' ' the interposition of the Spanish Netherlands as the great bulwark of their independence against the superior power of France : on the other, they hesitated to engage in a dangerous war against an ancient friend and ally at the advice of a prince whom they knew to be their personal enemy. But Temple acted with promptitude and address ; he appealed to their fears ; he represented the danger of delay, and, contrary to all precedent at the Hague, in the short space of five days he nego- Jan. 13. tiated three treaties, by which, if he did not suc- ceed to the full extent of his instructions, he trusted to oppose at least an effectual barrier to the further progress of the invaders. The first was a defensive league by which the two nations bound themselves to aid each other against any aggressor with a fleet of forty men of war, and an army of six thousand four hundred men, or with assistance in money in proportion to the de- ficiency in men : by the second, the contracting powers agreed by every means in their power to dispose France to conclude a peace with Spain on the alternative already offered, to persuade Spain to accept one part of that alternative before the end of May, and, in case of a refusal, to compel her by war, on condition that France should not
III.
1(J()S.
I."" HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, interfere by force of arms4. These treaties were meant for the public eye : the third was secret, and bound both England and the States, in case of the refusal of Louis, to unite with Spain in the war, and not to lay down their arms, till the peace of the Pyrenees were confirmed. In a few days, Sweden acceded to the league, which from that circumstance obtained the name of the triple alliance 5.
Louis received the news of this transaction with an air of haughty indifference. His favourite commanders, Conde and Turenne, exhorted him to bid defiance to the interference of the three powers : his cabinet ministers to be content with the alternative which he had himself proposed.
4 Temple, Works, i. 415. After all, this was little ,more than the States had already proposed to Louis, as appears from a letter from him, dated Jan. 17, hefore he had heard of these treaties. Ca seroit un coup pour la paix, qui la rendroit infallible et prompte, si le roi de la Grande Bretagne entroit dans le meme sentiment des etats-gene'raux, d'obliger les Espagnols a l'acceptation des deux alternatives. (Euvres, v. 421. Si la facon en eut ete un peu plus obligeante, il n'y auroit en rien a desirer. Temple, i. 490.
5 Temple's Works, i. 312 — 84. Dumont, vii. 66, 68. Much praise has been lavished on this negotiation, as if it had arrested Louis in his career of victory, and preserved the independence of Europe. From the references in the preceding and following notes, it will be seen that it accomplished nothing more than the French king himself was anxious to effect. He had already stipulated in the " eventual treaty" with the emperor, to require from Spain the same conditions as were now prescribed by England and the States ; he had employed the influence of Leopold to obtain the consent of the Spanish cabinet to those conditions, and he had commissioned D'Estrades to solicit the co-operation of England and the States, both by advice and threats, to extort that consent.
CHARLES II. 191
He assented to their advice ; but for a reason, of C II ai\ which they were ignorant. In consequence of the 1Gys
infirm state of the young king of Spain, he had — ■
secretly concluded with the emperor Leopold an " eventual " treaty of partition of the Spanish monarchy on the expected death of Charles, and by that treaty had already bound himself to do Jan. 9. the very thing, which it was the object of the al- lied powers to effect 6.
The marquess of Castel-Rodrigo, the Spanish Treaty of governor of the Netherlands, sought delay, under chapefle. the vain hope of inducing the Dutch (of England he was secure) to engage at once in the war. But the intervention of the emperor, in consequence of the eventual treaty, put an end to the hesita- tion of the Spanish cabinet ; the ambassadors of the several powers met at Aix-la-Chapelle ; Spain April 22. made her choice ; the conquered towns in Flan- ders were ceded to Louis, and peace was re-esta- blished between the two crowns7. The conduct of Charles during the whole of this transaction served to raise him in the estimation of E urope. But the States could ill dissemble their disap- pointment. They never doubted that Spain, with the choice in her hands, would preserve Flanders, and part with Franche-comte. It was this per- suasion that induced them to refuse the first pro-
' CEuvres dc Louis, ii. 360 — 72. See the account of the "even- " tual treaty ", which was kept secret for almost a century, in the works of Louis, vi. 402.
7 Temple, 420 -56. D'Estrades, v. 351. Dumont, vii. 89, 91. Louis, vi. 417.
192
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. III.
1668.
Proceed- ings in parlia- ment.
Feb. 10.
Jan. 16.
ject of the English ministry, and to prefer the binding of Louis to his offer of the alternative. The result was owing, it is said, to the resent- ment of Castel-Rodrigo, who, finding that the States would not join with England to confine France within its ancient limits, resolved to punish them by making a cession, which brought the French frontier to the very neighbourhood of the Dutch territory 8.
When the parliament assembled after the ad- journment, Buckingham discovered that his suc- cess against Clarendon in the last session had pro- ceeded, not from his own influence, but the unpo- pularity of that statesman. His immediate de- pendents in the lower house were heard without attention ; and the jealousy of the churchmen had been awakened by his close connexion with the presbyterians, that of the cavaliers by his dis- charge of the republicans, whom the late admi- nistration had incarcerated as a measure of pre- caution. Neither did it add to the reputation of the prime minister that his profligacy had led him, for the sake of lady Shrewsbury, with whom he lived in open adultery, to fight a duel, in which one of his seconds was killed on the spot, and the earl of Shrewsbury, the injured husband, was mortally wounded 9. The commons began by in-
8 Temple, 414—7.
9 Pepys, iv. 15. Lady Shrewsbury was daughter to the earl of Cardigan. Report said that, in the dress of a page, she held the duke's horse while lie was fighting with her husband. — When
CHARLES II. 193
stituting a rigid inquiry into the conduct of per- c**Ar. sons employed under the former administration. 1668.
Prince Rupert and the duke of Albemarle had —
already furnished narratives of their proceedings during the war : commissioner Pett was impeached of culpable neglect in the care of his majesty's ships when the Dutch entered the river ; Penn of the embezzlement of prize goods to the value of 115,000/. ; and Brunkhard, who had absconded, was expelled the house for his presumption in having ordered sail to be slackened during the pursuit after the victory of the 3d of June, 166.5. To these proceedings Buckingham had no objec- tion ; but, to his surprise, the commons voted only one half of the sum which he demanded un- der the head of naval expenses, and obstinately resisted all his efforts to obtain some favour for the dissenters, in accordance with the wish of the sovereign. The conventicle act would expire within six months ; and Charles, who still felt himself bound by the declaration of Breda, was anxious to prevent its renewal. Aware of the rock on which his former endeavours had split, he was care- ful to make no mention of the catholics : he con- fined his request of indulgence to the dissenters among his protestant subjects ; but the very report
Buckingham took her to his own house, the duchess ohserved to him, that it was not for her and his mistress to live together ; he replied — " Why so I have been thinking, madam, and therefore " have ordered your coach to carry you to your father's ". Penys, 109.
vol. xii. O
I J) t HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, of his intention had awakened the usual cry that 1668. tne cllurt"h was m danger : on the morning, just
before he expressed his wish to the two houses,
the commons voted an address to him, to put in execution all the laws against non-conformists and papists ; and afterwards, a bill was passed and sent to the lords, having for its object to continue the existing penalties against the frequenters of conventicles. This, however, did not prevent the friends of toleration from proposing, in conformity with the royal suggestion, measures for the com- prehension of protestant dissenters ; but the mo-
April 28, tion,after several adjourned debates, was negatived, on a division, by a majority of more than two to
10
one .
Dispute The remaining business in parliament was now
bet ween
the interrupted by a most violent quarrel between the
houses. £WO j10USegj on a question of privilege. Several
years had passed since Skinner, a private trader, preferred to the king in council a complaint of divers injuries which he alleged that he had suffered from the agents of the East-India com- 1666. pany. After several hearings, the council com- missioned the archbishop of Canterbury, the chancellor, and two other lords, to effect a compro- mise between the parties ; but the company re- Dec. 6. fused to abide by their decision, and the king was advised to recommend the case to the attention of
!° Pepys, iv. 3i. C. Journals, Ap. 28. Pari. Hist. iv. 413- 122.
CHARLES II. l95
the house of lords, as the supreme court of judi- chap.
• ii i cature in the nation. But the opponents of 1C6g
Skinner objected to the jurisdiction of the lords.
The cause, it was maintained, did not come before , , '
Jan. 19.
them by way of appeal, or bill of review, or writ Jan g8> of error. It was an original complaint, which must be first heard in the ordinary courts of law. In the following session, Skinner petitioned the Oct. 30. lords for redress ; the company renewed their ob- Nov. c. jection ; but the house pronounced the complain- ant entitled to damages, and appointed a committee March 16# to assess the amount. After the adjournment, the company petitioned the house of commons for protection against the usurpation of the lords. By the upper house this petition was voted a scandalous libel : the lower not only received it, but passed resolutions censuring the conduct of May 2. the lords as contrary to law, and derogatory from the rights of the subject. They were met with opposite resolutions from the upper house, de- claring: the votes of the commons a breach of privilege, and the proceedings of the lords war- ranted both by law and precedent. Thus open war was declared ; each house obstinately main- tained its own pretensions ; the lords resolved to pass no other bill than that of the supply ; and the commons rejected a bill which had been sent May 1. to them for the regulation of the trials of peers. By the king, the ninth of May had been fixed for the conclusion of the session. Early in the May 9- morning the commons sent a message to the lords,
o 2
IJH> HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
chap, proposing a suspension of all proceedings in the i~h cause till the next meeting of parliament, and
having received no answer, resolved that who- soever should put in execution the orders or sen- tence of the house of lords in the case of Thomas Skinner, should be deemed a traitor to the liberties of Englishmen, and an infringer of the privileges of the house of commons. The king, having given the royal assent to the bills which were prepared, ordered the two houses to adjourn, and expressed a hope that, before he should meet them again, some expedient might be discovered for the accommodation of this difference. The commons obeyed : the lords continued to sit, called before them sir Samuel Barnardiston, the governor of the company, and committed him to the custody of the black rod, till he should have paid to the king a fine of 300/. Having thus vindicated their authority, they also adjourned n.
Licen- At the restoration of peace, trade quickly re-
atcourt!8 turned into its ancient channels ; the murmurs of discontent were gradually hushed ; and the ex- piration of the conventicle act afforded relief and satisfaction to the dissenters. The present proved
" St. Trials, vi. 710—63. L. Journ. xii. 420, 7. Pari. Hist. iv. 422. Marvcll, 109. On the 8th of May the commons sate on this question from dinner time till five the next morning. Marvell, i. 107. Pepys, iv. 103. Barnardiston remained in custody till the night of Aug. 10, the day before the expiration of the adjourn- ment. By whose authority he was discharged, he did not know. Pari. Hist. iv. 431.
CHARLES II. }97
the most tranquil period of the king's reign, but CHAP, it was disgraced by the extravagance and licen- 166g.
tiousness of the higher classes. The gallants of
the court shocked the more sober of the citizens by their open contempt of the decencies of life 12, while Charles laughed at their follies, and coun- tenanced them by his example. At the same time that he renewed his visits and attentions to the duchess of Richmond, he robbed the theatres of two celebrated actresses, known to the public by the dignified appellations of Moll Davies aiui Nell Gwiu. Davies had attained eminence as a dancer — Gwin attracted admiration in the character and dress of a boy. The former received a splendid es- tablishment in Suffolk-street, and bore the king a daughter, afterwards married into the noble family of the Radclyffes. The latter became the mother of the first duke of St. Albans. Charles never allowed her to interfere in matters of state ; but he appointed her of the bed-chamber to the queen, and assigned her lodgings in the neighbourhood of the court. She was so wild, and witty, and ec- centric, that he found in her company a perpetual source of amusement, a welcome relief from the cares that weighed so heavily upon him at times, in the subsequent years of his reign. Habit, how- ever, still preserved to Castlemain the empire which she had formerly acquired. She sup-
12 See Pepys, iv. 1 1G, 118, 14.5. Sir Charles Sedley and lord Buckhurst distinguished themselves above others. Ibid. 185, fi, 7.
198 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAT, pressed all appearances of jealousy, and sought 166g her revenge by allowing herself the same liberties
in which her paramour indulged 13.
Intrigues While Charles pursued his pleasures, Buck-
taeham." Wgham sought to consolidate his own power. By degrees he weeded all of whose fidelity he was suspicious, out of the different departments of the administration. Secretary Morrice was exchanged for sir John Trevor ; the duke of Ormond, after a long struggle, surrendered the government of Ireland to the lord Robartes ; and Coventry himself was provoked to furnish a decent pretext for his dismissal. Buckingham had pro- cured a farce to be written for the purpose of ridiculing him on the stage. Coventry sent the duke a challenge ; the matter was laid before the king in council ; and the challenger was sent to the Tower, and deprived of office. But the prin- cipal person, against whom he directed his attacks, was the duke of York. He was aware of the contempt which that prince expressed for his cha- racter, and of the influence exercised by the duchess, Clarendon's daughter, over the mind of her husband. James received repeated affronts in the name of the king, which he bore without
'3 Pepys, iv. 10, 14, 90, 111, 223, 250. Evelyn, ii. 339. Bui net, i. 457. Sandford, 652, 4. About this time, May 11, a meteor was seen, and the ignorance and bigotry of the people are amusingly described by Pepys on the occasion. " The world " do make much discourse of it, their apprehensions being mighty " full of the rest of the city to be burned, and the papists to cut u our throats", iv. 1 12.
CHARLES II. l99
complaint. The conduct of the admiralty was CHAP, blamed ; his friends were displaced ; and the de- i668.
pendants of his adversary were introduced into • his office in defiance of his remonstrances. It was rumoured that he had lost the royal confidence, and would soon be deprived of his place of lord high admiral. But Charles was recalled to a sense of the protection which he owed his brother, by the boldness of an old cavalier, sir William Armourer, who told him publicly of the reports in circulation respecting his jealousy of the duke of York. He instantly replied, that they were false ; and when Buckingham, under pretence of fear for his life from the resentment of James, affected to travel surrounded by armed men, the king laughed in his face at the utter folly of the insinuation. The minister began to feel alarm : he turned to solicit a reconciliation with the duke, and received a contemptuous refusal 14.
Buckingham, however, might depend on the Financial royal favour as long as he could supply the king with money. That nothing was to be obtained from the liberality of the parliament, had been proved by the proceedings in the last session ; and an attempt was therefore made to reduce the
■« Life of James, 432 — 40. Macph. Pap. i. 41, 3, 5, 7, 50. Pepys, iv. 151, 5, 8, 188, 191, 2, 5, 246, 9, 255, 7, 262- The re- ports mentioned by Pepys are confirmed by the duke of Ormond : " Arlington told me that I joined too much in my counsels and "conversation with men unsatisfied : and (which I wondered "at) he named the duke and the archbishop of Canterbury ". Carte, ii. App. »>7.
measure.
200 HISTORY Or ENGLAND.
( HAP. annual expenditure below the amount of the ill i6t>8. royal income. On examination, it was found
■ that the yearly receipts did not exceed 1,030,000/. ;
by a new regulation, three-fourths of this sum July 22. were allotted to defray the exjjenses of the civil list, and of the remaining fourth, 100,000/. was appropriated to discharge the interest of the public debt, the remainder to cover accidental de- ficiencies, and to pay, as far as it would go, the several pensions granted by the king 15. Secret tie- But this plan of economy accorded not with the with royal disposition, nor did it offer any prospect of trance, extinguishing the debt. Charles remembered the promise of pecuniary assistance from France in the beginning of his reign ; and though his previ- ous efforts to cultivate the friendship of Louis had been defeated by an unpropitious course of events, he resolved to renew the experiment. Immediately after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, Buckingham opened a negotiation with the duchess of Orleans, the king's sister in France, and Charles, in his conversation with the French resident, apologized May n. f°r his conduct in forming the triple alliance, and openly expressed his wish to enter into a closer union, a more intimate friendship, with Louis. These overtures Avere at first received with cold- ness and reserve, which, instead of checking, seemed to stimulate the ardour of the king. There was one point in which both monarchs most cor-
'* Sec it at length in Ralph, i. 17j.
CHARLES II. 201
dially agreed, their hatred of the Dutch. Charles CHAP.
. ill
could not forget their inhospitality during the 16(i^
time of his exile ; the unsuccessful termination of
the late war had strengthened his dislike ; and he ardently wished for the opportunity of gratifying his revenge. On the other hand, the pride of Louis had often been offended by the pride of these republicans ; and their presumption in acceding to the secret articles in the triple alliance was deemed by him the strongest proof of their ingratitude. About the end of the year the communications between the two princes became more open and confidential ; French money, or the promise of French money, was received by the English minis- ters ; the negotiation began to assume a more regular form, and the most solemn assurances of secrecy were given, that their real object might be withheld from the knowledge, or even the suspi- cion, of the States 16.
In this stage of the proceedings Charles received Duke of an important communication from his brother COmes a
catholic.
"' See the papers in Dairy tuple, ii. 4 — 21. They are all pub- lished as referring to the same subject. But this is a mistake. The letters of Feb. 27, 1669, in p. 4, and of Jan. 19, 1669, in p. 19, ought to be dated in 1665, and that of Feb. 9, 1669, in p. 21, in the year 1666. This is evident from their contents. Also Mac- pherson, i. 56. The secret, however, was not kept. For the sole information of the king of Sweden, Puffendorf, his agent, was permitted by Turenne to read a letter from Colbert, the ambas- sador in England, who boasted of his success, adding that he had made some of the leading ministers to feel, sentir tout l'etendue de la liberality de 8a majeste*. This Puficndorf communicated to de Witt. Temple, ii. 40.
IOCS.
203 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
, 1 1 xv. James. Hitherto that prince had been an obedient }}k and zealous son of the church of England ; but Dr. Heylin's History of the Reformation had shaken his religious credulity, and the result of the inquiry was a conviction that it became his duty to reconcile himself with the church of Rome. He was not blind to the dangers to which such a change would expose him ; and he therefore pur- posed to continue outwardly in communion with the established church, while he attended at the catholic service in private. But, to his surprise, lie learned from Symonds, a Jesuit missionary, that no dispensation could authorize such duplicity of conduct: a similar answer was returned to the same question from the pope, and James imme- diately took his resolution. He communicated to the king in private that he was determined to embrace the catholic faith ; and Charles, without hesitation, replied, that he was of the same mind, and would consult with the duke on the subject in the presence of lord Arundel, lord Arlington, and Arlington's confidential friend, sir Thomas Clif- ford. Of these three, the first was a known catholic ; the other two had hitherto professed themselves protestants ; but more for fashion's sake, than through any real attachment to the re- formed creed. They, like most others in the higher circles of society at that period, had, in the language of James, " their religion still to choose ".
Secret The meeting was held in the duke's closet.
tion< Charles, with tears in his eyes, lamented the hard-
CHA11LES II. 203
ship of being* compelled to profess a religion which CHAP.
II T
he did not approve, declared his determination to 166g
emancipate himself from this restraint, and re
quested the opinion of those present, as to the 2o' most eligible means of effecting his purpose with safety and success. They advised him to com- municate his intention to Louis, and to solicit the powerful aid of that monarch 17.
Here occurs a very interesting question, — was Charles sincere or not ? That of the two churches he preferred the more ancient, there can be no doubt. Both the duke of Ormond and Daniel O'Nial had seen reason to suspect him of a secret leaning towards the catholic worship about the time of the conferences at the Pyrenees ; and he had recently avowed the same to Arlington and Clifford !s. But the king's religious belief was of his own creation. To tranquillize his con- science, he had persuaded himself that his immo- ralities were but trifling deviations from rectitude, which a God of infinite mercy would never visit with severity ; and, as for speculative doctrines, the witty and profligate monarch was not the man
" James, i. 440. Dalrymple, ii. 22. Macpher. i. 50, 52. See also the travels of Cosmo for the orthodoxy of James, 456.
18 Carte's Ormond, ii. 254. James, i. 411. That lie was a staunch protestant in 1658 is evident from the papers in Thurloe, i. 740 — 5; but in 1669, the author of Cosmo's Travels remarks, that chough he " observes with exact attention the religious rites " of the church of England, there is reason to believe that he does " not entirely acquiesce, and that he may perhaps cherish other " inclinations ". 456.
204 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, to sacrifice his ease and to endanger his crown for }}}• the sake of a favourite creed. He was the most
accomplished dissembler in his dominions ; nor
will it be any injustice to his character to suspect, that his real object was to deceive both his brother and the king of France. In his next letter to his sister Henrietta, he informs her that the duke had been brought into " the business on the score of religion", and he openly told her at Dover, that " he was not so well satisfied with the catholic religion, or his own condition, as to make it his faith"18.
Progress Now, however, the secret negotiation proceeded
of the ne- ^ ffreater activity ; and lord Arundel, accom-
gociation. & J
panied by sir Richard Bellings 19, hastened to the French court. He solicited from Louis the pre- sent of a considerable sum, to enable the king to suppress any insurrection which might be pro- voked by his intended conversion, and offered the co-operation of England in the projected inva- sion of Holland, on the condition of an annual subsidy during the continuation of hostilities. To these proposals no direct objection was made ; and the discussion turned chiefly on one point, whether the declaration of the king's catholicity should precede or follow the declaration of war.
* '
'8 Dalrymple, i. 226 ; ii. 22.
'9 Bellings had been secretary to the catholic confederacy in 1 reland, and since the restoration had been confidentially employed by Clarendon in several foreign negotiations. On this occasion he was instructed to draw the articles of the treaty. .James, i. 442.
CHARLES II. 205
James, with all the fervour of a proselyte, urged chap. his brother to publish his conversion without de- l66g
lay. War, by creating a want of money, would
render him dependent on the bounty of parlia- ment ; but now he was his own master ; the army was loyal ; all the governors of garrisons were attached to his person : the sufferings of the non- conformists from the intolerance of the established church would teach them to look on any change as a benefit ; and within the pale of the establish- ment itself there were numbers, who had no set- tled notions of religion, but were ready to fashion their creed by their convenience.
Louis, on the contrary, represented to the king, that a premature declaration might endanger his crown and his person ; that nine-tenths of his subjects were hostile to the catholic faith ; that religious discord acted with the fury and the rapid- ity of a volcano ; that insurrection was to be ex- pected in the capital and in every part of his dominions, and that his army was too small, his friends were too few, to countenance the hope of his being able to suppress his opponents. Charles made but a faint endeavour to refute this reasoning. The attempt, he acknowledged, wore the appear- ance of madness, yet there were reasons to think that it might succeed. In these discussions the year passed away. At Christmas the king pub- licly received the sacrament ; the absence of James, who had been accustomed to accompany his bro-
<206 IIISTOllY OF ENGLAND.
c hap. ther, though it did not escape notice, awakened
111. • • 20
1670 no suspicion -' .
After repeated adjournments, the parliament
Meeting ])a(] jjeen suffereil to meet in October. The com-
of parlia- T-11
ment. mons immediately revived the quarrel with the Oct. 19. iorcjs respecting the case of Skinner. They ordered the printer of " The Grand Question concerning " the Judicature of the House of Lords " to be prosecuted, voted that Barnardiston had behaved like a good commoner of England, and passed a bill, vacating the judgment pronounced against him, as contrary to law and the privileges of parliament. It was immediately rejected by the lords, who, on their part, passed a bill in vindication of their jurisdiction, which met with a similar fate in the commons. For some time no farther communication took place between the two houses, and the king, to prevent a more violent rupture, put an end to the session by ad- Dec. 11. journment. The interval was spent by him in earnest endeavours to heal this misunderstanding ; and, when they met again, he recommended to both to erase all the proceedings out of the jour- nals, and to abstain from the renewal of the ques- 1670. tion. They consented : in appearance each house Feb. li. was replaced in the same situation in which it 1 )- 22' stood before the quarrel : in reality the victory was gained by the commons. By the erasures,
' Dalrymple, ii. 30 — 37. Life of James, i. 442. Macpher. i. .50.
chari.es ir. 207
the two judgments of the lords were vacated, and CHAP. from that moment their claim to original jurisdic- 1670\
tion in civil causes has been silently abandoned21. ■
The public business now occupied the attention New con-
vtnticlc
of parliament. 1°. The expiration of the conven- act. tide act had raised the hopes of the dissenters, and the lord-keeper and chief justice Hales had been employed to draw an act of comprehension, by which the greater part of them might be incor- porated with the establishment. On the one side, Wilkins, bishop of Chester, with Tillotson, Stil- lingfleet, and Burton ; on the other, Bates, Man- ton, and Baxter, were consulted ; and, to remove the chief stumbling-block, the controversy respect- ing the validity of presbyterian ordination, it was ingeniously proposed that the bishop in the form of re- ordination should make use of the words, " to serve as minister in any parish in England." But the agitation of the project threw the king- dom into a ferment. Parker and Patrick distin- guished themselves by the warmth of their writ- ings in support of orthodoxy, and Owen by his learning, Marvell by his wit, ranked at the head of their opponents. One party contended that, to concede at all was to betray the cause of the church; the other, that a comprehension of the dissenters offered the only sure expedient to check the diffu- sion of socinianism and popery. The house of
•'' L. Jourh.xii. 287, 291. Com. Jourri. Feb. 22. Pari. Ilist. iv. 1,31. St. Trials. vi. 763—70.
208 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C II A P. commons did not degenerate from the zeal which it 16?0 had displayed on so many former occasions. A
bill for the suppression of conventicles was sent to
the house of lords : it met with strong opposition from the duke of York and his friends, as well as from the presbyterian peers ; but Charles, though he had promised his protection to the non-confor- mists, deemed it prudent to interfere, and by his solicitations this intolerant bill was suffered to April n. pass. By it certain fines were enacted against all persons above sixteen years of age who should attend, and all ministers who should officiate, at any religious service different from that of the church of England, against the occupiers of the houses in which meetings for that purpose should be held, and against the magistrates who should neglect to enforce the provisions of the law 22. Sufferings This act subjected the dissenters to a portion of non-con- those severities, which had been so frequently in- formists. flicted on the catholics. Spies and informers mul- tiplied : the ministers found it necessary to abscond ; houses were entered by force, and searched without ceremony ; and the inmates were dragged to prison, and condemned to pay fines. That ease, of which the king was so fond, suffered repeated interruptions from complaints and appeals to his justice. When the non-conformists re- minded him of his promise of indulgence, lie
22 St. Qo. Car. ii. c. i. Burnet, 449—51.
CHARLES IX. 209
acknowledged the hardship of their case, and CHAP, checked the vigilance of the officers : when the lG7^
magistrates remonstrated, that these religious
meetings were hot-beds of sedition, he asked, why- then did they not execute the law ? and to the clergy who complained of the prevalence of sec- tarianism, he sarcastically replied, that it would never have been the case, had they paid less atten- tion to their dues and more to their duties. Among the sufferers none excited more admiration than the quakers, by their fearless adhesion to their principles. Disdaining the precautions taken by the other religionists, they proceeded, at the usual hour, openly but peaceably to their meeting house, and, being carried before the magistrates, refused to pay the fines, and were committed to prison. On their release, they returned to the place of meeting as if nothing had happened : the doors were closed ; they assembled in the street ; and Penn and Mead successively preached. But the auditory was soon dispersed ; and the preachers were indicted before the lord mayor and recorder, on the charge of having created a riot. During the trial, the firm and temperate behaviour of the prisoners formed a striking contrast with the harsh and violent proceedings of the court. The jurors, having after a confinement of thirty-six hours, returned a verdict of not guilty, were fined forty marks each, and committed to prison ; and Penn and Mead, though acquitted, suffered the voi,. XII. P
210 HISTOllY OK ENGLAND.
(HAT. same punishment for contempt, in refusing to un-
1670. cover their heads in presence of the court <i3.
2°. The mind of Buckingham was still haunted
tngues ^j^ tjie appfeherisions of revenge on the part of
to alter
the sue- the late chancellor's family, if James were ever to
succeed to the crown. The reader will remember that a boy of the name of Crofts, the reputed son of the king by Lucy Barlow, had been placed for education at the Oratory in Paris. Soon after the restoration he came to England ; Charles or- dered him to conform to the established church, created him, by the advice of Bristol and Castle- main, but in opposition to the remonstrances of Feb. 14. the queen mother and Clarendon, duke of Mon- mouth, and gave to him in marriage the countess of Buccleugh, the most wealthy heiress in Scot- In favour land 24. Buckingham, observing the unbounded mouth" an°ection of the king for this young man, resolved to set him up as a competitor for the crown in opposition to the duke of York. It was confi- dentially whispered at court that Charles intended to own him for his successor, and the earl of
*3 Burnet, i. 471. Neal. c. viii. St. Trials, vi. 951 — 1036. Sewell, ii. 259 — 71. James, or perhaps the compiler of his life, tells us that "the rigorous church of England men were let loose, " and encouraged underhand to persecute, that the non-confor- " mists might be more sensible of the ease they should have "when the catholics prevailed". (Life, i. 443.) Marvell that " the lieutenancy of London alarmed the king continually with " the fear of the conventicles, so that he gave them powers ". i. 420.
"4 Clarendon, 205, 6, 7.
voice.
CHARLES II. 2U
Carlisle and lord Ashley ventured to hint to the CHAP.
. in.
king, that if he wished to acknowledge a private 167U
contract of marriage with the mother of Mon
mouth, it would not be difficult to procure wit- nesses who would confirm it with their testimony. The monarch replied without hesitation that, " much as he loved the duke, he had rather see " him hanged at Tyburn than own him for his " legitimate son'"25.
Buckingham, though disappointed, was not By a di- discouraged. He often lamented the king's mis- fortune in being married to a woman whose re- peated miscarriages proved that she would never bear him a successor to the throne. When he offered to steal her away, and convey her to some distant region where she would be never heard of, Charles laughed at his follv : but he was listened to with greater attention when he suggested to the monarch to take another wife. He had al- ready consulted lawyers and divines ; and Burnet, afterwards bishop of Sarum, in an elaborate judgment, had decided that barrenness in the woman furnished in certain cases a lawful cause for polygamy or divorce 26. Of the two a divorce
25 Life of James, i. 437, 490. Macpher. i. 44 Burnet, i. 452. " As for the duke of Bucks," says Ormond, " I am confident he " not only undervalues, hut hates the king's person and his " brother's, and has designs apart, if not aimed at the ruin of them "both". Carte, ii. 377.
,6 See Burnet, i. 454, note ; and Higgons on Burnet, 232 — 243. The paper concludes thus : " I see nothing so strong against poly- " gamy as to balance the great and visible imminent hazards that " hang over so many thousands, if it be not allowed.''
p 2
212 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, appeared preferable, as it offered less to shock the ,ii feelings of the public ; but in cases of divorce no
instance could be found of a subsequent legal
marriage pending the lives of the parties. The duke, however, undertook to create a precedent. Lady Roos had long lived in adultery ; she had been separated from her husband by sentence of the ecclesiastical judge ; and her children by her paramour had been declared illegitimate by act of parliament. A more favourable case could hardly be wished for ; and a bill was introduced into the
March 5. upper house, " to enable the lord Roos to marry " again." Its object instantly transpired ; and the royal brothers exerted all their influence ; the king to support, the duke of York to oppose, the bill. The latter did not only obtain the votes of his friends and dependants ; but, as the question involved a point of doctrine respecting the indis- solubility of marriage, he was joined by all the bishops, with the exception of Cosins of Durham, and Wilkins of Chester27, by the catholic peers, and by such of the protestant peers as deemed it proper to follow, on theological grounds, the
May 17. opinion of the prelates. The second reading was carried only by a small majority : before the third, Charles adopted a measure to animate his friends which surprised both the house and the
March 21. nation. One morning he suddenly entered, took
17 Marvell adds Dr. Reynolds of Norwich, but it appears from the journals that he did not attend at all during this session.
CHARLES II.
213
his seat on the throne, and desired the lords to CHAP.
ill. proceed, as if he were not present, for he came 1670\
only to renew a custom which his immediate pre-
decessors had allowed to fall into desuetude, that *
of attending at their debates 2S. James, who saw the motive of his brother, was stimulated to still more active exertions : and, when the third read- March 28. ing was carried against him by a majority of two, entered his protest on the journals, in which he was followed by thirteen spiritual and fifteen tem- poral peers. Buckingham triumphed, and yet he gained nothing by the victory. He served a fickle and uncertain master, who changed his resolves according to the impulse of the moment. Charles had entertained with pleasure the project of di- vorce, as long as its accomplishment appeared distant ; but, when the effort was to be made, his sense of justice, perhaps his good nature, assumed the ascendancy, and he refused to avail himself of
*8 L. Journ. xii. 318. Evelyn, Diary, ii. 320. The king had previously consulted Sir Robert Cotton, who replied that, it was the custom for the sovereign to be present in parliament till the reign of Henry VIII., that of Henry's attendance no proof could be found, whence it was probable that he had been induced to absent himself by the policy of Wolsey ; that Henry's son Edward was prevented by his youth, his daughters Mary and Elizabeth by their sex ; and that this disuse during four successive reigns was " the ill occasion of the contrary opinion and practice." It was therefore his opinion that the king had a right to be present in all consultations of state, and discussions of private plaint, "not " only to advise and hear, but to determine also." Whether this right extended to capital cases, he had his doubts ; that it did to criminal cases, not of blood, was certain, from his answer in manuscript in the collection of Thomas Lloyd, Esq.
214 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
( HAP. the benefit to the prejudice of an unprotected and "yQ unoffending female. The precedent, however, has
not been lost to posterity ; and the permission to
many again, which was in this instance granted to lord Roos, forms the authority for the similar permission which has since been regularly inserted in bills of divorce "9.
A supply 3°. There still remained the great object for which the parliament had been permitted to meet. Charles, in his speech at the opening of the ses- sion, had assured both houses that the rumours respecting the misapplication of the public monies during the late war were entirely groundless ; and that no part of the parliamentary grants had been diverted from its original destination, but that in addition considerable sums, taken partly from his standing revenue, and partly raised on his credit, had been devoted to the same purpose. He there- fore requested them to consider the prejudice arising to the national interests from the pressure of an enormous debt, and to supply him with the means of satisfying his creditors. On this occa- sion he did not plead in vain. His assent to the act against conventicles was the price which he
April 11. paid; and in return he obtained an additional
a3 L. Journals, xii. 300, 6, 11, 28, 29. Life of James, i. 438, 9. Macpher. i. 48, 53. Burnet, i. 452—5. Marvell, i. 112, 412. From this period Charles generally attended the house. It proved some restraint on his opponents, and furnished him with the means of whiling away his time. " It was," lie said, " as good as going to a play." Marvell, 119.
CHAliLES II. 21a
III.
1670.
duty on foreign wines and vinegar for eight chap. years, and an act to advance the sale of fee-farm rents belonging to the crown. It was calculated that the first could furnish the king with 50,000/., the other with a much larger sum 30.
We may now resume the secret negociation. It Visit of had been arranged that, while Louis with his chess^f queen made a progress through the territory lately Orleans, ceded to him by Spain, the duchess of Orleans should pay a short visit to her brother Charles at Dover. It was hoped by the French king that she could induce him to depart from his intention of postponing the war against the States, till he had made the announcement of his conversion ; her real object was to procure his permission to separate from her husband, and fix her resi- dence in England. Charles received her affec-Mayi7. tionately, and laboured to gratify her with pre- sents and entertainments ; but on both points he remained inflexible : the French ambassador re- luctantly consented to subscribe the treaty as it had been drawn by the English commissioners, and Henrietta, with a heavy heart, returned to May 22. her state of splendid misery in the court of France ai.
3" L. Journals, xii. 349. I may here notice that though the hankers paid only six per cent interest on deposits in their hands, they now required from the king ten per cent, on the loans ad- vanced to him instead of eight. At the same time the States General paid only two and a half per cent. Temple, ii. 33, 4.
J' Life of .Fames, i. 118. Macpher. i. 54. Louis was prepared to make every sacrifice to engage Charles in his " grande affaire,"
216 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. Of this treaty, thus at length concluded, though
1670. much was afterwards said, little was certainly
known. All the parties concerned, both the
Contents . , ,, . , ,
of the sovereigns and the negociators, observed an lm- secret penetrable secrecy. What became of the copy transmitted to France is unknown : its counter- part was confided to the custody of Sir Thomas Clifford, and is still in the keeping of his de- scendant, the lord Clifford of Chudleigh. The principal articles were : 1°. That the king of England should publicly profess himself a catholic at such time as should appear to him most ex- pedient, and subsequently to that profession should join with Louis in a war against the Dutch republic at such time as the most Christian king should judge proper. 2°. That to enable the king of England to suppress any insurrection which might be occasioned by his conversion, the king of France should grant him an aid of two millions of livres, by two payments, at the expiration of three months, and six months after the ratification of the treaty, and should also assist him with an armed force of six thousand men, if the service of such a force should be thought necessary :
the war against the States. When Colbert made financial objec- tions to the yearly payment of three millions for the grande affaire, particularly as that affair might last for some years, and draw a considerable quantity of specie out of the realm, he answered, on May 2, " Je sais que vos raisons sont bonnes ; je les connois pour " telles. J'ai mande" qu'il falloit combattre jusqu'a la fin ; mais, " au pis-allcr, ne pas manquer la grande affaire." (Euvres, v. 466.
1670.
CHARLES II. 21/
3°. That Louis should observe inviolably the CHAP, treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, and Charles be allowed to maintain that treaty in conformity with the conditions of the triple alliance : 4°. That if, eventually, any new rights on the Spanish monarchy should accrue to the king of France, the king of England should aid him with all his power in the acquisition of those rights : 5°. That both princes should make war on the united pro- vinces, and that neither should conclude peace or truce with them without the advice and consent of his ally : 6°. That the king of France should take on himself the whole charge of the war by land, receiving from England an auxiliary force of six thousand men : 7°. That by sea Charles should furnish fifty, Louis thirty, men of war ; that the combined fleet should be placed under the command of the duke of York; and that, to enable the king of England to support the charge of the naval armament, he should receive every year of the war the sum of three millions of livres from the king of France : 8°. That out of the conquests which might be made during the war, his Britannic majesty should be satisfied with Walcheren, Sluys, and the island of Cadsand ; and that, in separate articles, provision should be made for the interests of the prince of Orange, so that he might find his advantage in the war : 9°. And that, to unite more closely the interests and affections of the subjects of both crowns, the
% 18 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, treaty of commerce already commenced should be
1670. speedily concluded 32. From Dover, the king repaired to London, his
Death of sjster to the palace of St. Cloud ; and within a the dii- .
chess. fortnight from the time of their parting the fair
June 5. anc| fascinating Henrietta, at the age of twenty- June 20. six, was, after a few hours1 suffering, numbered with the dead. The report that, to punish the infidelity of her husband, she had indulged in similar infidelities, was solemnly contradicted by her in her last moments, and the suspicion that she had been poisoned by his order, with a cup of succory water, received no support from the appearance of the body when it was opened after death. Henrietta left a favourite maid, mademoi- selle de Querouaille. Whether it was through his recollection of her beauty, or through regard for his Nov. departed sister, Charles, after some time, invited her to England, and appointed her of the bed-
32 See note (B). It is plain from comparing the treaty itself with the account of it in the life of James, that that prince, or the compiler of the life, was but ill acquainted with the true history of these transactions. He states erroneously that the treaty was concluded and signed, and some of the money paid, in the begin- ning of the year, and that Henrietta succeeded in persuading the king to waive his right, and to commence with the war against the Dutch. It is remarkable that James left London with Charles for Dover, but on the road was sent back to take care of the me- tropolis, under the pretence that some disturbance might be caused by the shutting up of conventicles. He reached Dover three days later, and seems to have suspected that Charles wished him out of the way. James, i. 448. Macpher. i. 51.
CHARLES II. 219
chamber to the queen. In a short time she be- chap came one of the roval mistresses 33. }}},:
1670.
It was thought dangerous to confide the secret —
of the late treaty to a man so unstable in his r}6J}\
J Oct. 10.
counsels, so reckless in his resentments, as Buck- a second ingham ; yet it could not be carried into execution treaty- without his aid, and that of his friends and col- leagues, Ashley and Lauderdale. The expedient wro. which was adopted does credit to the ingenuity of June 30- the two monarchs. The marshal de Bellefonds was sent to England to condole with Charles on the death of his sister, and Buckingham was des- patched to France to return the compliment to Louis. The duke was received with distinguished Aug. 1. honour : the king consulted him on his intended war against the States, and held out to him the prospect of the command of the auxiliary force, if he could persuade his sovereign to join as a party in the campaign. This was a bait which the vanity of Buckingham could not refuse. On Sep. 13. his return he urged the subject on the considera-
3t For the first report, see Temple, ii. 12.3; for the second, Janus, i. 151. Montague, the ambassador, says in his letter to Charles, of July 15, "I asked her then if she believed herself " poisoned : her confessor that was by, understood that word, " and told her, Madam, you must accuse nobody, but offer up " your death to God as a sacrifice. So she would never answer " me that question though I asked several times, but would only <c shrink up her shoulders." See a letter of condolence from Louis to Charles in the Appendix, note (C). Evelyn, (ii. 332) says, " I saw that famous beauty, but in my opinion of a childish, " simple, and baby face, Mademoiselle Querouaflle." See also, :5I<>.
220 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C HAP. tion of the king and of his colleagues ; he obtained *^Q permission to open a negotiation with the French
ambassador ; he amused the two monarchs by
Nov. iy. compiaining of the apathy or infidelity of Arling- ton and Colbert, who had been instructed to raise objections, that they might irritate his impatience, and entangle him more deeply in the intrigue ; i<5* i- and, at length, the dupe had the satisfaction of
. an. 23. concluding a treaty, of which he vainly deemed himself the author, but which in reality was a mere copy of the former, with the sole omission of the article respecting religion 34.
Evasions To this farce was added another. When the
Charles ^rs^ instalment became due, Louis inquired of his
good brother, whether he was yet prepared to
make the declaration of his catholicity. Charles
1670. replied, that he thought it advisable previously to
ep" 18 consult the pope, and to obtain such conditions as might render the change less objectionable to his people. This answer was approved, and, in con- sequence, a vigorous attempt was made to induce him to join in the war first, and publish his con- version afterwards. But the king was inflexible, and to a second requisition replied, that he could discover no person fit to be trusted with so deli- cate a negotiation. Louis offered the bishop of
Oct. 13. Laon, whose services were accepted ; but, in a few days, it occurred to Charles that the reigning pontiff was old and infirm, and that it would be
54 Dalrymple, ii. 68 — 77. (Euvres de Louis, v. 471, 4.
CHARLES II. 221
more prudent to wait till the accession of his sue- chap. cessor : next he determined to employ an English- 167q
man, and spent some time before he named the
president of the English college at Douai ; then Nov. 7. he contrived to obtain a delay of three months, under pretence of framing and amending the in- structions to be given to this envoy; and at last honestly declared that existing circumstaaces com- 1671. pelled him to postpone the execution of his de- e ' sign to some more favourable opportunity. A year later Louis returned to the same subject, and Charles objected religious scruples, which made 1672. him desirous of consulting some celebrated theo- March n- logian, but a theologian also skilled in chemistry, vhat the subject of their conversations might be supposed to be his favourite science. Soon after- June 7. wards he determined to make the celebration of mass in English, and the administration of the sacrament under both forms the indispensable con- ditions of his conversion. But Louis was then satisfied : he had obtained his purpose of drawing the king into the war, and therefore ceased to call for a declaration, which must have rendered him a useless and burthensome ally 35.
With the hope of procuring another supply, Meeting Charles had summoned the parliament in autumn ; ment. and the lord keeper in his name informed the Oct. 21. houses of the several treaties which had been made for the encouragement and protection of
83 Dalrymple, ii. 62—5, 83, 4.
&22 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, commerce, directed their attention to the naval 1(i70 and military preparations of France and Holland ;
and announced the king's determination to fit out
a fleet of fifty sail, to protect the British coasts from such insults as they had suffered in the year 1667. But for this money would be requisite. The last grant had enabled him to pay the inte- rest, and extinguish a portion of the debt. But a considerable part was still unredeemed ; and the best means of sustaining the fame and interests of the nation was to give him at once a speedy and plentiful supply. The ministers had been careful to secure a majority in the commons. Charges of prodigality were made, and hints of popery and arbitrary power were thrown out in vain ; and the sum of two millions and a half to be raised from different sources, was cheerfully voted. During the debate, a member suggested a tax on the frequenters of the theatre ; and when it was said that the theatre contributed to his majesty's pleasure, sir John Coventry sarcastically inquired, whether " his majesty's pleasure lay " among the men or the women players " ? The expression was bitterly resented at court ; the gal- lants resolved to punish the insult offered to their sovereign ; and the duke of Monmouth committed the task of revenge to Sandys, his lieutenant, and Assaukon O'Brian, the son of lord Inchiquin. These, taking
Coventry. . ^ ' o
with them thirteen of their troop, surprised Co- Dec. 21. ventry in the Haymarket, as he was repairing to his lodgings, in the evening after the house had
CHARLES II.
223
adjourned during the Christmas holidays. They CHAP, beat him, threw him on the ground, and made a 167{
deep incision on his nose with a pen-knife. This
outrage, perpetrated with the connivance of the king, and against the remonstrances of the duke of York, created feelings of discontent in the house. It was resolved the first thing after the 1671. adjournment not to proceed with the public busi- Jan- 9* ness till reparation had been made to the commons of England for the injury inflicted on one of their members ; an act was passed, ordering the offend- ers to surrender themselves to justice under the penalty of banishment without the possibility of pardon, and the maiming or disfiguring of the person was made, for the first time, felony with- out benefit of clero;v. Charles dared not interfere for the protection of his champions : and the com- mons, appeased by his forbearance, passed the money bills through their several stages 3G. Proceed-
This benefit was, however, purchased with the ^inst
_ the catho- lics. a6 St. 22, 23. Car. ii. c. i. Marvell, i. 413. Macpher. i. 57. Ralph, i. 193. Burnet, i. 469. Lord Dartmouth informs us that Coventry after this was much engaged with the whigs, and pro- fessed himself a zealous protestant, yet died a catholic, leaving the bulk of his estate to the college of the Jesuits at St. Omer. Ibid, note. Monmouth, the real contriver of the outrage, escaped, and in a few weeks committed a still more atrocious offence. On the night of Feb. 28th, in company with the young duke of Albemarle and eight others, in a drunken frolic, he attacked the watch, and killed tin- beadle of the ward, though the poor man on his knees begged for his life. Charles to save his son, granted a pardon to all the murderers ; but both the crime and the pardon were se- verely censured by the people. See Marvel], i. 19.5, 416.
S2f HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, usual sacrifice to the religious prepossessions of j^Jj the two houses. Complaints had been made of
. the growth of popery ; that Jesuits and priests
March io. j^^ become more numerous ; that English catho- lics frequented the chapels of foreign ambassa- dors ; that mass was often celebrated in private houses ; that few processes were served out of the exchequer against convicted recusants ; that convents and schools had been established for papists ; and that two persons openly officiated as popish archbishops in Ireland. Charles, though he was then bound by treaty to profess himself a catholic, published a proclamation, such as was desired by the houses, in which he declared that, " as he had always adhered, against all tempta- " tions whatsoever, to the true religion established, " so he would still employ his utmost care and " zeal in its maintenance and defence ". But pro- March 11. clamations had often failed of effect: the more orthodox demanded an act of parliament ; and a bill for that purpose was sent to the house of March 2i. lords, where it was read twice, and committed. A dispute respecting privilege prevented its far- ther progress 37. Dispute In a bill imposing new duties on imports, the tlje lords, at the petition of the merchants, had altered
houses, some of the rates. The commons acknowledged that, in the case of money bills, the upper house
•>7 Com. Journ. Feb. 21 ; March 1, 10, 11. L. Journals, xii. 151, 4fi8.
CHARLES IT.
had the power to approve or reject, but denied CHAP that it had the power to make alterations. The
III.
1G71.
lords called for some proof of this assertion.
Where was the record ? When had they forfeited April 17' the right ? It might as well be said that they had not the power to reject ; for, if they could not alter a part, how could they annul the whole ? Had they confined themselves to this reasoning, they would probably have embarrassed their oppo- nents ; for the attorney-general replied that to give any reason would be to weaken a privilege which the commons had possessed in all ages. But the lords appealed also to precedents : the application of these precedents was disputed by the managers ; the controversy became daily more intricate ; the obstinacy of the parties augmented ; and Charles, though by it he lost a valuable bill, April 22. was compelled to put an end to the session. The question had been raised by the imprudence of Buckingham ; and the result did not tend to raise him in the estimation of his sovereign as.
Before we proceed, the reader may direct his attention to a few miscellaneous events, which occurred about this time.
1°. In the month of August, 1669, died at the Death of castle of Colombe, near Paris, the queen-mother, dowaeer" Henrietta Maria de Bourbon. It has been the 1669. custom to attribute a great portion of the misfor- Uff"
"s L. Journals, xii. ! 49. 191, .502, 510. Marvell, i. 17 1. Parker, 119. Compare Macpherson, i. 58, with Dalrymple, ii. SG.
VOL. XII. Q
gofi
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CnfP tunes of Charles I. to the control which this 1671. beautiful princess possessed over the heart, and,
" through the heart, over the judgment of her hus- band. But there is reason to believe that her influence was considerably exaggerated by those, whose policy it was to alienate the people from the sovereign by representing him as guided by the counsels of a popish wife. On most questions she coincided in opinion with secretary Nicholas ; nor will it be rash to conclude that the unfor- tunate monarch would have fared better, had he sometimes followed their advice. After the death of Charles, she was privately married to Jermyn, earl of St. Albans, and lived to see the restoration of her son to the crown of his father. Her last years were chiefly spent in acts of charity and exercises of devotion ;J9. ?f, th<r, 2°. At the commencement of the next vear died
duke Al- bemarle, another celebrated personage, Monk, duke of
1670. Albemarle. By Charles his services were always acknowledged, and amply rewarded : but the royalists regretted that the merit of restoring the king should have fallen to an apostate from their cause ; and their dislike of the man indulged itself in throwing ridicule and censure on his man- ners and conduct. It must be owned that there was nothing very brilliant in his character : he was not made to shine in a gay and voluptuous
3' See " The Life and death of Henrietta/' &c. printed for Dor- man Newman, 1G8.5, reprinted by G. Smeeton, 1820. Life of James, i. 446.
CHARLES II. 22*
court, nor did he seek to support his rank by a CHAP.
in. splendid and expensive establishment. But the ]67[
king always treated him with respect, employed
him in posts of difficulty and danger, and honoured his remains with a public funeral in Henry the Jan. 23. Seventh's chapel. Within three weeks after his death, the duchess (she had been successively his washerwoman, his mistress, and his wife), fol- lowed him to the grave 40.
3°. The duke of Ormond, on the 6th of Decern- Narrow
escape of
ber, was returning in the dark from a dinner Ormond. given by the city to the young prince of Orange, wo. when, in St. James's-street, his footmen, who walked on each side, were suddenly stopped ; and two men forcibly drew the duke out of his car- riage, mounted him on horseback behind a third, and, that he might not escape, fastened him with a leathern belt to the rider. The chief of the banditti hastened beforehand to Tyburn, that ho might make preparations for hanging the captive ; but, on the road to Knightsbridge, the duke, leaning on one side, and raising with his foot the foot of his companion on the other, contrived to drag hi in from the saddle. Both fell to the
40 The following portrait of Monk is drawn by the French tra- veller, Monconis. Monk est petit et gros: mais il a la physiog- nomie de l'esprit le plus solide, et de la conscience la plus tran- quilledu monde, et avec cela une froidure satis affectation, et s;iiis orgueil ny desdain : il a enfln tout fair d'un homme modere et fort prudent : ses nieuhli s, sa tabic, et le pen de gens qui le cour- tisent, marquent a«sez qu'il n'est pas ambitieux. Moncon. Join 11. ii. H<2.
<2 2
228 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, ground: footsteps were heard to approach; and ,671' the assassin, having loosened the belt, discharged
« a brace of pistols at the duke, and instantly fled.
The darkness proved favourable to both. The duke escaped with no other injury than what he had suffered in the fall and struggle : his adver- sary eluded with ease the search of his pursuers. Yet the cause and the perpetrators of the outrage remained an impenetrable mystery. Though a committee of the house of lords instituted an inquiry into the case ; though the king promised a reward of 1000/. to those who should discover the offenders ; though he offered a pardon with the same sum of money to any of the accomplices who should inform against the guilty ; no clew could be obtained to lead to their apprehension : only it became known that the chief of the gang was Blood of Sarney, in the county of Meath, the author of a libel called " Mene Tekel ", who had been outlawed for an attempt to surprise the cas- tle of Dublin. Attempt Soon afterwards a person, in the cassock of a thecrown clergyman, sought the acquaintance of Edwards 1671. the keeper of the regalia in the Tower, and pro- May 9. posed to him a marriage between his own nephew, and the old man's daughter. About seven in the morning of May 9th, the pretended clergyman, with two companions, called on Edwards, and requested to see the regalia. As soon as they entered the room, they threw a cloak over the keeper's head, and forced a gag into his mouth.
CHARLES II. 22$
promising to spare his life, if he remained quiet : CI,V^P' but his struggles provoked them to knock him i67i. down, and wound him in the belly. The clergy- ""
man then put the crown under his cassock, one of his companions secreted the globe in his breeches, and the other having filed the sceptre, deposited the pieces in a bag. Accidentally the son of Edwards came by at the time ; the alarm was given ; the robbers ran : one of them fired at the first sentinel, who, though untouched, im- mediately fell ; the second offered no resistance ; and all three had nearly reached their horses at vSt. Catherine's-gate, when they were overtaken and secured. They were carried before sir Gilbert Talbot, but the clergyman, who was the leader, refused to answer. Charles himself, through curiosity, or at the instigation of others, attended, when the prisoner improved the opportunity to flatter and terrify the king ; he said that his name was Blood ; that he had seized the duke of Ormond, and would have hanged him at Tyburn : that he had even on one occasion undertaken to shoot the king himself at Battersea, but, the moment he took his aim, the awe of majesty unnerved him, and his piece dropped harmless to the ground. He was, however, but one of three hundred, who had sworn to revenge each other's blood. The king micdit act with him as he pleased. He might doom him to suffer — but it would be at the risk of his own life, and of the lives of his advisers — or hv might show him
230 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
(HAP. mercy — and he would secure the gratitude and ,1L services of a company of fearless and faithful
1671. , 1 .
followers. If the unprecedented attempts ot this
ruffian excited surprise, the conduct of Charles was a mystery, which no one could understand. He not only forgave the offence offered to himself, but he solicited and obtained for Blood the pardon of Ormond, ordered him to remain as a gentle- man at court, and gave him an estate of the yearly rent of 500/. in Ireland, probably as a compensation for that which he had previously forfeited4'.
Death of 5°. For a long time the health of the duchess
d.css'of of York had visibly declined, and she died at St.
York. James's in her thirty-fourth year, having been the mother of eight children, of whom only two daugh- ters survived her, Mary and Anne, both afterwards queens of England. She had been educated in the regular performance of all those devotional exer- cises which were practised in the church of Eng- land before the civil war. She attended at the canonical hours of prayer ; she publicly received the sacrament in the royal chapel on every holi-
4 See for both facts sir Gilbert Talbot's Narrative. Lansdowne, MSS. 1659, p. 1 — 15. Evelyn, who dined in company with Blood at sir Thomas Clifford's, describes him thus : " The man had not " only a daring, but a villainous unmerciful countenance, but very " well spoken, and dangerously insinuating". EvelynDiary, ii. 341. Blood's companions were Hunt, his son-in-law, and Parret, who had been lieutenant to major-general Harrison under the common- wealth. Charles told Ormond that he had certain reasons for ask- ing him to pardon Blood. He replied that his majesty's command was a sufficient reason. Talbot, ibid.
1(571. May 31
CHABLES II. 231
day, and once in every month; and she always CHAP, prepared herself for that rite by auricular con- 1671\
Aug.
fession, and the absolution of the minister. After
the birth of her last child, she became still more religious, spending much of her time in her pri- vate oratory, and in conversation with divines ; and for several months before her death it was observed that she had ceased to receive the sacra- ment, and began to speak with tenderness of the alleged errors of the church of Rome. Suspicion was excited ; and her brother, lord Cornbury, in person, her father, the exiled earl of Clarendon, by letter, endeavoured to confirm her in the pro- fession of the established doctrines. But she had 167°- already been reconciled in August to the church of Rome, and in her last illness received the sacrament from the hands of Hunt, a Franciscan friar. Blandford, bishop of Oxford, her protes- tant confessor, visited her on her death-bed ; but the duke informed him of her change of religion, and he contented himself with speaking to her a few words of consolation and advice. Her con- version was known only to five persons ; but the secret gradually transpired, and its publication served to confirm the suspicion that the duke himself was also a catholic. He attended, indeed, occasionally on the king during the service in the chapel, but two years had elapsed since he re- ceived the sacrament l2.
*> Life of James, L 452. Burnet, i. 537. Evelyn, ii. 380. Travels of Cosmo, 456.
-1J: HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. Though the second of the secret treaties with III 1571; France had been concluded in January, the ratifi-
cations were not exchanged till June, at which
The cabal, time it is probable that Charles had consented to engage in the projected war against the States, and to postpone to an indefinite period the an- nouncement of his conversion. Louis had already sent presents to the commissioners who signed the treaty at Dover ; he now sent others to Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale, who had signed the second treaty in June. In this there was nothing unusual ; but, to bind the leading ministers more strongly to his interests, he granted a pension of ten thousand livres to lady Shrewsbury, the mistress of Buckingham ; and, when a similar pension was declined by Arling- ton, bestowed a magnificent present on his wife 4,i. The only privy counsellors, entrusted with the secret of the king's connexion with Louis, were Arlington, Clifford, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale : they formed the cabinet or cabal, in which, according to the practice introduced by Clarendon, every measure was debated and deter- mined before it was submitted, for the sake of form, to the consideration of the council, and with them
*3 Dalrymple, ii. 81, 82. Buckingham, to enhance the merit of iiis services, asserted that the Spaniards had offered him 200,000/. Colbert observes, " Je crois (ju'il n'en est rien ; mais je crams que " l'appetit de ces nouveaux commissaires (Buckingham, Ashley,
" and Lauderdale) nc soit grand." Ibid. 81. By a singular
coincidence, the initials of the names of these ministers form the word "cabal."
CHARLES II. 233
he consulted respecting the preparations for the chap.
hi.
nm.
war. 1°. Arlington, originally sir Henry Bennet,
had signalized himself in the civil war, during
which he received a sabre wound in the face. Arlington. From Madrid, where he resided as ambassador from the king, he was recalled and introduced into the ministry by the enemies of Clarendon. To strength of mind or brilliancy of parts, he had few pretensions ; but he was an easy and pleasing speaker, was well acquainted with the routine of business, and covered the deepest cunning under the most insinuating address. As the best bred man in the English court, he acquired the favour of the king and of the foreign noblemen whom business or pleasure brought to the capital ; and Charles, as a proof of his esteem, married the lord Harry, afterwards the duke of Grafton, his 107 2. son by Castlemain, now created duchess of Cleve- Aug. 1. land, to the daughter of Arlington, a most beau- tiful child only five years old. In the cabinet, the prudence of this minister shrunk from the re- sponsibility of being the foremost to suggest or to defend measures of doubtful tendency ; and his timidity afterwards proved his safeguard. It was taken for moderation, and served to mitigate the displeasure and resentment of the people. He retained to the last the friendship of his so-
vereign 1!.
m Life of James, i. 398. Clarend. Pap. iii. Sup, Ixxxi. Evelyn. ii,372,432 Macph. i. 48. Burnet, i. 170. Clarendon's Life, 181, lyti. Works of Sheffield, duke of Buck. ii. 84.
III.
1671.
234 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. 2°. The influence which Clifford, by his in- dustry and eloquence, had acquired in the house of commons, had originally recommended him to
Clifford, the notice of the ministers ; and under the patronage of Arlington, he had rapidly advanced in preferment. He now held the offices of privy counsellor, treasurer of the household, and com- missioner of the treasury. He was brave, generous, and ambitious ; constant in his friendships, and open in his resentments ; a minister with clean hands in a corrupt court, and endued with a mind capable of forming, and a heart ready to execute, the boldest and most hazardous projects. The king soon learned to prefer his services before those of his more cautious patron 4S.
Bucking- 3°. With Buckingham, his levity and immo- rality, his ambition and extravagance, the reader is already acquainted. Even when he was con- sidered the prime minister, pleasure formed his favourite pursuit. He turned the night into day, and indulged in every sensual gratification " which " nature could desire, or wit invent." Charles, much as he was amused with the follies of the duke, frequently treated him with contempt : — his princely fortune (a landed estate of 20,000/.) nsensibly disappeared ; his mind became enfeebled with his body ; and he lingered out the last years of his life in penury and disgrace 46.
]
*5 Evelyn, ii. 386, 7. Pepys, Correspondence, v. 79. Maeph. i. 48.
<« Burnet, i. 171. Macph. i. KJ7. Evelyn, ii. 355. Clarendon, i. 369. North's Li ves, i. 97.
CHARLES II. 235
4°. Lauderdale made it the great object of his CHAP.
policy, to advance his own fortune by securing ^j
the royal favour. He was ungainly in his ap-
pearance, and boisterous in his manner ; but his Lauder- dale. experience in business, his ready acquiescence in
every wish of the sovereign, and the boldness with which he ridiculed the apprehensions and predic- tions of his colleagues, endeared him to the monarch. It was not in Lauderdale's disposition to allow principles, either political or religious, to interfere with his interest. A sincere friend to the covenant, he made it the constant subject of ridicule ; a violent enemy to the catholics, he lent his support to every measure in their favour ; and with a strong predilection towards a limited and constitutional monarchy, he fearlessly executed in his native country, the most arbitrary determi- nations of the government. For these reasons he
had numerous enemies a mono; the dissenters, and the men of liberal principles : and on another account, he had incurred the hatred of all the cavaliers both English and Scots. He was ac- cused of having been a principal in the sale of Charles I. to the parliament, and of having re- ceived a considerable portion of the money. But the efforts of his countrymen to bring him into disgrace recoiled on their own heads. The king remained his friend : Middleton, the chief of his enemies, was removed from the government of Scotland, and that high office, after a decent in- terval, was bestowed on Lauderdale himself. But his triumph served only to multiply his
•2jt> HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, enemies. The English cavaliers took up the "!' cause of their northern brethren, and waited with
10/ 1 .
impatience for the favourable opportunity of gra- tifying their vengeance by accomplishing the downful of the Scottish favourite 47.
Ashley. 5°. Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper formerly pos-
sessed the ear of Cromwell : at the restoration, through the influence of Monk, whose friendship he had gained, and of Southampton, whose niece he had married, he was appointed chancellor of the exchequer, and soon afterwards called to the house of lords by the title of baron Ashley. When Charles said of him that he was " the weakest and wickedest man of the age," the king consulted his anger more than his judgment. Ashley possessed talents of the highest order, but made them sub- servient to his passions and interest. As long as the royal cause promised to be successful, he was careful to suggest the most arbitrary measures and to support them at the expence of liberty and justice : but when the current turned, when the spirit of discontent, which animated the house of commons, led him to anticipate a failure, he divested himself of his employment at court,
4' Burnet, i. 174. Chrendon, 51. Miscel. Aul. 212, 231. Pepys, 151. In tlit Scottish parliament, it had been agreed that a certain number of delinquents should be incapacitated from holding office, not openly by the majority of votes, but secretly by way of ballot, to prevent family feuds between the excluders and the excluded. Among the names was that of Lauderdale, lint Charles disapproved of the proceeding, and recalled Middle- ton. Sec the pleadings before the king in Miscel. Aul. ibid.
CHARLES II. 237
and, coining forward as the champion of popular CHAT, right, " usurped a patriot's all-atoning name." i6?i.
But whether he served the king, or the king's
opponents, he was still the same character, dis- playing in his conduct a singular fertility of in- vention, a reckless contempt of principle, and a readiness to sacrifice the rights of others in the pursuit of his object, whether it were the acqui- sition of power, or the gratification of revenge 48.
Of these five ministers, Lauderdale adhered to Their re- the Scottish covenant ; Buckingham, with all his ridicule of bishops and servants, called himself an orthodox churchman ; and Ashley was supposed to belong to no church whatever. Of Arlington and Clifford, it has often been said that they were catholics. But hitherto they had certainly pro- fessed themselves protestants, though, perhaps, like many others, for no better reason than because protestantism was in fashion. For, during the revolutions of the last twenty years, the immorality of the royalists, the cant of the fanatics, and the successive prevalence of con- trary doctrines in the pulpits, had, especially among the higher classes, unsettled religious opinion, and rendered men indifferent to particular forms of worship. It may, however, be that the knowledge of the duke's conversion, and of the king's sentiments, made impression on Arlington and Clifford. The latter certainly embraced the
** Macph. 70. Dalrymple, ii. 15. Burnet, i. 164, 5. Claren- don, ^fi, 215.
2 18 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
chap, catholic faith before the close of the Dutch war: 1671. Arlington continued a protestant till his last sick-
ncss, when he was reconciled to the church of
Rome 49.
They shut These were the ministers, with whose assist-
chequer. " ance Charles determined to engage in the war against the States ; a war from which he pro- mised himself an abundant harvest of profit and glory, in the humiliation of a republic, the pros- perity of which held out to his subjects the example of successful rebellion ; in the superiority which the trade of the British merchants would derive from the ruin of their commercial rivals ; and in the additional authority with which he would be himself invested at the head of a con- quering army and navy. To obtain these results it was necessary to make the most gigantic efforts, and to provide pecuniary funds commensurate with these efforts. An ample supply had been already granted by parliament ; to secure the stipulated subsidy from France a third treaty had been concluded with Louis 50 ; and an additional
<9 In May 1671, Evelyn from Clifford's conversation " suspected him a little of warping to Rome." (Evelyn, ii. 341, 382.) In May 1673, James calls him "a new convert." Life of James, i. 484. .
6° It is plain that a third treaty was concluded in the beginning of 1672. Dalrymple notices it as merely a Latin copy of the second treaty, signed on Feb. 5th ; but that it was different in some points, appears from this, that the command of the English auxiliaries was given by it to the duke of Monmouth (Dalrym. ii. 88). The services of Montague were so pleasing to Louis on this
a
CHARLES II. 239
resource was now discovered by the ingenuity of CHAP. Ashley or Clifford 51. The reader is aware that 167j
ever since the time of Cromwell the bankers and
capitalists had been accustomed to advance money to the government, receiving in return assigna- tions of some branch of the public revenue till both capital and interest should be extinguished. Hitherto the exchequer had maintained its credit by the punctuality with which it discharged these obligations : but now it was proposed, 1°. to suspend all payments to the public creditors for the space of twelve months, which would permit the king to devote the whole of his income to the purposes of the war ; and 2°. to add the interest now due to the capital, and to allow six per cent, interest on this new stock, which would afford a reasonable compensation to the holders, for any inconvenience which they might suffer from the delay. Clifford, as one of the commis- sioners of the treasury, carried this project from the cabinet to the privy council ; he endeavoured to defend it on the ground of state necessity ;
occasion, that he solicited Charles to send to the ambassador the order of the garter, and allow him (Louis) the pleasure of pre- senting- it to Montague. (Euv. de Louis, v. 493. March 21, 1672.
51 It seems doubtful with whom this measure originated. Eve- lyn assigns it to sir Thomas Clifford (Diary, ii. 361, 385), pro- bably because he was chosen to recommend it to the privy council. In Arlington's letters it is attributed to lord Ashley, and James says that "it was he (Ashley) who advised the shutting up the " exchequer." Life, i. 488. See also Burnet, i. .532.
240 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, and requested that no member would raise objec- 1072. tions, unless he were prepared to offer some other
* expedient equally productive, and equally expe- ditious52. Clifford was supported by Ashley: 1(i7o the council gave its consent ; and the suspension
Jan. 2. was announced by proclamation to the public. It stated that the safety of the kingdom rendered it necessary to forbid the payment of any money out of the exchequer in virtue of existing war- rants and securities, but promised that the credit- ors should receive " interest at the rate of six " per cent. : that no person whatsoever should be " defrauded of any thing that was justly due, " and that the restraint should not continue any " longer than one year >3 ". By this iniquitous act, a sum of about 1,300,000/. was placed at the disposal of the ministers : but the benefit was dearly purchased with the loss of popularity and reputation. Many of the bankers, who had placed their money in the exchequer, failed ; a general shock was given to the commercial credit of the country, and numbers of annuitants, widows, and orphans were reduced to a state of the lowest distress 54.
Fail in an In this attempt the five ministers could not fail
attack on . . . .
the Dutch or success : in the next they met with a signal defeat. It was known that in the month of March
*a Temple, ii. 181.
53 Declaration. In the Savoy, by the king's printers, s* L. Jo'urn. xii. 326. North, Examert. 37. Parker, 121. Mar- veil, ii. 1 7 j.
CHARLES II. ~41
a fleet of Dutch merchantmen, laden with the CHAP commerce of the Levant, would pass up the Chan- 1672
nel ; and a resolution was taken to capture them
as lawful prizes, without any previous declaration of war. To the objection that such conduct would resemble the rapacity of the pirate and the high- wayman, it was replied, that arrogance and ava- rice had led the Hollanders to trample on all the received usages of civilized nations, and that they could not reasonably complain, if they received in return such treatment as they had already inflicted upon others65. The States, however, were not to be taken unawares. The immense preparations of Louis had opened their eyes to the danger which menaced them ; and the recal of Temple, who had negotiated the triple league ; and the mission, in Dec. 4. his place, of Downing, a man so hateful in Hol- land that he fled back to England to escape the vengeance of the mob36, taught them to suspect 1672. that Charles was the secret ally of the French king. Under this impression, they were careful to furnish protection to their merchantmen, and to acquaint their naval commanders with the pos- sibility of a sudden rupture between the two na- tions. The task of intercepting the Dutch fleet was entrusted by the English ministers to sir Ro- bert Holmes, who received orders to take under
Si See the question discussed in Parker, 124. & Downing was sent to the Tower for his cowardice. Temple, ii. 180.
VOL. XII. R
242 HISTOltY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, his command all the ships which he should find at j"1; Portsmouth, or should meet at sea. Holmes, at
■ the back of the Isle of Wight, saw the squadron
of sir Edward Spragge, which had recently de- stroyed the Algerine navy in the Mediterranean ; but, unwilling that another should obtain any share in the glory and profit of the enterprise,
March 3. suffered him to pass by. The next morning he descried his object, sixty sail of merchantmen, many of them well armed, under convoy of seven men of war. Van Nesse, the Dutch admiral, saw the design of Holmes, and so admirably did he dispose his force, so gallantly was he seconded by the officers and men under his command, that he completely baffled all the efforts of his enterpris- ing opponent. During the night the English ad- miral received a reinforcement ; in the morning- he renewed the action ; and at last succeeded in cutting off one man of war and four merchant- men, two of which proved of considerable value. The failure was certainly owing to the presump- tion and ambition of Holmes. To Charles it be- came a subject of bitter disappointment, both as it diminished the pecuniary resources on which he had reckoned, and as it covered him and his advisers with disgrace. For both his subjects and foreigners united in condemning the attempt, which they would probably have applauded, had it been crowned with success '7.
57 James, i. 456. Macph. Pap. i. 58. Marvell, ii. 478. Heath, 581,2. Notwithstanding this attack, both parties faithfully ob-
CHARLES II. 243
During the last war with Holland the counsels CHAP, of government had been distracted, and the most j1^ serious alarm had been repeatedly excited, by the
close and dangerous correspondence between the^"d,grant foreign enemy and the mal-contents within the gence to kingdom. Since that period the number of the sen ers' latter had been multiplied by the intolerant enact- ments against the dissenters ; and, to apply a remedy to the evil, the king's advisers de- termined to carry into execution his favourite project of indulgence to tender consciences. With this view, a declaration was published, stating that March 15 the experience of twelve years had proved the in- efficacy of coercive measures in matters of reli- gion; that the king found himself " obliged to " make use of that supreme power in ecclesiastical " matters which was not only inherent in him, " but had been declared and recognized to be so " by several statutes and acts of parliament " ; that it was his intention and resolution to main- tain the church of England in all her rights, pos- sessions, doctrine, and government ; that it was moreover his will and pleasure that " all manner " of penal laws in matters ecclesiastical, against
served the provision in the treaty of Breda, that, in case of a rup- ture, the ships and merchandize belonging to the subjects of either party, and existing in the ports and territory of the other, should not be molested for six months. Ea. naves, merces, et bona quaevis motabilia qute in portibus et ditione partis adversa? hinc inde haerere etextare deprehendentur. Duinont, vii. 47.
R 2
244 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C II \ P. « whatsoever sort of non-conformists or recusants, i«72. " should be from that day suspended " ; and that
to take away all pretence for illegal or seditious
conventicles, he would license a sufficient number of places and teachers for the exercise of religion among the dissenters, which places and teachers so licensed should be under the protection of the civil magistrate ; but that this benefit of public worship should not be extended to the catholics, who, if they sought to avoid molestation, must confine their religious assemblies to private houses " 58.
Which is This declaration, like the former, had been
by°them. moved in the council by Clifford, and seconded by Ashley: the provision respecting the catholics was added to satisfy the scruples of the lord keeper. By the public it was received with expressions of applause or vituperation, as men were swayed by interest or religion. Its opponents complained that it tolerated popery, and consequently idolatry; that, by affording encouragement to schism, and the opportunity of meeting to the factious, it must tend to weaken the stability both of the church and of the throile ; and that it claimed for the king a power subversive of a free constitu- tion,— the power of dispensing with the laws. In reply, it was contended by the advocates of indul- gence, that religious opinion was beyond the con- trol of government, and that no people could be
58 Par!. Hist. iv. 51.5.
CHARLES II. 245
powerful abroad, as long as they were divided by chap. dissension at home ; that the public exercise of 1672'
their worship was still forbidden to the catholics ;
that the indulgence, by removing religious discon- tent, was calculated to strengthen both the church and the throne ; that no claim was set forth by the king, which did not by ancient usage belong to the crown ; and that the power of dispensing with the law in matters ecclesiastical, necessarily grew out of the ecclesiastical supremacy, and in civil matters, out of the very nature of govern- ment : for no form of government could be perfect, in which the executive power did not possess the means of providing for the exigencies of the state during the intervals when the legislative power was not assembled. Thus to dispense with the penal laws respecting religion had been the prac- tice of every sovereign since the reformation ; and the king himself, during the late war with Hol- land, had suspended the trade and navigation acts without exciting contradiction or murmur. The result showed the power of interest over principle. The dissenters, who had been in the habit of con- fining within the narrowest limits the pretensions of the crown, gratefully accepted the indulgence, and presented by their ministers an address of thanks to the king ; while the ardent friends of orthodoxy began to dispute their own doctrine of passive obedience, and to think that the preroga- tive ought to be fettered in those cases, in which
246 HLSTOKY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, it might operate in opposition to their own claims
167g and prepossessions 59.
In a few days appeared the English and French
Declara- declarations of war. Louis was content to assert- ion of
war. that after the many insults which he had suffered
from the arrogance of the States, to dissemble his resentment would be to detract from his glory.
March 17. Charles condescended to enumerate the several causes of his displeasure : the unwillingness of the States to regulate with him according to treaty the commerce of the two nations in the East Indies ; their perfidious detention of the English traders in Surinam ; their refusal to strike to his flag in the narrow seas60 ; and the repeated insults which had been offered to him personally by injurious medals and defamatory publications. It was his duty to maintain the honour of his crown, to pre- serve the trade and commerce of the nation, and to protect from oppression the persons of his sub- jects. But, if this consideration compelled him to appeal to arms, it was still his intention to " maintain the true intent and scope of the treaty " of Aix-la-Chapelle, and in all alliances which he
51 For these particulars and reasonings, see Parker, 251 — 8. Pari. Hist. iv. App. xli. xlii. Arlington to Gascoign, 66. James, i. 455. It is often said, but certainly without authority, that the lord keeper refused to put the seal to the declaration. Had this beefl the case, he would probably have been dismissed in March instead of November.
' The negotiations on this subject show that the king claimed as a right what the Hollanders would yield only as a compliment. Parker, Mm;— y.
CHARLES II. 24/
" had made, or should make, in the progress of CHAP. " the war, to preserve the ends thereof inviolable, 167£
" unless provoked to the contrary 61." In a few
days, the king of Sweden, the second party to the April 4. triple alliance, acceded to the designs of Charles and Louis, and, under the specious pretence of preserving the peace of Germany, bound himself by a secret treaty, to make war on any prince of the empire, who should undertake to aid the States in the approaching war between them and the king of France G-.
61 Pari. Hist. iv. 512. Dumont, vii. 163, 4. " Yet," says Marvel], "it is as clear as the sun that the French had by the " treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle agreed to acquiesce in their former " conquests in Flanders; and that the English, Swede, and " Hollander, were reciprocally bound to be aiding against whom- " soever should disturb that regulation." (Marvell, ii. 482.) This, though it has been repeated hundreds of times, is far from being an accurate exposition of the transaction. The real object of the triple alliance was to compel the crowns of France and Spain to make peace on the terms already offered by France, and to guarantee to Spain the provinces in the Netherlands which shoidd remain to her after that peace — Tant pour aider a faire linir par leur intervention la guerre qui s'estoit alors allume'e entre les deux couronnes, que pour guarantir aussi le plus fortement et eflicacement, (pie faire si pourroit, la paix. — The peace was accordingly made at Aix-la-Chapelle, and the kings of England and Sweden, and the States, signed the act of guarantee — pro- mettent par ces presentes de guarantir le dit traiie' — and promised if Louis were, under any pretext whatever, to invade any of the territories belonging to Spain, — aucun dcs royaumes, estats, pays, ou sujets du Roy catholique, — to employ all their forces in resist- ing the aggression, and obtaining reparation. See the act of gua- ranty in Dumontj vii. 107. In the treaty between Louis and Charles, the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was confirmed, and no in- fraction of it took place during the war.
'■' Dumont, vii. 169. Miscel. Aul. 68, 70.
'Is HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, The Dutch were the first at sea; and De 167gi Ruyter, with seventy-five men of war, and a
considerable number of fire-ships, stationed himself
mJs f between Dover and Calais, to prevent the in- tended junction of the French and English fleets. The duke of York could muster no more than
May 3. forty sail at the Nore ; but with these he con- trived, under the cover of a fog, to pass unnoticed by the enemy, and, proceeding to St. Helens,
May i. awaited the arrival of the French squadron under
May 10. D'Estrees. The combined fleet now sailed in search of the enemy, whom they discovered
May 19. lying before Ostencl. But the prudence of De Ruyter refused to engage even on equal terms. Availing himself of the shallows, he kept his op- ponents at bay, and baffled all their manoeuvres with a skill which extorted their admiration. At last he reached Goree, and the duke returned to Southwold bay, that his ships might take in their full complement of men and provisions 63.
Battle of In a few days, De Ruyter learned, from the
South- „ ,r. ,
wold hay. captain of a collier, the situation and employment
May 27. of the English fleet. He suddenly resolved to be- come the aggressor, sailed from Goree in the even- ing with his whole force, and would probably have surprised his enemies at anchor, had it not been for the sagacity of Cogolin, the commander of a French frigate. That officer, on account of his ignorance of the coast, had cast anchor during the
James, i. 157—61. Miscel. Aul. HO, 70.
CHARLES II. 249
night at a distance of some miles from Southwold CHAP, bay. At the first dawn he descried two Dutch 1(r^
men of war of equal force, which immediately
brought to, and stood from him, and, concluding May 28- from these motions that the main body could not be far distant, he discharged his guns in succes- sion as a signal. James immediately ordered every ship to get under weigh, and take her sta- tion in the line : but the wind was easterly, and the tide to leeward, and not more than twenty sail could form to meet the enemy. The duke, with a part of the red squadron, opposed De Ruyter, and the fleet from the Maese ; the earl of Sandwich, with part of the blue, Van Ghent and the fleet from Amsterdam. D'Estrees received Banker with the ships from Zealand : but both stood under easy sail to the southward ; and, as they never came to close action, suffered comparatively but little injury 61.
Seldom has any battle in our naval annals been Conduct more stubbornly contested. The English had to ^ukef struggle with a bold and experienced enemy, and against the most fearful disparity of force. Their ships were so intermingled among the multitude of their opponents, that they could afford little support to each other ; still they fought with the most desperate courage, hoping to protract the action till they could be joined by the remainder of the fleet in the bay. About eleven o'clock, the
♦ James, ;. t-6J — 5.
250 IilsToliY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, duke's ship, the Prince, of one hundred guns, had }}}' lost above one-third of her men, and lay a motion-
10/'-'. J
less wreck on water. Having ordered her to be
towed out of danger, he passed through the win- dow of the cabin into his shaloupe, rowed through the enemy's fire, and unfurled the royal standard in the St. Michael, of ninety guns05. Death of The earl of Sandwich, in the Royal James, re- Sandwich, peatedly beat off the enemies, by whom he was surrounded ; carried by boarding a seventy gun ship which lay athwart his hawse, and killed Van Ghent, the commander of the Amsterdam squa- dron : but, after an engagement of eight hours, the Royal James became unmanageable ; of two fire ships which approached, one was sunk by her guns, the second grappled her on the larboard side ; and in a few minutes that noble vessel was enveloped in flames. The duke, from a distance to leeward, saw the blue flag towering above a dense column of smoke ; and ordered the Dart- mouth, and a number of boats, to hasten to the assistance of the crew. Between two and three hundred were saved ; the rest, with their gallant commander, perished in the waves 66.
65 Ibid. 465, 6. So afraid were the sailors of fire ships, that the duke expressly forbad the name to be mentioned during the action. If any man saw a fire ship approaching, he was ordered to communicate his suspicion in a whisper to the nearest officer, 465.
5 Ibid. 467, 8. He appears to have had a presentiment of his fate. When Evelyn (ii. 369) took leave of him, the carl said, he should see him no more. " No," lie added, " they will not
CHARLES II. 251
During the afternoon, the other ships joined the CHAP fleet, and the combatants began to fight on a foot-
in.
1672.
ing of equality. About five it was reported to the
duke, that the St. Michael could with difficulty be ^fS^ kept afloat, on account of the injury which she ghsh. had received in her hull ; and, trusting again to his shaloupe, he transported his flag to the London. De Ruyter was the first to shrink from the conflict. He sailed about seven to overtake the Zealand squadron ; and most of the English took the op- portunity of joining D'Estrees to leeward, while the duke, with five-and-twenty sail, remained to the windward of the enemy. Thus terminated this bloody and obstinate engagement. While we give due praise to the conduct of the Dutch admi- ral, and to the bravery of his men, we must not forget that, with all the disadvantages of surprise, and wind and tide against them, the cool and determined courage of the English obtained the
" let me live. Had I lost ti fleet J should have fared better. But "-be it as it pleases God. I must do something, I know not " what, to save my reputation." Evelyn tells us that Monk and Clifford were accustomed to describe the earl's caution as cow- ardice, and that the words in italics, allude to his expedition to Bergen. May they not allude to the conduct of Monk, as if he had said: Had I, by excess of courage, lost a fleet, as Monk did, I should have fared better ? — " He dined," says Sheffield^ duke of Buckingham, " in Mr. Digby's ship the day before '* the battle, when nobody dreamt of lighting, and showed " gloomy discontent, so contrary to liis usual cheerful humour, " that we even all took notice 01 it; but much more afterwards". Works, ii. 1 1.
•:.v: history or England.
CHAP, victory. They lost one, their opponents three ™£. ships of the line67.
In the morning, the two divisions of the Eng-
Who im,'~ lisli fleet joined, and it was determined to proceed
sac the J L
Duteh. to the Nore ; but in a short time De Ruyter, who May 29. j,a(j saiied to the southward, re-appeared ; and James ordered the line to be formed, and made the signal to bear down on the enemy. They imme- diately fled ; a general chase was ordered, and twice the Dutch ships, disabled in the late action, were on the point of falling into the hands of the pursuers, and as often saved by the timely inter- May 30. vention of a fog. On the second day, the Dutch found a secure shelter within the Wierings ; and the English fleet returned in triumph to the river 68. Conquests By land, the storm, which had so long menaced French tne States, soon burst on their most distant fron- tier. Louis had placed himself at the head of more than one hundred thousand men, and was assisted by the counsels of Conde and Turenne. Orsoi, Burick, Wesel, and Rhinberg, fortresses on the Rhine, in the possession of Dutch garrisons,
«7 Ibid. 468—471. " The duke of York himself had the no- " blest share in this day's action : for when his ship was so " maimed as to be made incapable of service, he made her lye " by to refit, and went on board another that was hotly engaged, " where he kept up his standard till she was disabled, and then u left her for a third, in order to renew the fight, which lasted " from break of day till sunset." Works of Sheffield, duke of Buckingham, who was present, ii. 15.
6S James, i. 475, 8.
CHARLES II. 253
opened their gates; the river itself was passed chap.
1G72.
near Schenck in the face of the enemy ; Arnheim,
Naerden, Utrecht, Deventer, Zutphen, and Nime
guen, submitted ; three out of the seven provinces were torn from the republic, and the French out- posts established themselves in the vicinity of Amsterdam 6g. At first the States seemed to abandon themselves to despair : they were roused to exertion by the approach of the enemy, and the sympathy of Europe. The Louvestein faction, hitherto the ally of France, sunk into insignifi- cance : the prince of Orange was declared captain- general of the army, and admiral of the fleet ; promises of succour were obtained from the emperor, the king of Spain, and the elector of Brandenburg ; and attempts were made to detach Charles from his alliance with the French mon- arch. The king, indeed, began to waver. The success by sea had not answered his expectations : the conquests of Louis threatened to provoke a general war in Christendom ; and a rupture between France and Spain would not only over- turn the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, but also deprive his subjects of the Spanish trade, the most profit- able branch of British commerce. With his son, the duke of Monmouth, who, at the head of six thousand British soldiers, served in the French army, were joined, as plenipotentiaries, Bucking- Ju»e 12.
f" For the progress of the French army, see CEuvres de Louis, iii. 130—2+8.
i HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C HAP. ham, Arlington, and Saville, lately created viscount 1G1'K Halifax. The three latter repaired to the Hague,
where they assured the States of the pacific dis- position of their sovereign 70, and thence, accom-
July 6. panied by deputies, hastened to the camp of the French monarch at Heeswick, where, in union with Monmouth, they signed a new treaty, binding the two kings to act in concert, and never to conclude a peace but by joint consent. The separate de- mands of Charles and Louis were then com- municated to the Dutch ministers. Charles, on his part, required, as the basis of peace, the dig- nity of stadtholder for the prince of Orange, the honour of the flag as an acknowledgment that England was mistress of the narrow seas, the yearly payment of 10,000/. for permission to fish on the British coasts, indemnification for the charges of the war to the amount of one million sterling, and the possession of Flushing, Goree, and the neighbouring fortresses, as security for the payment : Louis offered to restore the three provinces which he had conquered, on condition that the States should cede to him such places as they had formerly wrested from Spain, and such part of their territory as lay on the left bank of the Rhine : should pay to him an indemnification of seventeen millions of livres ; should yearly
7' When Buckingham assured the dowager princess of Orange, that they, the ambassadors, would not use Holland like a mistress, but love her like a wife ; she replied, " vrayment je croy que vous " nous aymez comme vous aymez la votre." Temple, ii. 260.
CHARLES II. 255
offer him a gold medal in acknowledgment of his CHAP, forbearance, but in reality as a satisfaction for 167Q
the insulting medal which they struck at the con
elusion of the triple alliance, and should grant to their catholic subjects the free exercise of the ca- tholic worship n. The States, at the persuasion of the prince of Orange, indignantly rejected these
" Dumont, vii. 205, 6, 8. Miscel. Aul. 71, 72. In the united and the neighbouring- provinces, the catholics and protestants were intermixed in considerable numbers, and the intolerance of the States induced them, wherever their influence extended, to abolish the exercise of the catholic worship. This was met with similar intolerance on the other side, and the inconveniences aris- ing from such a state of things induced the protestant elector of Brandenburg, and the catholic count palatine of the Rhine, to conclude in this spring a treaty of equitable adjustment, by which the churches were divided between the two communions, and provision was made for their respective ministers out of the pro- perty formerly belonging to the clergy in the duchies of Cleves, Juliers, and Berg, and the counties of Mark and Ravensberg. (Dumont, vii. 171 — 194.) Louis, following the example, de- manded for the catholics within the territory of the States, the use of one church where there were two, and the permission to build another where there was only one, with a decent provision for the clergyman out of the old church property, or some other fund. (Ibid. 205.) This demand, however, gave occasion to the opponents of the court to represent Charles as leagued with Louis in a crusade for the establishment of popery ; and, to excite greater irritation, they informed the public that the principal church in each town was demanded for the catholics. (Burnet, i. 560.) Another falsehood spread at the time was, that Louis as- sured the States that he would make peace if they accepted his conditions, whether Charles were satisfied or not. (Marvell, i. 492.) Yet the- contrary is the truth. In article xiii. he declares that the acceptance of his conditions will not be sufficient ; they must also satisfy the kiiiy- of England before peace can be made. Dumont, 206.
'2~>b HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
4
CHAP, proposals. They opened their dikes; the country 1672 was placed under water ; and the progress of the
French arms was suspended.
Proceed- From this moment the war began to languish
Fnoimd k°tn by sea and land. Louis left the camp for his capital, and while part of his army was em- ployed to retain possession of his conquests, the other portion marched to the Rhine to observe the German princes, who were arming in support of the States. At sea, Be Ruyter had the prudence to shun a second engagement ; and the duke of York cruized in vain off the Dogger Bank to in- tercept the East India fleet, which found shelter in the river Ems. Charles, however, continued faithful to his engagements with Louis, and, to mark his satisfaction with the conduct of his mi- nisters, he had raised sir Thomas Clifford to the peerage, by the title of lord Clifford of Chudleigh ; created lord Arlington earl of Arlington ; lord Ashley earl of Shaftesbury ; and honoured Buck- ingham and Arlington with the order of the gar- ter. For a while Shaftesbury seemed to monopo- lize the royal favour; so delighted was the monarch with the fertility of his invention, and the fear- lessness of his courage. Charles deemed himself bound in honour to shelter the bankers, whose money he had locked up in the exchequer, from the pursuit of their creditors. They applied for protection to the court of chancery ; but the lord keeper hesitated ; he doubted whether it were a case in which he ought to interfere ; and Shaftes-
Cn MILES II. ':r>T
bury seized the occasion to represent him to the CHAP.
Ill king as an old dotard unequal to his situation. l67%
The hint was taken : the seal was transferred from
Bridgeman to Shaftesbury ; and the new lord Nov. 17. chancellor soon exposed himself by his vanity and self-sufficiency to the ridicule of the bar as well as the odium of the people. Instead of the sober and decent robes worn by his predecessors in of- fice, he appeared on the bench in " an ash-coloured " gown silver-laced, and full-ribboned pantaloons " displayed ". In the procession to Westminster- hall to open the seal, instead of being conveyed in a carriage, he rode on horseback : and the king's counsel, the law-officers of the crown, and the several judges, were compelled to accompany him in a similar manner, to the great annoyance of some among these reverend personages ; one of whom, Mr. Justice Twisden, by the curveting of his horse was laid prostrate in the mire. In his court he professed a sovereign contempt for ancient forms ; his orders were made with rapidity, and fashioned after his own fancy; for a few days the counsel did not interrupt him ; but he was after- wards so harassed with motions for the explanation and amendment of his orders, that he grew ashamed of his precipitancy, and the imperious reformer gradually sunk into the tamest judge that ever sate on the bench. Mindful, however, of the charge which he had brought against Bridgeman, he was careful to stay the proceedings against the bankers in the inferior courts ; but, at the same time, with
VOL. XII. s
258 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C HAP. a prudent regard to his own security, he appointed 1IL a distant day on which he would be ready to hear
1CTO » »
1672.
counsel against this injunction
n
Clifford The elevation of Shaftesbury made a vacancy treasurer, in the commission of the treasury. Charles dis- solved the board, and at the recommendation of Nov. 26. his brother, gave the staff of lord high treasurer to lord Clifford. The friendship which had so long subsisted between Arlington and Clifford was instantly broken. Arlington charged him with ingratitude, with having by his intrigues sup- planted his patron and benefactor. But the king commanded them to be friends. He exculpated Clifford. The refusal of the staff to Arlington arose, he asserted, from his own kindness for that nobleman ; from a wish to spare him the disgrace and mortification which he would have entailed upon himself by his want of sufficiency and reso- lution 73. Elections It had been expected that in October Charles prorof a- * would apply to the parliament for money to en- tl0n- able him to open the exchequer in January ; and
the States flattered themselves with the hope of a powerful opposition on the part of the commons.
71 James, i. 481. North, 38, 46, 67, 8, 60. It were, how- ever, unfair to omit the praise allotted him by an enemy.
In Israel's courts ne'er sat an Abethdin With more discerning eyes, or hands more clean ; Unbribed, unbought, the wretched to redress, Swift of despatch, and easy of access.
Dryden, Abs. and Achil. 73 Compare James, i. 482, with Evelyn, ii. 386.
CHARLES II. 259
To their disappointment, the two houses were CHAP.
ill prorogued till February, and the suspension of 1673\
payment to the public creditors was continued by
proclamation for another half year. Shaftesbury ct °" improved the interval to add to the number of his dependents in the lower house. During the pro- rogation several members had died ; some had been called to the house of lords. Instead of waiting till the parlianfent assembled, he issued write out of chancery for new elections ; these writs, with recommendations from the court, were entrusted to the hands of the persons whose re- turn was desired ; and they, availing themselves of the opportunity, in general secured their elec- tion. It was, however, observed that almost all, whether designedly or not, were dissenters ; this circumstance awakened the anger of the cavaliers and the churchmen ; and a resolution was taken to dispute the legality of the writs, and conse- quently of the returns. Colonel Strangeways, an old cavalier of the first opulence and influence in the county of Devon, whose friends had been de- feated in four instances by the arts of Shaftesbury, placed himself at the head of the opposition 7i.
At the opening of the session the king and the Opening chancellor successively addressed the two houses. °~ £* " Charles was an ungraceful orator, but on this oc- 16r3 casion he spoke with an ease and dignity which Feb. 5. surprised his hearers. Shaftesbury dilated on the
74 Misccl.Aul.7f*. Pjrker, 262, 1. North, 56.
H 2
260 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, different topics, which had been mentioned by the 1673 king. He justified the declaration of indulgence,
and the shutting up of the exchequer ; he assumed
that the war was popular, and that the pretensions of the Hollanders were so inconsistent with the rights of Great Britain, that " Carthage must be " destroyed " ; he ridiculed the jealousy of those who feared that the army raised on account of the war might afterwards \rl employed against the liberties of the country, and solicited a plentiful supply, to disappoint the expectations of the enemy and secure a speedy and profitable peace 75.
The new jo^ rpjie ^rst 0Dject which occupied the attention
elections ° x
cancelled, of the commons, was the legality of the writs issued during the prorogation ; and in this they obeyed the command of the king, whether he al-
Feb. 6. ready began to withdraw his confidence from Shaftesbury, or was desirous to propitiate the men who had displayed so much devotion to his j)erson. That the chancellor had acted according to the precedent of former times, was certain : the claim set up by the house, that the order for the writ must originate with the speaker, could not be traced to an earlier period than the year J 640 ; and it seemed reasonable to conclude, that, like the other prerogatives of the crown, this had also been recovered at the restoration. But the house of commons has never surrendered a privi-
75 L. Journ. 523—6. Miscel. Aul. 98.
CHARLES II.
261
lege which it has once exercised : it was contended C HAP.
. in
that numerous inconveniences would arise from 1673*.
the right claimed by the chancellor ; and a reso ■
lution was passed that the elections were void, and that new writs should be issued in virtue of a warrant from the speaker. The disappointment opened the eyes of Shaftesbury to the real charac- ter of the prince whom he served. He saw that Charles was fonder of ease than of power, more disposed to conciliate than to compel, and more likely to sacrifice an obnoxious minister than to put down a fierce and stubborn opposition ~6.
2°. The house proceeded, in the next place, to The sup- the consideration of the supply, and, by an una- C, y vo £ nimous vote, fixed it at the amount of 1,260,000/., to be raised by eighteen monthly assessments. For this liberal and unexpected grant, Charles was indebted to the exertions of the two leaders of the opposition, Garroway and Lee, who did not escape the suspicion of having sold themselves to the court, though their friends endeavoured to account for their conduct on the specious ground, that they deemed it politic to hold out to the king so large a sum as a temptation to his indigence. He had assured them in his speech, that " he would stick to his declaration of indulgence ". They meant to put his resolution to the test. If he yielded,
" C. Journ. Fib. G. Pari. Hist. iv. 507—12. Parker, 262—5. < >i leans, 212.
262 1IISTORV OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, the money was at his command; if he persisted, l6VA no steps would be taken to perfect this previous
■ vote '".
Address 30. The country party now directed all their dedara- efforts to procure the recal of the declaration. Of duT ence" tne indulgence itself they affected not to disap- prove : their objections went to the form. They were willing to extend relief to the protestant dissenters, but it must be done in a parliamentary way. The royal authority was bounded by the same limits in ecclesiastical as in civil matters : the king might remit the penalties of the offence, but he could not suspend the execution of the law. By the courtiers the claim of the preroga- tive was feebly supported on the ground of ne- cessity ; because the power of dispensing with the law must reside somewhere ; otherwise nu- merous cases might arise during the intervals of parliament, in which the welfare, the very safety of the state, would be sacrificed to an impolitic and unreasonable jealousy. After a long and Feb. 10. adjourned debate it was resolved by a majority of one hundred and sixty-eight to one hundred
"7 Com. Journ. Feb. 7. Burnet, ii. 13. We are, however, told by North, that sir Thomas Lee, Mr. Garroway, and sir Thomas Meres, " the bell-weathers of the country party ", obtained places ill the customs, admiralty, and excise, for their occasional com- pliance with the court (p. 456) ; and lord Dorchester asserts that Lee received for his services on this occasion the sum of 6000/. which one of the clerks of the treasury brought in a hackney- coach to Fleet-ditch, where Lee met him. At a signal they stopped, changed coaches, and drove away. Burnet, ii. 83, note.
CHARLES II. 263
and sixteen, that " penal statutes in matters CHAP.
ill " ecclesiastical cannot be suspended but by act of 1673.
" parliament " 78, and this resolution was em-
bodied in an address presented to the king. FeI)- 14- Charles required time to consider the question, and then replied, that he was sorry they had Feb. 24. questioned his ecclesiastical authority, which had never been questioned in the reigns of his ances- tors ; that he pretended to no right of suspending any laws concerning the properties, rights, or liberties of the subject ; that his only object in the exercise of his ecclesiastical power, was to relieve the dissenters ; and that he did it not with the intention of avoiding the advice of parlia- ment, but was still ready to assent to any bill which might be offered to him, appearing better calculated than his declaration to effect the ends which he had in view, the ease of all his subjects, and the peace and establishment of the church of England. But this answer was voted insufficient ; and a second address informed him that he had Feb. 26. been misled by his advisers ; that the power of sus- pending statutes in matters ecclesiastical had never been claimed or exercised by his ancestors ; and that his faithful commons prayed from his good- ness a more full and satisfactory reply to their petition 79.
78 C. Joum. Feb. 10. Yet Burnet describes it as " a very una- " nimous resolution", ii. 6.
'■} C. Joum. Feb. 14, 24, 26. L. Joum. xU. 540. Pari. Hist. iv. 518— 31-, 46—41.
CG4
IIISTOllY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. By Charles this second address was received as ill 1073. an insult. He declared that he would dissolve
the parliament rather than submit to the dictation
smpeais to °^ n*s enemies- Shaftesbury, Clifford, Bucking- tile lords, ham, and Lauderdale applauded his spirit : the duke of York, though he differed from them on most subjects, concurred with them in this. Con- cession, it was argued, had been the ruin of the father, it would prove the ruin of the son : to bend in one instance would only lead to additional demands. Let him assume a determined and authoritative tone ; let him show that he would never resign a single right of the crown ; the opposition would then melt away, and the proud- est of his opponents would learn to crouch at the feet of the sovereign. Animated by their dis- course, Charles gave himself credit for a degree of resolution which he did not possess : and, when Arlington conjured him to yield, scornfully re- jected the advice of his timid and time-serving counsellor. It was determined to oppose one house to the other. In a short speech to the March i. lords, the king complained of the encroachments of the commons, ordered their addresses and his answers to be laid on the table, and solicited the advice of the peers, the hereditary counsellors of the crown. Clifford spoke with his accustomed boldness ; but Shaftesbury, who began to doubt of the result, betrayed a disposition to court popularity. His individual opinion was, he said, in favour of the prerogative ; but he would not ven-
CHARLES II. 265
ture to place it in the balance against the authority CHAP, of so august a body as the house of commons. 1673* After a lono- debate, the lords resolved without a
division, that the king's proposal to settle the March 4- question in a parliamentary way was a good and gracious answer so.
The public had watched with intense interest He can- these proceedings in parliament, and many thought jCec] rie_ that they discovered in them the certain prognos- tion- tics of a second civil war. By the States the hope of a dissolution was cherished : thus the aid of 1,260,000/. would be intercepted, and the king be compelled to conclude a peace, or to adopt the defensive system which had been attended with indelible disgrace in the late war. The sagacity of Louis suggested to him the apprehension of similar results. By his order Colbert waited on March 7. the king, represented to him the disastrous con- sequences of a breach between him and the parliament, exhorted him to yield for the moment, and promised on the return of peace, to aid him with men and money for the purpose of recover- ing the rights, which he might be induced to surrender. The resolution of Charles was already exhausted by its previous efforts : he willingly listened to the counsels of the ambassador : the
8n L. Journals, xii. 589, 543. Dalrymple, 31. 89. Orleans, 210. Burnet, ii. 7, K. There is, however, in Burnet's narrative, so much unquestionably false, that it is difficult to judge what may- be probably true. But his account of Shaftesbury's speech is confirmed by the lord keeper Guilford. Dalrymple, ii. 90.
'266
IIIST011Y OF ENGLAND.
chap, promise of money, always welcome to his indi- 1673. gence, was gratefully accepted ; but as far as
regarded military aid, that, he said, should never
be solicited by him against his subjects, unless he were reduced to the last extremity by another rebellion. The same evening, sending for the declaration, he cancelled it in the presence of the
March 8. ministers, and the next morning made a solemn promise to the lords and commons, that " what had been done with respect to the suspension of the penal laws, should never be drawn into con- sequence ". The two houses testified their joy by acclamation ; and in the evening numerous bon- fires illuminated the streets of the metropolis81.
4°. It may excite surprise that the dissenters did not rally round the throne, in defence of a measure, in which their interests were so deeply concerned. But it was an age in which religious antipathies exercised an unbounded influence over the judgments of men. The knowledge that the duchess of York had died a catholic, the suspicion that the duke of York, the presumptive heir to the crown, had embraced the catholic faith, and the fact of the alliance with France, a catho- lic power, against the Dutch, a protestant state, were confidently brought forward to prove the existence of a most dangerous conspiracy against all the reformed churches ; the declaration of indulgence to tender consciences was represented
The test act intro duced.
il Dalryiuple. if. <J3— ti. L. Jonrn. xii. oVJ.
1673.
CHARLES II. 267
as the first of the measures devised by the con- chap. spirators for the accomplishment of their unholy purpose ; and the dissenters were exhorted and solicited to surrender the advantages which it promised them, for more secure, though, perhaps, less extensive relief to be granted by act of par- liament. These arguments had weight with num- bers : their jealousies and apprehensions were awakened ; they consented to sacrifice their per- sonal interest to the general good, and joined in the popular cry, which demanded additional securities for the reformed faith 82. Of these securities, the first regarded the small force lately raised to be employed on the continent. It was remarked that Fitzgerald, the major-general, with a few other officers, was a catholic, and that Schomberg, the commander-in-chief, though a calvinist, was not only a foreigner, but also held high rank in the French army. Why, it was asked, were such men selected for the command ? Did there not exist an intention of employing them, at the conclusion of the war, to establish popery and arbitrary power ? To remove these fears, an address was voted, requesting the king to discharge from the army every officer and sol- dier who should refuse to take the oaths of alle- giance and supremacy, and to receive the sacra- ment after the rite of the church of England, and to admit no man, thereafter, into the service, who
'2 Guilford apiul Dalrymple, ii. 91.
-68 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C II A P. did not take the oaths before the first, and the sa- 1C73. crament before the second muster. Charles return-
ed a satisfactory answer R3 ; and the anticatholics,
elate with their victory, proceeded to urge the exclusion of those who were the objects of their jealousy, from civil as well as military affairs. The suggestion of a test for this purpose came to them from a quarter, whence it was not to have been expected, — from Arlington, the reputed papist. But to Arlington it presented several advantages. It would remove from him the suspicion of catholicity ; it would enable him to gratify his resentment against Clifford : it would bring once more within his reach the treasurer's staff, the great object of his ambition ; and it would serve to screen him from danger, by creating in his favour an interest among the popular leaders. By them the proposal was gratefully accepted, under the expectation that such a test would solve the question of the duke of York's religion, and, by stripping him of office, exhibit him to the people in a state of political weakness and de- gradation. Neither did the chiefs of the court party prove more hostile than their opponents, to a measure which opened to them the prospect of power and emolument, from the resignations and removals which it would inevitably occasion. Even the king himself was brought to give his consent. The passing of the test was represented to him as
83 L. Journ. xi. 517, 8, 9.
CHARLES II. 269
the only condition on which he could hope to CHAP. obtain the liberal supply that had been voted ; and /g1/^
to a prince, with whom, as it was observed, " logic,
" built upon money, had more powerful charms " than any other sort of reasoning," this considera- tion proved a convincing argument. If he felt at all for his brother, he probably strove to persuade himself that James would never sacrifice the pos- session of office to the profession of his religion 64.
In conformity with the suggestion of Arlington, And pass- the house of commons resolved, that everv indi-
Feb 28
vidual, " refusing to take the oath of allegiance " and supremacy, and to receive the sacrament " according to the rites of the church of England, " should be incapable of public employment, " military or civil ;" and a bill was introduced requiring, not only that the oaths should be taken, and the sacrament received, but also that a declaration against transubstantiation should be subscribed by all persons holding office, under the penalty of a fine of 500/. and of being
f* The French ambassador supplies the information respecting Arlington and his object (Dalrymple, ii. App. p. 90) ; Marvell respecting the motives of the king, and the leaders of the oppo- site parties. Marvell, i. 494, o. Neal attributes the test act to an omission on the part of the king, whom he represents as re- turning no answer to the petition of the two houses for the re- moval of Catholics from office. (Neal, ii. 693.) But their petition did not ask for any such removal, and it was posterior in time to the resolution for a test. The petition was presented March 7 : and the resolution was passed Feb. 28. See Journals on these days.
270 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, disabled to sue in any court of law or equity,
*}}' to be guardian to any child, or executor to any
person, or to take any legacy or deed of gift,
March 12. or to bear any public office. In the lower house, a feeble opposition was offered to the clause im- posing the declaration, on the ground that, to make the disavowal of a speculative opinion, the qualification for civil office, was contrary to the nature of a civil test, and calculated to render men hypocrites or atheists. In the upper house the principal novelty in the debate was furnished by the earl of Bristol, who, though a catholic,
March 15. argued in support of the test. That considerable alarm existed, could not, he said, be denied. It mattered little whether it was well founded or not. The more groundless the panic was, the more rapidly it would spread. If, then, the bill tended to lull the apprehensions of the people, it deserved the approbation of the house. It did not enact new, it did not enforce even the old, penalties against the catholic worship. It went merely to remove a few individuals from offices which they could not exercise without scruple and dissimula- tion. For himself, he was no wherryman in religion, to look one way and row another. He was a catholic, attached to the church, but not to the court of Rome. He should vote, indeed, against the bill, because it contained expressions to which he could not conscientiously assent ; but he hoped that the house would adopt it, as a mea- sure of prudence, calculated to prevent mischief,
CHARLES II. 271
and to pacify discontent. By this speech, Bristol chap. obtained the reputation of a patriot : the reader l67^
will, perhaps, think him a hypocrite ; for he pre
vailed on the parliament to adopt a proviso in his favour, securing to him and his wife a large pen- sion from the crown, and exempting them, and them alone, from the obligation of taking the test 85.
5°. The bill passed the house of lords, as it had Dissent- passed that of the commons, without provoking a bill, division ; and it may reasonably be asked, how it happened that it received no opposition from the dissenters, when it was so framed as to compre- hend them, though its avowed object was the exclusion of others ? They seem again to have suffered themselves to be duped by the artifice of their pretended friends. With the bill for the test, was introduced another for ease to protestant dis- senters, and thus their objection to the first was neutralized by their hopes from the second. But while one passed rapidly through the house, the other crept slowly on : new questions successively arose, and day after day was spent in debating, what quantity of relief should be granted, to what description of non-conformists it should extend, and for how long a time it should be con- tinued. The house at length agreed to confine the benefit to those dissenters who objected only to the
M C Jouni. Mar. 12. L.Jouni. 557, 9, 561, 7, 0. P*rL Ilibt. iv. 5(>1 — (i. St. 25 Car. ii. c. 5.
~7'2 HISTORY OV ENGLAND.
CHAP, articles of discipline, and were willing to subscribe ill. .
1(i73 the articles of doctrine of the church of Eng-
land, to allow all such to hold separate meetings
for the purpose of religious worship, to exempt them from the penalties for absence from the parish church, and to repeal in their favour the com- pulsory declaration of assent and consent ordained
March 17. by the act of uniformity. In this shape the bill was forwarded to the house of lords, where it received numerous amendments : to some of these
March 2i. the commons objected ; and, though the king warned them of the approaching termination of the session, no care was taken to come to an agree-
March 29. ment. On Easter eve, the parliament was ad- journed at nine in the evening ; before it met again a prorogation followed, and the hopes of relief which the dissenters had been encouraged to cherish, were utterly extinguished 86.
Remarks. In the history of this session, it is worthy of notice: 1°. that not a murmur was heard from the ranks of the opposition against the war, or the alliance with France, or the suspension of payments in the exchequer. Of these great sub- jects of complaint, no mention is made either in the addresses or the debates. But not only was silence observed ; in addition, an act of grace was passed, which, by pardoning all offences committed before the 25th of March, covered the ministers from the risk of subsequent punishment. It seems
K(i Lords' Journ. 361, 1, 371, G, 9, 5Si. Pail. Hist. iv. 533 — VI, 331— (>, 371—3.
CHARLES II. 289
be devoted to the consideration of grievances, the chap. next to the consideration of the supply? Why 167^
should not the clamours against evil counsellors
be reduced to specific charges, and the accused be permitted to justify themselves " 14 ?
3°. But their opponents adhered steadily to their Proceed- own plan, and proceeded to consider, in the first Snst place, the case of the duke of Lauderdale. It was Lander- alleged against him, that as chief of the adminis- T tration in Scotland, he had raised an army for the purpose of employing it to establish arbitrary power in England, and that at the council in England, when a magistrate was charged before it with disobedience to the royal declaration, he had said, " your majesty's edicts are equal with " the laws, and ought to be observed in the " first place ". It was " resolved that an address " should be presented to the king to remove " Lauderdale from all his employments, and from
the royal presence and councils for ever 15 ".
Buckingham, aware that he was destined to Against
• ,• i. •, i i i , • t Bucking-
be the next victim, solicited and obtained per- ham.
mission to address the house. His first speech Jan. 13. was confused and unsatisfactory ; nor did his J;U1- l*- second, on the following day, supply the defi- ciencies of the former. He represented himself as a man, who had spent a princely fortune in the service of his country ; and reminded his
" Pari. Hist. iv. 620.
>s C. Journ. Jan. 13. Pari. Hist. iv. 625 30.
VOL. XII. U
..
IV.
1671
290 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
(II A P. hearers of the patriotism with which he had once braved the resentment of the court. He offered • nothing in defence of the conduct of the ministry; but sought by evasion and falsehood to shift the responsibility from himself. Some of their mea- sures he pretended that he had opposed, in con- junction with the earl of Shaftesbury ; some he imputed to lord Clifford, who was no longer alive to rebut the charge ; some he openly attributed to his known enemy, the earl of Arlington ; and of others he darkly insinuated that the blame lay with the royal brothers, by the enigmatical re- mark, that a man might hunt the hare with a pack of beagles, but not with a brace of lobsters. His submission obtained for him some indulgence from the house. It was voted, indeed, that, like Lauderdale, he should be removed from the royal presence and councils ; but with respect to office, only from those employments which he held dur- ing pleasure ; words that left him at liberty to dispose by sale of such as he held by patent 16. To the address against him, as well as that against
1S C. Journ. Jan. 13, 14. Pari. Hist. iv. 630—49. Burnet, ii. 38. Reresby, 24. At the same time the house of lords was employed in an inquiry arising out of the complaint of the trustees of the young earl of Shrewsbury, against the duke of Bucking- ham and the countess dowager of Shrewsbury; and an award was made that " the duke should not converse or cohabit with " the countess for the future, and that each should enter into " security to the king's majesty in the sum of ten thousand u pounds a-piece for that purpose ". L. Journ. xii. 628.
CHARLES II. 29l
Lauderdale, Charles briefly replied, that he would CHAP, take it into consideration. i674.
Against Arlington was exhibited an impeach-
ment of treason, and other crimes of high misde- a^{ust meanor, in a great number of articles, arranged Arlington. under the three heads of promoting popery, em- an' 15, bezzling and wasting the royal treasure, and be- traying the trust reposed in him as privy counsel- lor. Of these articles three parts in four had evidently no other foundation than suspicion and report, and the ease with which they were re- futed served to throw ridicule on the whole charge. Arlington addressed the house with more firmness than had been expected. To the assertions of Buckingham he gave the most pointed contradiction ; and represented the injus- tice of imputing to one counsellor the blame or merit of measures which had been adopted in consequence of the judgment and advice of the whole board. Arlington had secret friends among those who appeared openly as his enemies : they acknowledged that there was much force in his arguments ; and the motion to inflict on him the same punishment as on Lauderdale was rejected by a majority of forty voices. All that his ene- Jan. 20. mies could obtain, after a debate of five days, was the appointment of a committee to inquire, Feb. 1. what part of the articles could be so far esta-
M
Wished as to furnish ground for impeachment ; and this committee, whether it was through the difficulty of procuring satisfactory proof, or the
u 2
. <r
290
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, hearers of the patriotism with which he had once
IV
1674. braved the resentment of the court. He offered
nothing in defence of the conduct of the ministry;
but sought by evasion and falsehood to shift the responsibility from himself. Some of their mea- sures he pretended that he had opposed, in con- junction with the earl of Shaftesbury ; some he imputed to lord Clifford, who was no longer alive to rebut the charge ; some he openly attributed to his known enemy, the earl of Arlington ; and of others he darkly insinuated that the blame lay with the royal brothers, by the enigmatical re- mark, that a man might hunt the hare with a pack of beagles, but not with a brace of lobsters. His submission obtained for him some indulgence from the house. It was voted, indeed, that, like Lauderdale, he should be removed from the royal presence and councils ; but with respect to office, only from those employments which he held dur- ing pleasure ; words that left him at liberty to dispose by sale of such as he held by patent 16. To the address against him, as well as that against
16 C Journ. Jan. 13, 14. Pari. Hist. iv. 630— 49. Burnetii. 38. Reresby, 24. At the same time the house of lords was employed in an inquiry arising out of the complaint of the trustees of the young earl of Shrewsbury, against the duke of Bucking- ham and the countess dowager of Shrewsbury; and an award was made that " the duke should not converse or cohabit with " the countess for the future, and that each should enter into " security to the king's majesty in the sum of ten thousand " pounds a-piece for that purpose ". L. Journ. xii. 628.
-
•
CHARLES II.
201
Lauderdale, Charles briefly replied, that he would CHAP. take it into consideration.
1674,
Against Arlington was exhibited an impeach-
I
And
against
ment of treason, and other crimes of high misde- agr meanor, in a great number of articles, arranged Arlington. under the three heads of promoting popery, em- bezzling and wasting the royal treasure, and be- traying the trust reposed in him as privy counsel- lor. Of these articles three parts in four had evidently no other foundation than suspicion and report, and the ease with which they were re- futed served to throw ridicule on the whole
charge.
Arlington addressed the house with
more firmness than had been expected. To the assertions of Buckingham he gave the most pointed contradiction ; and represented the injus- tice of imputing to one counsellor the blame or merit of measures which had been adopted in consequence of the judgment and advice of the whole board. Arlington had secret friends among those who appeared openly as his enemies : they acknowledged that there was much force in his arguments ; and the motion to inflict on him the same punishment as on Lauderdale was rejected by a majority of forty voices. All that his ene- Jan. 20. mies could obtain, after a debate of five days, was the appointment of a committee to inquire, Feb. ?. what part of the articles could be so far esta- blished as to furnish ground for impeachment ; and this committee, whether it was through the difficulty of procuring satisfactory proof, or the
1 52
' \
■
V,(
IP
1
292 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, intrigues of the leaders in favour of the accused, 1674. never presented any report 17.
By the lords the conduct of Buckingham and
the house Arlington, who had condescended to plead their of lords, own cause before the house of commons, was considered derogatory from the dignity of the .ran. 20. peerage ; and a standing order was made, that no peer should answer any accusation before the commons in person, or by counsel, or by letter, under the penalty of being committed to the cus- tody of the black rod, or to the Tower, during Jan. 13. the pleasure of the house. In obedience to ano- ther order all the peers in attendance, whether protestants or catholics, took the oath of alle- giance, which had been framed in the third year of James I., as a renunciation of the temporal claims ascribed to the pope, and of the anti-social doctrines imputed to the catholics. The duke of York hesitated at first. It had never been pro- posed to princes standing in the same relation with himself to the throne, and he was unwilling to establish a precedent to bind those who might succeed him. But, some of the lords making a distinction between heir-presumptive and heir- Jan. 14. apparent, he waived the objection, and took the oath in the same manner as all the other members of the house 18.
17 C. Journ. Jan. 15, 20, 21. Feb. 18. Pari. Hist. iv. 649—57. Burnet, ii. 38.
18 Lords' Journ. xii. 606, 8, 12. Macph. Pap. i. 71.
CHARLES II. 293
111 the meanwhile the commons betrayed no CHAT.
IV. disposition to grant a supply, and Charles, weary 1674-
of the war, sought some expedient to disengage
himself without disgrace from his connexion with $fPSeace France. The allied sovereigns no longer retained from the that proud superiority which they had won in the first year of hostilities. By sea the English had gained no considerable advantage : by land the tide of success had turned in favour of the States. Spain and Austria had come forward to their aid: Montecuculli, the imperial general, had deceived the vigilance of Turenne, and laid siege to Bonn ; the prince of Orange, having reduced Naerden, by a bold and skilful march joined Montecuculli : Bonn surrendered ; and the army, which main- tained the French conquests in the united pro- vinces, cut off from all communication with the mother country, was compelled to make a preci- pitate retreat on the ancient frontiers of France. At this moment, the States made to Charles, Jan. 21. through the Spanish ambassador, Del Fresno, an offer of acceding to the terms which they had refused at the congress of Cologne 1'). This un- expected step was differently interpreted by their friends and foes : the truth is, that the concession was the price at which the States had purchased the aid of Spain. The queen-regent refused to engage in a war with England ; and her ambas- sador, when he signed the public treaty of alli-
'' L. Joiun. 616-
294 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, ance, received from the States a secret power of 1674 negotiating with the English king on the follow-
ing basis ; that the conquests on each side should
1673. De restored ; that the honour of the flag; should
Aug. 20.
be yielded to Charles ; and that a sum of money, not exceeding 800,000 crowns, should be paid to him as an indemnification for the expenses of the war 20. Whether Louis had obtained information of the secret, is uncertain. During the autumn he refused the king an advance of money ; now he offered, through his ambassador Ruvigni, a large sum towards the equipment of the fleet. But Charles had communicated the proposal of the States to both houses of parliament, and had been advised by them to commence the negotia- tion. He replied to Ruvigni, that he had gone too far to recede ; that necessity prevented him from supporting France any longer as her ally, but that he still hoped to be of service to his good brother as mediator between him and his oppo- nents. Sir William Temple was appointed to negociate with Del Fresno ; in three days, the articles were satisfactorily adjusted ; and Charles announced to his parliament, that he had con- Feb. n. eluded " a speedy, honourable, and, he trusted, a " lasting peace 2
21 »
20 Dumont, vii. 242.
■" L. Journ. 925, 8, 32. Dalrymple, ii. 96. Temple, ii. 247 — 50. It appears that now the committee for foreign affairs, or the cabinet council, consisted of Finch, lord keeper, viscount Latymer, lord treasurer, and the earl of Arlington, and sir Henry Coventry, secretaries of state. Temple, ibid.
CllAKLES II. 295
By this treaty, the king obtained the substance CHAP. of his demands in the summer of 1672, with the 16?4,
exception of an acknowledgment for the permis- ■
sion to fish in the British seas, the mention of rea y' which was carefully avoided by both powers. The States consented that their ships and fleets should lower their flags and topsails to every British man of war, on any part of the sea from Cape Finisterre to Van Staten in Norway, as a matter of right, and not merely of compliment ; that the English settlers in Surinam should be freely permitted to leave that colony in English ships ; that all subjects of dispute between the East-India companies of the two nations should be referred to the decision of arbitrators to sit in London ; that whatever questions might not be determined by them in the space of three months should be referred to the decision of the queen- regent of Spain ; and that the States should pay to the king of Great Britain the sum of eight hundred thousand crowns by four yearly instal- ments. Charles had formerly demanded for the prince of Orange the dignity of stadtholder, admiral, and captain general, both to him and his posterity for ever : but the States prevented the agitation of the question by conferring those offices on him and his heirs a few days previously to the opening of the negotiation 22.
m Dumont, vii. 253. There was added a secret article, that neither power should assist the enemies of the other ; but this was explained to mean, not that Charles should recal the English
296 HISTORY OV ENGLAND.
C II A P. The reader is already aware, that ever since the 1674 fall of Clarendon, the violent opponents of that
1 nobleman feared the resentment of the duke of
a^amsT York, and considered their own safety to be inti- the duke mately connected with his exclusion from the throne. The duke's subsequent adoption of the catholic creed had furnished them with an advan- tage of which they were not slow to avail them- selves. They appealed to the religious passions of the people ; they magnified the danger which threatened the established church ; and they called for the establishment of securities, which, though they equally affected the whole body of catholics, were in the intention of the framers chiefly directed against the duke's right to the succession. Their first step towards his exclusion was the enactment of the test, which not only stripped him of the extensive influence attached to his office of lord high admiral, but held him out to the people as unfit to be trusted with em- ployment under government, and consequently still more unfit to fill the most exalted magistracy in the state. Their next attempt was to expel him from the house of lords, and from the coun- cils and the presence of his brother ; and for this purpose they had devised a more comprehensive
troops serving in the French army, but that he should not suffer them to be kept up to their full complement by recruits. Temple, ii. 250.
CHARLES II. 297
test'23; and moved in the last session, that who- CHAP, ever refused to take it should be disabled from l67'^
sitting in parliament, and prohibited from ap- ■
proaching within five miles of the court. This bill had been arrested in its progress by the pro- rogation : it was now introduced a second time under more favourable auspices. Yet so nu- merous were the questions urged on the attention of the house, so long and tedious the debates, that its patrons were unable to carry it farther than the second reading before the prorogation of par- Feb. 24. liament. At the same time, in the house of lords, a different plan of securities had been devised and adopted : to disarm all catholics ; to prevent the princes of the blood from marrying any but pro- testants, and to provide that all the younger branches of the royal family, the eldest sons of catholic peers, and all the children of other catho- lics, if the father were dead, should be brought up protestants. The earl of Carlisle moved, that to a prince of the blood, the penalty for marrying
a> The notion of a more comprehensive test originated from the small number of resignations, which had followed the enactment of the last. It had disappointed the expectations of its more ardent advocates. (Marvell, i. 4-58.) Instead of inferring, which was the truth, that they had overrated the real number of catho- lics in office, they included in the new test a denial of more of the catholic doctrines; as if the men, if any such there were, who had not hesitated to abjure a part of their creed for the preservation of their places, would not as readily, through the same motive, abjure the remainder.
of that prince
298 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, a catholic should be the forfeiture of his right to 167J the succession. He was warmly supported by
Halifax and Shaftesbury, and as warmly opposed
by the lord keeper, and the earl of Peterborough : the bishop of Winchester, with several of the prelates, came to the aid of the latter, maintain- ing that such a penalty was inconsistent with the principles of Christianity, and the doctrine of the church of England ; and after a long and ani- mated debate, the amendment was rejected by a triumphant majority M.
Projects The duke of York had now but a cheerless prospect before him. He was fully aware of the object of his enemies, of the talents and influence of some, and of the reckless unprincipled characters of others. He saw that his power and popularity were gone ; the wavering disposition of his bro- ther forbad him to place his reliance on the support of the throne ; and the victory, which he had recently obtained in the house of commons, was so trifling, that it could not impart confidence, though it might exclude despair. The first expe- dient, which suggested itself to his mind, was a dissolution of parliament : but the result of ano- ther election was uncertain ; and Charles had always betrayed an insuperable dislike to the experiment. He would, he said, try the temper of the house of commons once more. If they
^ L. Journ. xii. 618, 626, 647, 9. C. Journ. Jan. 21.; Feb. 5, 20. James, i. 489. Macph. 71, 2, 5, 9.
CHARLES II. 2.09
granted him a supply, they should continue to CHAP. sit : if they refused, he would then dissolve them. 167^_
The duke next resolved to retard, as much as was
in his power, the meeting of parliament, the only opportunity which his enemies would have of accomplishing their purpose'25. But for this it was necessary to supply his brother with money ; and money could be procured only from the king of France. Fortunately, however, for his object, the views of Louis, in respect to the meeting of parliament, coincided with his own.
That prince, though deserted by his ally, still Proroga- proved a match for his enemies. If he lost Grave, J^a- he had gained several battles ; and the relinquish- ment- ment of his conquests in the Netherlands had been more than balanced by the acquisition of the important province of Franche-comte. Yet he had reason to dread the accession of England to the confederacy against him, and willingly listened to the duke of York who suggested that he should purchase the neutrality, by relieving the wants of his English brother. The sum demanded was Aug. 400,000/. ; but Louis pleaded the immense charges of the war, and the exhaustion of his treasury ; Charles descended to 300,000 pistoles ; 500,000 crowns were at length offered and accepted ; and Aug. 23. the parliament was prorogued by proclamation Nov. 10. from the 10th of November, to the 13th of April. All parties professed themselves satisfied. Charles
" Coleman's Litter in Journals of the Com. ix. 525.
300 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, obtained a temporary relief from his pecuniary i(i74. embarrassments ; Louis was freed from the appre-
hension of a war with England during the ap- proaching year ; and James had gained an addi- tional delay of five months to watch the secret intrigues, and prepare against the intended attack of his opponents '26.
Duke of But whom, it may be asked, did those oppo-
mouth. nejits mean to substitute in his place as presump- tive heir to the crown ? Hitherto they had fixed their eyes on the young duke of Monmouth ; nor was it unreasonable for them to hope that the king's partiality for his son would serve to recon- cile him to the exclusion of his brother. Neither did Monmouth himself appear indifferent to the splendid prize which solicited his pursuit, or prove inattentive to the suggestions of those who flat- tered and irritated his ambition. By their advice, he begged of Charles the appointment of com- mander-in-chief, which had been abolished, at the death of Monk, as an office dangerous to be placed in the hands of a subject, at a time when revolu-
aU Dalrymple, ii. App. 98, 9. Dalrymple observes that the in- formation in the letters of Ruvigni tallies well with the beginning of Coleman's correspondence. It does more. It shows the busy, intriguing disposition of Coleman, which was so well known to the duke, that he was not trusted by him. Coleman sought to procure money from Louis through Ferrier and Pomponne, at the very time when this bargain was concluded with Ruvigni; and so ignorant was he of its existence, that he afterwards attributes the prorogation to the advice given by himself and his friends. Cole- man's Letter, Com. Journ. ix. 526.
CHARLES II. 301
tionary principles were still cherished in the chap. country. James was alarmed : he remonstrated 167^,
against the measure ; but the affection of the king
refused to listen to his arguments, and the patent was engrossed, and received the royal signature. The duke of York, however, had his suspicions. He took it up from the table ; his jealous eye im- mediately discovered several erasures ; and these, on examination, proved to be obliterations of the word " natural," wherever Monmouth was de- scribed as the son of the king. Charles felt in- dignant at the fraud which had been practised upon him : he tore the paper into fragments ; but his anger quickly subsided ; the offence was for- given, and Monmouth obtained a second patent, drawn, however, in proper form, and with the admission of the obnoxious epithet. Still his ad- visers were not satisfied. They instructed him to ask also for the command of the Scottish array, the levy of which they attributed to views hostile to the liberties of England. The king, with his usual facility, granted the request ; but when Monmouth insisted that this commission should be drawn for life, and without mention of his illegitimacy, he was disappointed in both points by the vigilance and firmness of Lauderdale 2;.
57 James, i. 496, 7. The next year the duke of York was more successful. Russell, colonel of the foot guards, solicited leave to sell his commission, and the king agreed to purchase it for the earl of Mulgrave, who was afterwards duke of Buckingham- But Mulgrave had seduced the mistress of Monmouth, who, in
30'2 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C HA P. A second, and in many respects a more formid-
1674* able rival, was William, prince of Orange, the
next in succession to the crown after the dnke of
itrigues York and his children. William was a protestant ;
Orange
of the
prince of his heroic exertions in defence of his country had exalted him in the eyes of all who dreaded the ambitious designs of the French monarch ; and some of the popular leaders in England had not hesitated to pledge themselves to his service and to advocate his interests, even at a time when he was at war with their sovereign. The correspond- ence between them passed through the hands of Du Moulins, who, on suspicion of treachery, had been dismissed from the office of lord Arlington, and had obtained in Holland the appointment of private secretary to the prince. His agents in England were Frymans, a Dutchman, and Wil- liam Howard, the member for Winchelsea, and afterwards lord Howard of Escrick. The first was screened from detection by his obscurity ; but the discovery of certain important documents,
revenge, extorted, by his importunity, from the king a promise of the regiment for himself (1675. Ap. 24). Mulgrave spoke to the duke. He observed to him, that as the regiment of two thousand four hundred men formed the strength of the army, the succession to the crown might one day depend on the fidelity of its comman- der. James instantly caught the alarm. He applied to the king, to Monmouth, to the minister, but in vain. At last he prevailed on Russell, in consideration of a valuable present, to tell the king that he repented of his design: that it would break his heart to leave the service of his sovereign. Thus Monmouth was dis- appointed. Buck. Memoirs, ii. 33—38. Macph. i. 84.
CHARLES II. 303
furnished to the States by Howard, led to his CHAP.
IV
incarceration in the Tower, where he purchased 1674.
his pardon by an ingenuous confession. The king
then became acquainted, for the first time, with the plan arranged between the prince and his Eng- lish adherents, guided, as it was believed, by Shaftesbury, during the last winter, — that the Dutch fleet should suddenly appear at the mouth of the river ; that they should improve the panic which it would occasion, to raise the people ; and that the king should be compelled by clamour and intimidation to separate from his alliance with France. The conclusion of peace prevented the attempt ; but did not dissolve the connexion It was proposed, with the aid of money from Hol- land, to form a party in parliament, which should force Charles to join with the States as an ally in the war ; and the prince was not only encouraged to hope for success by exaggerated statements of the national discontent, but advised to be in readiness to take advantage of any revolution which might follow 28.
The king was aware of the correspondence, but Of Shaf- not of the particulars : and his jealousy was aug- tes ury' mented by the ambiguous language of the in- structions found upon Carstairs, an agent from the prince for the levy of troops. He resolved to watch more narrowly the conduct of Shaftesbury,
,3 D'Avaux, i. S. Burnet, ii. 56. Burnet, however, should be corrected Ly Temple, ii. 286, 291, 334-, 337.
504.
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, who already began to practise those arts of ex- 1674.. citing the passions of the people, which he after-
■ wards employed to a greater extent, and with a
more favourable result. He represented himself as having earned by his zeal for protestantism the hatred of the papists : under pretence that his life was in danger from their malice, he procured lodgings in the house of Cook, an anabaptist preacher, and announced to the citizens that he trusted for his safety to their vigilance and fidelity. But the king had no intention that the agitator should gain the ascendancy in the capital. He informed Shaftesbury that he was acquainted with his intrigues ; he ordered him to quit Lon- don and retire to his house in the country ; he dined in public with the lord mayor on the 29th of October, and accepted, in a gold box, the freedom of the city. On such occasions the king was irresistible. In defiance of the reports cir- culated against him, he won by his affability and cheerfulness the hearts of the citizens 29.
OfArling- During the summer Charles had leisure to de- cide on the fate of the three ministers, who had drawn upon themselves the displeasure of the parliament. He considered Lauderdale as a ser- vant of the crown of Scotland, and resolved to retain him in all his offices in opposition to the votes of the house of commons. Buckingham he dismissed without regret ; and that nobleman
2 Macph. i. 73. Kennet, 300.
CHARLES II. 3°5
immediately joined Shaftesbury, and proved him- CHAP. self a valuable auxiliary in the ranks of his l67'^
former enemies. Arlington, by the royal com
mand, accepted from sir Joseph Williamson the sum of 6,000/. for the secretaryship of state, and was raised to a more honourable, though less influential, office, that of chamberlain of the household. He did not, however, disguise to himself the real cause of his removal. He had observed the rapid progress which the new trea- surer, lately created earl of Danby, had made in the royal favour ; he saw that, to support his own declining credit, it was necessary to render some signal service to the king ; and with this view he proposed to him the negotiation of a marriage between William, prince of Orange, and Mary, eldest daughter and presumptive heir to the duke of York. As the prince was a protestant, such marriage, he argued, would tend to allay the religious apprehensions of the people ; and, as it would open to him a fair prospect of succeeding to the throne, it might reasonably be expected in return, that he should divorce himself from his political connexion with the popular leaders, and second the king in his endeavours to me- diate a general peace. It was in vain that the duke of York objected : when he claimed the rights of a parent, he was told that his children were the property of the nation ; and when he urged the indelicacy of making his daughter the wooer, it was replied, that it would
VOL. XII. x
IV. 1674.
Nov. 10.
306 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, be the care of the negotiator to lead the prince by hints and suggestions to make the first proposal. Charles entered warmly into the project, and the earls of Arlington and Ossory proceeded with their families to the Hague, under the pretence of visiting the relations of their wives, two sisters of the house of Beverwaert. But William had already taken his determination. For Arlington he had contracted an insuperable aversion, and when that minister complained to him in his uncle's name of his reluctance to accept the king's mediation, and of his intrigues against the royal authority, he replied, that peace must depend on the consent of those allies who had so generously rescued his country from the grasp of the invader, and that his honour forbade him to enter into explanations which might compromise the safety of his friends in England. To the earl of Ossory, whom the prince, on account of his naval reputation, treated with more respect, had been assigned the first mention of the in- tended marriage ; but the moment he attempted to introduce the subject, William interrupted him by the laconic remark, that, in the existing cir- cumstances, he was not in a condition to think of a wife. The fact was, that his English adherents were alarmed. They admonished him to be on his guard against the wiles and sophistry of Arlington, and conjured him to reject the proposal of marriage as an artifice devised by his enemies, to destroy his popularity, by persuading the
CHARLES II. 307
people that he was joined in league with the CHAP king and the duke against their liberties and reli- }X\
° c 1674.
gion. The advice was religiously obeyed ; and
the envoys, having paid a short visit to their relations, returned to England. Here Arlington found that the failure of his mission did not con- tribute to raise him in the estimation of his sove- reign, and that Danby had improved the oppor- tunity furnished by his absence, to render himself the lord of the ascendant 3".
As the winter passed, the leaders of the twoPla»sof
,'iii i the oppo-
great parties held numerous consultations, to sition. recruit their forces, and arrange their plans against the approaching session of parliament. In the house of lords the adversaries of the minister could present a small but formidable minority under the duke of Buckingham, the earls of Shaftesbury and Salisbury, and the lord Wharton. In that of the commons they formed a numerous party under active and experienced leaders ; among whom were Garroway and Lee, veterans, who had long been listened to as oracles in the house ; Powle and Lyttleton, skilled in the science of forms and the application of precedents ; lord Caven- dish, distinguished by the versatility of his talents
3° James, i. 500—2. Temple, ii. 287—295, 334- Coleman's Letter, C Journ. ix. 527. The origin of the prince's aversion to Arlington arose from that minister's attempts in favour of the pro- ject to legitimate Monmouth. Macph. i. 74, 84. When the offer of marriage was made, he knew that the duchess of York was in an advanced state of pregnancy, a circumstance which consider- ably lessened its value.
X 2
IV. 167 *.
308 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, and the elegance of his manners; the votary at the same time of ambition and of pleasure, ardent in his pursuits, and implacable in his resentments ; lord Rnssel, less brilliant and less eloquent than his friend, but more regular in his morals, and more respected by his colleagues ; sir William Coventry, whose experience easily detected the arts and sophistry of the ministers, and whose apparent want of passion gave the semblance of impartiality to his opinions ; and Birch, who had been a colonel in the revolutionary army, and was now the roughest, boldest speaker in the house 31. To these should be added Meres, Sacheverell, Vaughan, and several others, ready and zealous debaters on every question ; but the master spirit, who guided the motions of the whole body, was the earl of Shaftesbury, and to him was occasionally joined the earl of Arlington, who, through his eagerness to humble a successful rival, forgot his obligations to his sovereign, and readily lent his aid to oppose those counsels, in the origination of which he no longer participated. Among them, it was determined to insist on the recal of the English troops serving in the French army ; to advise an immediate union with the allies for the purpose of breaking the power of
31 Sir Edward Seymour once reflected on Birch's former occupa- tion, that of a common carrier. "■ It is true ", he replied, " I was " once a carrier, and it is well for the gentleman that he was " not one too. For if he had, he would never have been any thing " else ". Burnet, ii. 80. note.
CHARLES II. 3°9
Louis XIV. ; to impeach the earl of Danby ; and CHAF. to refuse all pecuniary aid as long as he should 1675.
retain the office of lord treasurer. Some of these
were popular measures ; all were calculated to embarrass the court, and might, by leading to a change of administration, place Shaftesbury and Arlington once more at the head of the govern- ment -32.
Danby, on the other hand, prepared to meet his Of the mi- opponents with a confident anticipation of victory. He had persuaded himself that their success in the former session was owing to the dexterity with which they employed the cry of " no po- pery ", and marshalled in their favour the reli- gious fears and jealousies of the people. He obtained permission of the king to oppose them with their own weapons, and for this purpose, to employ the whole power of government in putting down every species of sectarianism and dissent, and to rally the cavaliers and the clergy round the throne, by identifying the cause of the church with that of the court. A council was Jan. y5# held by appointment at Lambeth ; several of the bishops met the lord keeper, the lord treasurer, Lauderdale, and the two secretaries of state ; the king's anxiety for the support and prosperity of the establishment was explained ; the aid of the prelates and clergy was demanded ; and a plan of
» See Burnet, ii. HO — 83, and Temple, ii. 309. Temple was employed by the king to expostulate with Arlington.
310 in STORY OF E NO LAND.
CHAP- combined operation was arranged. In a few days 1675. tQe nrs^ fi*llits °f the consultation appeared. A
proclamation was published, embodying six orders
which had recently been made in council, that all natives who had taken orders in the church of Rome, should quit the realm in the space of six weeks, under the penalty of death 3a ; that every subject of the three kingdoms, who presumed to attend at mass, either in the queen's chapel, or in any chapel belonging to the foreign ambassadors, should for that offence suffer a year's imprisonment and pay a fine of one hundred marks, of which a third part should be given as a reward to the in- former ; that all convictions of popish recusants, particularly among the more opulent classes, should be brought to a conclusion without delay, and certified into his majesty's exchequer ; that any papist, or reputed papist, who should dare to enter the palaces of Whitehall, or of St. James's, or any other place where the court might chance to be, should, if a peer, be committed to the Tower, if under the rank of a peer, to one of the common gaols ; and, lastly, that, since all licenses for separate places of worship had been recalled, the laws for the suppression of conventicles should be rigorously enforced 3\
33 In this and all similar proclamations, Mr. John Huddleston was excepted on account of his services to the king after the battle of Worcester.
31 Wilkins, Con. iv. 595. Kennet, 301. Burnet, 253.
CHARLES II. 311
By the popular party, this proclamation was CHAP.
IV.
1675.
ridiculed as a weak and unworthy artifice to blind
the eyes of the people. Among the catholics and .
non-conformists, it created considerable alarm. ^emon~
strance ot
A deputation of ministers waited on the duke the duke
of York
of York, reminded him of his frequent declara- tions in favour of liberty of conscience, and so- licited his protection against the intolerant policy of the cabinet. But James had already remon- strated in vain. He had represented to the king, that such severity to the dissenters was dangerous, because it might goad that numerous and powerful body to resistance ; and with respect to catholics, it was ungrateful, on account of their former ser- vices to his father, and unnecessary, because, few as they were in number, and incapacitated by tests and disqualifications, they possessed not the power, even if they had the will, of injuring the esta- blishment. But Charles, assured of his brother's submission, cared little for his objections : he even prepared for him a more bitter mortification. In virtue of the royal mandate, the bishop of Loudon conducted the princess Mary to church, and con- ferred on her the riffht of confirmation in defiance of the authority of her father'35.
At the appointed time, the session was opened Opening
()f 1 1 IP SGS"
Avith a speech from the throne. The king as- sion sured the two houses, that his great object in April 13.
3s James, i. in.1). .500. Macpherson (i.?.5, 81, 1.) postpones the confirmation of the princess to the following year.
31C HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. calling them together was to come to a right iv. &
1C73. understanding with his parliament, and to expose
to the world the hollow and wicked designs of those who sought to drive him to a dissolution. But these men would find themselves disappointed. He was neither so weak nor so irresolute as to part with his friends in order to oblige his enemies. In the speech of the lord keeper, the chief novelty was an awkward attempt to justify the late intolerant proclamation. The govern- ment, he said, was placed in a most delicate and difficult situation, between the church on one side, and the dissenters and catholics on the other. If the king suspended the execution of the penal laws, he was told that he deserted the cause of the church : if he enforced them, he was reproached with the charge of persecution. But it was better to have some rule than none ; otherwise universal toleration, and endless confusion, the necessary consequences of toleration, must ensue. The king had followed the rule laid down by the legislature ; and, if any man felt aggrieved by it, he was still at liberty to appeal to the wisdom and equity of par- liament, the best judge of the real interests of the nation 36.
to^n&e °f the plan devised at Lambeth, that part
house of which regarded the suppression of popery was
' entrusted to the friends of the minister in the
house of commons, where to such a proposal, no
3" L. Journ. xi. 6J3, 1.
CHARLES II. 3]3
opposition could be expected. Resolutions were CHAP, accordingly voted : committees were appointed, 167'Sm
and bills were introduced. Still nothing was
done. That zeal for orthodoxy, which had for- April 17. merly animated the members, seemed to be extinct, Al3nl 21* and not one of the bills proceeded any further than the second reading. The fact was, that the popular leaders ceased to urge the suppression of popery, when their opponents could claim the chief merit of the measure ;J7. Their efforts were directed to the pursuit of their own objects. 1°. They obtained a renewal of the address to remove Lauderdale from office ; but Charles was now April 23. furnished with a ready answer, — that the words laid to his charge, if spoken at all, were spoken before the last act of grace, and must therefore be covered by it ; and that the act of the Scottish parliament for the levy of the army necessarily arose out of a preceding act in 1C63, when Lau- derdale was not the royal commissioner38. 2°. Lord April 2c
37 Com. Journ. Ap. 16, 17, 21. May 27. Marvcll, i. 217, 237, 240. " Wc were confident", says Coleman, " that the ministers " having turned their faces, the parliament would do so too, and " still be against them, and be as little for persecution then, as " they were for popery before". Com. Journ. ix. 527.
38 Burnet disgraced himself on this occasion. Out of ill humour at the treatment which he had received from Lauderdale, he re- vealed to his enemies the purport of a confidential conversation with that nobleman, and repeated it, though apparently with re- luctance, at the bar of the house of commons. " The truth is," he says of himself, " I had been above a year in perpetual agita- " tion, and was not calm or cool enough to reflect on my conduct " as I ought to have done". By this treachery he lost the favour
314 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. William Russell called the attention of the house
T"17"
\675. *° ^ie conduct °f the lord treasurer ; and seven
< articles of impeachment were exhibited against him,
charging him with improper use of the authority of his office, to deceive the king, enrich his own family, and squander the royal treasure. There appears to have been little ground for any of these charges : but Danby did not rely solely on his innocence. He was careful to purchase adherents in the house, not after the manner of his prede- cessors, by offering presents to the more eminent speakers, but by seeking out silent votes, which might be procured at a lower price, and therefore May 3. in greater number. The articles against him were debated separately, and each in its turn was rejected39. 3°. Besides Dauby, the Dutch and Spanish ambassadors had also been lavish of money. Their object was to procure the revo- cation of the English regiments in the French army ; and their efforts were zealously aided by the 2>opular party. To the address for this pur- May t. pose presented by the house, Charles replied, that the English corps was inconsiderable in point of number ; and he would take care that it should not be recruited. More than this he could not
of the king, and also of the duke of York, who had previously protected him from the resentment of Lauderdale. Burnet, ii. 63—5. Marvell, i. 221.
3 ' Com. Journ. Ap. 26, 27, 30. May 3. Pari. Hist. iv. 688— 695. Burnet, ii. 69. Marvell, i. 225, 7, 426. If we may believe Coleman, 200,000/. was spent in bribes by the different parties during this session. Com. Journ. ix. 528.
CHARLES II. 315
do: to recal it would be inconsistent with his CHAP.
IV. honour. This answer provoked a most vehement i67'5
debate in a committee of the whole house. On
one side it was maintained that the English May ly' amounted to eight thousand men, that they formed the chief force in the army commanded by Tu- renne, and that to their gallantry were owing most of the advantages which had been gained by that general. On the other, it was contended that they did not exceed two thousand horse and foot ; that, on the conclusion of the peace with the States, it was mutually understood that they were not to be recalled ; and that a much greater num- ber of British subjects was actually serving in the Dutch army under the prince of Orange. On a division, the tellers were charged with negli- gence or fraud ; instantly the leaders who sat on the lowest benches sprung to the table, and the other members on each side crowded to their sup- port. Lord Cavendish and Sir John Hanmer dis- tinguished themselves by their violence ; and epithets of insult, with threats of defiance, were reciprocally exchanged. The tumult had lasted half an hour, when the speaker, without asking permission, took possession of the chair ; the mace, after some resistance, was again placed on the table ; the members resumed their seats ; and, on the motion of Sir Thomas Lee, a promise was given by each in his turn, that he would take no notice out of doors of what had happened May 11. within. The discussion of the question was May 20. again brought forward. On one occasion the J,mc -•
316 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C II A P. ministers obtained the majority by a single voiee ; 167'5 on another they were defeated by the casting vote
of the speaker. A new address was ordered ;
but there is no evidence that it was ever pre- sented 40. Non-re- Tne more important part of the ministerial
sisting-
test in the project, the panacea for all the evils of the nation, lords? ° was reserved for the house of lords, in which the court was assured of an overwhelming majority. This was introduced in the shape of a test to be taken by all members of parliament ; by privy councillors, magistrates, and all persons holding office under the crown. The test itself was made up of the several oaths and declarations which, by successive acts of parliament after the restora- tion, had been imposed upon members of cor- porations, officers of the army, and ministers of the church. These acts, however, had been passed at a time when the nation had not reco- vered from that phrenzy of loyalty into which it had been thrown by the return of the king : now the minds of men had been allowed leisure to cool ; an intention of establishing arbitrary power had, by report, been attributed to the king ; and the doctrines of the year forty-one had begun to resume their former influence. That protection and allegiance are correlative, and that the law which secures the rights of the people sanctions
4° Com. Joum. May 8, 10, 11, 20. June 2. Pari. Hist. iv. 699 — 709. Marvel, ii. 232. Cavendish and Newport, in consequence of their behaviour on this occasion, were forbidden the court. lb. J2(5.
CHARLES II. 3i?
resistance to the invasion of those rights, were CHAP.
IV
principles openly inculcated and maintained : and 1675
it was to check their diffusion, and to remove
their supporters from parliament and office, that the non-resisting test had been devised. The king interested himself warmly in its success. He attended daily, standing as a sjDectator at the fire-side ; but his presence, though it might ani- mate the champions of the court, did not dismay or silence their opponents41. The debates occu- pied seventeen days, often from an early hour till eight in the evening, sometimes till midnight. It is acknowledged, that on no former occasion had such a display of eloquence and ability been exhibited in that house ; never had any question been discussed with so much obstinacy and ad- dress. The lords who chiefly distinguished them- selves by their advocacy of the measure, were the lord treasurer, the lord keeper, and the bishops Morley and Ward ; and to these were opposed the acknowledged leaders of the popular party, with two catholic peers, the marquess of Winchester and the lord Petre 12. The former argued that
41 " If nut the sun, the fire-side was always in their faces." Marvell, i. 516.
«• In Macpherson's extracts, we are told that when Shaftesbury applied to the catholic peers for their support, some replied that they dared not oppose the king. It might provoke him to execute the penal laws against them, perhaps to seek their exclusion from parliament, in which they knew from experience that Shaftesbury's party would concur. " lie swore that he and his friends never " would, and wished that his tongue might cleave to the roof of " his mouth, if he ever spoke for so unjust a thing." Macph. i. 80.
31 8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, the principle of the test had already been reeog- i67^ nized in the acts for corporations, the militia, and
■ — the church ; that the only object of the present
bill was to render that principle more generally useful by extending its operation ; that it would thus offer a sufficient security both to church and state ; and at the same time a security so " mo- derate," that it could not be refused by any but those who cherished seditious and antimonarchical sentiments ; and who, on that very account, ought not to be trusted with the office of making or of administering the laws. Their opponents re- plied, that the question was now altered ; that while the test was confined to persons in inferior situations, there remained the high court of par- liament to explain its meaning, and control its application : but that now it was intended to bind the parliament itself, and to make all ranks of men dependent on the pleasure of the sovereign. Such a test invested both the crown and mitre with a divine right, which could not be controlled by any human power, and amounted in effect to a " dissettlement of the whole birthright of " England." Debate on When it came to be debated in its several parts, ration!0 &" tne opposition lords objected that the first clause, which pronounced it " unlawful, on any pretence " whatsoever, to take up arms against the king ", was calculated to provoke doubts and questions, which a wise administration would seek to pre- vent. What, it might be asked, was the distinc-
CHARLES II. 319
tion between passive obedience, and the unlawful- CHAP. ness of resistance in anv circumstances whatso- ,r~',
J 1675.
ever : where the difference between an absolute
government and a limited monarchy, if there were no boundary to submission under either ? Against the second, that it " is traitorous to take " up arms by the kings authority against his " person", (an allusion to the language of the parliament during the civil war,) they argued, that circumstances might occur, as in the case of Henry VI., in which such taking up of arms might tend to the benefit and safety of the sove- reign ; and the third, which extended the same doctrine to the employment of force against per- sons commissioned by the crown, they described as leading to the most oppressive and alarming results. It specified neither the object of the commission, nor the qualification of the commis- sioner ; but made it treason to oppose with force the unlawful aggression not only of sheriffs and magistrates, but even of naval and military offi- cers ; for all these were armed with commissions from the king, and might pretend to act in " pursuance of such commission".
The great struggle, however, remained. The Debate on oath was at first conceived in the following ° words : " I do swear that I will not endeavour " the alteration of the government either in " church or state ". The practice of multiplying oaths was represented as impious, by holding out temptations to perjury, and as useless, because
20 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, oaths bind only men of honourable and virtuous 1675. minds, from whom sedition or rebellion is not to
■ be apprehended. But to this oath in particular it
was objected, that if it were made a necessary qualification for a seat in parliament, it would operate to the disherison both of the people and the peerage : of the people, by trenching* on their right of entrusting to men of their own choice the power of imposing the public taxes ; and of the peerage, by depriving the peers, who should re- fuse to take it, of the right to which they were born, of sitting in that house, and taking a part in the discussion of all subjects debated within its walls. The latter part of this objection was urged with so much vehemence, that the ministers deemed it prudent to yield. The lord treasurer proposed a resolution, which, at the suggestion of the duke of York, was changed into a standing order of the house, that " no oath should ever be " imposed, by bill or otherwise, the refusal of " which should deprive any peer of his place or " vote in parliament, or of liberty of debate " therein43".
4" L. Journ. xii. 673. Macph. i. 81. In lieu of the oath pro- posed by the bill, and all other tests to be taken by members of parliament, the following was moved as an amendment by the marquess of Winchester : " I swear that I will never by threats, " injunctions, promises, advantages, or invitations, by or from " any person whatsoever, or through the hope or prospect of any " gift, place, office or benefit whatsoever, give my vote otherwise " than according to my opinion and conscience, as I shall be truly " and really persuaded upon the debate of any business in par-
CHARLES II. 321
When the house proceeded to consider the form c H A P. of the proposed oath., the bishops were exposed to l67'5 the profane jests and irreverent sarcasms of the
duke of Buckingham, and called upon to answer [£f~ several searching and vexatious inquiries by the dissenting peers. What, it was asked, was this episcopal government, to which the subject had now to swear allegiance ? From whom did the prelates profess to derive] their powers? They replied, that the priesthood, and the powers of the priesthood, came to them from Christ ; the licence to exercise those powers from the civil magistrate. " But ", exclaimed the lord Wharton, " excom- " munication is one of those powers ; do you " derive from the sovereign the licence to excom- " municate the sovereign?" This, it was an- swered, was to suppose an extreme case which had never arrived, and probably never would arrive. Others observed, that the oath provided only for " the government ", or discipline of the church : why were its doctrines omitted ? The government of the church of Rome was episcopal : no catholic- would object totake theoath,even if attlie sametime he should meditate the subversion of one church, and the establishment of the other. This objection
" liament." Such an oath would prohably have been as unpalat- able to the opponents as to the adherents of the minister. It was, however, seconded and supported : and the odium of rejecting it was left to the lord keeper, who contended, tlint the hope of re- ward was not incompatible with integrity of conduct ; and was sometimes necessary to stimulate tin' indolent and the indifferent. Pari. Hist. iv. App. Ixii.
VOL. XII. V
322 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, alarmed the lord treasurer, and he offered to add 1675. tne words "the protestant religion". " But what",
asked the earl of Shaftesbury, " is the protestant
" religion ? Where are its boundaries ? How " are they to be ascertained ?" The bishop of Winchester replied, that the protestant religion was comprehended in the thirty-nine articles, the liturgy, the catechism, the canons, and the homi- lies. His opponent again inquired, whether every thing contained in these five books were part and parcel of the protestant religion ? If so, then it must be contended that their authors were infalli- ble, and had laid down nothing which ought to be rejected or reformed. If not, then the objection recurred ; the precise limits of the protestant religion were unknown, and no man could con- scientiously bind himself by oath never to alter a system, with the real extent of which he was un- acquainted. To escape from the difficulty, the words, " now established by law in the church of " England ", were added.
From the government of the church, the debate proceeded to the government in the state. Here the opponents of the measure renewed the strug- gle with equal obstinacy. Were the civil institu- tions of the country so perfect as to admit of no improvement ? Could no combination of circum- stances ever occur to make some alteration expe- dient ? Let the house give its sanction to this part of the oath, and the chief privilege of the peerage was gone for ever. They might assemble and vote supplies ; but to legislate on any subject
CHARLES II. 323
connected with the government of the country char would be a violation of the test. They must 1G7;
abandon their duty as a part of the legislature, or
perform it under the guilt of perjury.
At length, after a variety of amendments and The test,
° as amend-
adjournments, divisions and protests, the declara- ed in the
tion and oath were passed in the committee, in the ™mimt~
following improved form. " I, A. B. do declare
" that it is not lawful, on any pretence whatsoever,
" to take up arms against the king ; and I do
" abhor the traitorous position of taking arms by
" his authority against his person or against those
" that are commissioned by him according to law,
" in time of rebellion and war, and acting in pur-
" suance of such commission. I, A. B. do swear
" that I will not endeavour any alteration of the
'.' protestant religion now established by law in
" the church of England, nor will I endeavour
" any alteration in the government, in church or
" state, as it is by law established ". There only
remained to determine the penalty of a refusal to
take the test, which, in defiance of all the efforts
of the opposition, was fixed at a fine of 500/.. and
incapacity to hold office or commission under the
crown. But, as (his incapacity did not affect the
right of silling in either house, the members of
both were made subject to a repetition of the fine
in every succeeding parliament44.
*« For this important debate, sec the Lords' Journals, xii. tifi.5, 9, 671, ?„ I, 7,682. Pari. Hist. tv. 7, 14— 721. App. xviii.— xlvii. Burnet, ii. 71 — 1. Marvell, i. 510— 8. North r>2. The test was
v 2
324 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C H A P. To retard the progress of the bill, had been the
1675. great object of the country party in the house of
lords : to throw it out was to be the achievement
respecting °^ ^leu' associates in that of the commons. But appeals, even there much had lately happened to shake their confidence in their own power ; the fate of the impeachment of Dauby, and the rejection of a bill to prevent members from accepting places under government, had convinced them that the ministers could command the votes of many secret, but faithful, adherents. To relieve them from their apprehensions, an event occurred which, if it were not, as is probable, originally contrived, was at least most dexterously improved, to suspend the course of ordinary business in both houses, and to provoke a dissolution, or at least a prorogation of parliament. At all times it had been customary to appeal by writ of error from the decisions in the courts of law to the house of lords, as the su- preme judicature in the nation, and during the reign of James I. similar proceedings had been in- troduced relative to judgments in chancery. It happened that at this period the defendants in three of these appeals to the justice of the lords possessed seats in the house of commons ; and when notice to appear was served on sir John
originally devised by Clarendon ; but his son, who on the death of the exile had succeeded to the title, constantly opposed it. His name is in all the protests entered in the journals ; and the king was so displeased with his conduct, that he deprived him of his place of chamberlain to the queen. Marvell, i. 227.
CHARLES II. 325
Fao-fr, one of the three, the house voted such a chap.
*~ IV
notice a breach of privilege. The lords insisted 1(i7^
on their claim. Theirs was the only court to de-
cide on writs of error or appeal ; they sate only y 5" at the same time with the house of commons ; and therefore, if they could not hear causes in which the members of that house were parties, a denial of justice must follow. The commons dis- puted the inference — it might be a suspension, but not a denial of justice — the appeal might be heard, when the parties were no longer entitled to the privilege of parliament. Nothing could be weaker than such reasoning ; but they compen- sated for its weakness by the vigour of their con- duct. They committed to the Tower, Shirley and May 12. Stoughton, two of the appellants; resolved that May 15. to prosecute in the house? of lords any cause against a member of their house was a breach of privilege; declared that no appeal lay from the May 28. chancery to any other tribunal ; and voted that June 1. four barristers, who, by order of the lords, had pleaded before them in one of the appeals, should be taken into custody. This last insult set the higher house in a flame ; and the opponents of the test, whose real aim was to foment the quarrel, were the foremost to defend the rights of the peerage. The captive barristers were rescued by June 2. the usher of the black rod from the grasp of the Serjeant at arms, who suddenly absconded, that he might escape (he punishment with which the house of commons had determined to visit his pusillani-
326 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, mity or negligence. Two days afterwards, the 1675. speaker, as he passed through Westminster hall,
arrested Pemberton, one of the barristers, and
June 4. j.QOk jjjg prisoner with him to his chamber 45 ; the new serjeant at arms brought the other three out of the court of king's bench, and all four were conveyed to the Tower. The house of lords was not slow to undertake their protection. A mes- sage was sent to the lieutenant to set them at liberty, and, when he demurred, four writs of habeas corpus were forwarded by the lord keeper, June 7. commanding him to produce his prisoners before June 8. the king in his high court of parliament. The lieutenant was perplexed. He consulted the house of commons, which forbad him to obey the writs ; and, in this choice of evils, he preferred, as the less dangerous, to incur the displeasure of the lords 46. Proroga- During the altercation, Charles had addressed June 5 ^oth houses in the tone, and with the dignity, of a master. They were, he told them, the dupes of men, enemies to him and to the church of Eng-
*> Burnet (but to Burnet alone little credit is due,) tells us, that Seymour the speaker was " the most immoral and impious man " of the age, the unjustest and blackest man that lived in his time." Of his pride, an instance is related by lord Dorchester, that when his carriage broke down near Charing-cross, he took possession of the first gentleman's carriage that came by, and turned out the owner, telling him, it was more proper that he, than the speaker of the house of commons, should walk in the street. Burnet, ii. 70 note.
I" L. Journ. 679, 80, 91, 4, 8, 700, 6, 10, 13, 16, 18, 720, 3, 5, 7. Com. Journ. May 5, 15, 28; June 1, 4, 8. Marvell, i. 517. Burnetii. 75. Pari. Hist. iv. 721. St. Trials, vi. 1121,
CHARLES II. 327
land : the authors of the quarrel, sought not the C H A P.
IV.
1675.
preservation of privilege, but the dissolution of
parliament : let the two houses confer coolly and
dispassionately together : they would easily dis- cover the means of reconciliation, or, if they did not, he would judge impartially between them, for he could not sit a silent spectator of a dispute which threatened to spread itself through the na- tion, for a mere question of privilege. But his advice was disregarded : the irritation of the par- ties was nourished by repeated acts of defiance ; and on the fourth day, the king came to the house June 9. of lords, and put an end to the session 47.
The short duration of the recess, and the assur- Another
session.
ance that the parliament should meet again in October, led to a suspicion that the government was reduced to the lowest state of pecuniary dis- tress ; and the leaders of the country party re- solved to persist in their plan of opposing a sup- ply, with the hope of provoking a dissolution of the administration, or of the parliament. The first would offer to their ambition the offices held by their opponents, the latter would be succeeded by a general election, in which they promised themselves a decided superiority. The houses accordingly met : the king solicited the aid of his people to pay off the anticipations on the revenue, amounting to 800,000/., and to put the navy in a condition to maintain the dignity of the British
47 Com. Journals, June A, 'J. L. Journ. 725, 9.
328
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
Oct. 19.
C HAP. flag 1S. In the committee on the royal speech, the 1675. ministers obtained at first the majority by the casting vote of the chairman. But on a second division they were defeated by a small majority, and the house refused to entertain the question of supply on account of anticipations. This was a severe disappointment ; yet Danby did not des- pond : a long session would afford him the op- portunity of appealing to the ambition and cupi- dity of the members ; and it was possible that several might oppose the court now, with the sole view of obtaining a higher price for their future services. The house proceeded with the public business. It was voted that 400,000/. per annum should be taken from the customs, and applied to the maintenance of the navy ; that a sum of 300,000/. should be raised and placed in the cham- ber of London, and be appropriated to the build- ing of twenty ships of war ; that papists should be disabled from sitting in either house of parlia- ment ; that a bill should be introduced to recal the English forces serving in the French army ; and that a remedy should be devised to prevent bribery in elections. In the divisions which these ques- tions produced, the balance inclined alternately in favour of the opposite parties ; and the majorities were so trifling, that it was impossible to foresee
4S The reader is aware that it was the custom to " anticipate," that is, to mortgage, certain branches of the revenue for the pay- ment of the capital and interest of loans of money.
CHARLES II. 329
which would ultimately obtain the superiority49. CHAP. In the house of lords, Shirley hastened to revive 1675_
the question of his appeal. Each party sought
to cast on the other the odium of the measure ; ^XeTon- but the subsequent proceedings shew that the ap- test be- pellant acted under the advice, or by the instiga- houses. tion of Shaftesbury and his friends. In the de- bate, which was continued by adjournment for several days, that nobleman displayed extraordi- nary eloquence and warmth ; and obtained, in defiance of the ministers and the prelates, the appointment of a day for the hearing of the Nov. i- appeal. It might be that, as he pretended, he sought to establish beyond dispute the claim of the peerage ; but he had moreover a private and more interested motive. He was the author of a pamphlet recently published, under the title of " A Letter from a Person of Quality to a Friend " in the Country," purporting to detail the debate in the last session on the question of the non- resisting test. This tract the house voted " a " lying, scandalous, and seditious libel " : it was ordered to be burnt by the hand of the common hangman, and a committee was appointed to dis- cover the author, printer, and publisher. Under such circumstances, the renewal of the quarrel between the houses offered him the best shelter from prosecution. In the commons, attempts were made to revive the violent votes of the last
« Com. Journals, Oct. 19. Pari. Hist. iv. 751— 7. Marvell, i. 252—68.
330
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C Vv P' sess*on against the claim of the peers ; but they kj7o. were constantly defeated by the court party, who
on this subject commanded a large majority, and
Nov. is. procured a vote for a conference, " to preserve a " good understanding between the two houses ". In that meeting they suggested that, according to the royal advice, all subjects of national interest should take precedence of the question of judica- ture ; but Shaftesbury opposed the expedient under different pretexts, and a resolution was carried to hear the appeal on the following morning. The resentment of the commons could no longer be restrained ; in one house the obnoxious votes Nov. 20. were revived 50 ; in the other, lord Mohun moved an address for the dissolution of the parliament. Thus a new subject of contention was raised, which called forth the whole strength of the two parties. The popular leaders supported the mo- tion, on the ground that frequent parliaments were required by the ancient constitution of the kingdom ; that the existing house of commons, chosen in 1661, did not in fact represent the sense of the nation in 1675 ; and that the pretensions which it set forth, the violence which it displayed, the superiority which it assumed, had led to a state of things, in which the parliament, instead of proving a national benefit, had become a useless
s° Marvell, i. 270, 1. Com. Journ. Nov. 18, 19. L. Journals, xiii. 29.
CHARLES II. 531
incumbrance ; but that with a new house, the real chap. representatives of the people, no cause of dissension 1675
would exist ; the restoration of harmony would
enable parliament to provide for every interest, to grant supplies to the crown, to establish secu- rities for the church, to extend indulgence to dis- senters, and to secure to the catholics the posses- sion of their property and hereditary honours. On the other hand, the minister and his adherents contended, that a dissolution was both unnecessary and dangerous. As former dissensions between the houses had been healed, so the present was not without its remedy. Whatever might be the faults of the house of commons, the civil and re- ligious principles of its members had been proved. A new election might introduce new men, hostile both to the church and the throne; antimo- narchical doctrines might regain the ascendancy; and the miseries of the year forty-one might be renewed. Hitherto the duke of York, however he might disapprove, had deemed it his duty to ab- stain from all open opposition to the measures of government ; on this occasion he gave his powerful aid to lord Mohun ; and his example drew after it the support of his adherents, and of the catho- lic peers. The minister was alarmed ; his adver- saries out-numbered his followers in the house ; and it was only through the aid of proxies that he was able to obtain the small majority of two votes. The consequence was an immediate prorogation ; Nov. 22.
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, not for a short space, after the usual manner, 1675. ^ut f°r *ne unprecedented duration of fifteen
months 51.
Account During this session an adventurer made his ap-
Cy. pearance on the public stage, the prototype of the
celebrated Titus Oates. He was a foreigner, the son of Beauchateau, an actress in Paris, and had passed, with little credit for truth or integrity, through the several situations of usher in a school, servant to a bishop, inmate in a monastery, and companion to an itinerant missionary. A forgery, which he committed at Montdidier, in Picardy, compelled him to flee from the pursuit of justice ; and he arrived in London, under a feigned name, without money and without friends. But his in- genuity did not desert him. He called himself Hyppolite du Chastelet de Luzancy ; he professed an anxious desire to conform to the church of
July 1. England ; and in the pulpit at the Savoy, he read his abjuration, and delivered a discourse, statingthe grounds of his conversion. Instantly the French Jesuit (so he was now styled) became an object of interest to the zealous and the charitable : contri- butions flowed to him from numerous quarters ; and his only anxiety was to secure the means of support after the first excitement, which he had
Oct. 4. caused, should have died away. About the middle
51 L. Journ. xiii. 33. According to the list preserved in Old- mixon, the contents were forty-one temporal peers and seven proxies ; the non-contents, twenty-one temporal peers, thirteen bishops, and sixteen proxies. Oldmix. 594.
CHARLES II. 333
of the session, he gave information to some of the CHAP, popular leaders, that, about a month before, father 1G75.
St. Germain, who, for greater effect, was described
as confessor to the duchess of York, had surprised him in his lodgings, and, holding a poniard to his breast, had compelled him with the threat of in- stant death, to sign a recantation and a promise to return to his native country. Neither the im- probability of the tale, nor the time that had been suffered to elapse, seems to have awakened suspi- cion. Lord Hollis communicated the important Nov. 8. intelligence to the king in the house of lords ; lord Russel introduced it to the notice of the house of commons ; and the parliament, the court, the city, the country, resounded with cries of astonish- ment at the insolence of the papists. The king published a proclamation for the arrest of St. Ger- main, wherever he might be found; the lords brought in a bill for the encouragement of monks and friars in foreign parts to leave their convents, and embrace the reformed faith ; and the commons ordered the lord chief justice to issue his warrant for the apprehension of all catholic priests ; re- commended Luzancy to the protection and bounty of the king, and passed a bill for the exclusion of papists from the two houses of parliament, and from the court. The convert was examined before the privy council and a committee of the house. He persisted in his former tale ; he added, that he had learned from some French merchants, that in a short time protestant blood would flow through
3U4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, the streets of London, and from St. Germain that 1673 the king was at heart a catholic, that the declara-
tion of indulgence had been framed for the pur- pose of introducing popery, and that there was an infinite number of priests and Jesuits in London, who did great service to God. But the minds of men began to cool. His additional information, which was merely a repetition of the idle reports circulated in the coffee-houses, did not serve to raise his credit for veracity ; and when he was told to produce his witnesses, the absence of some, and the utter worthlessness of the others, shook the faith of his supporters. About the same time, Du Maresque, a French clergyman of the re- formed church, published a history of his adven- tures in France ; and soon afterwards a pamphlet appeared, detailing the particulars of his life in the metropolis, and refuting his charge against St. Germain : and, though Du Maresque was severely censured by the bishop of London, and the distributor of the pamphlet threatened by the privy council, the prosecution of the inquiry was at first suspended, and, for obvious reasons, never afterwards resumed 5a.
52 Com. Jo u in. Nov. 8. L. Journ. xiii. 21. Pari. Hist.iv. 780. Marvell, i. 265, 6. Reresby, 29 — 31. Wood, Ath. Oxon. iv\ par. ii.col. 350, 1. Compton, the new bishop of London, and the "great " patron of converts from popery," (Burnet, ii. 88.) ordained Lu- zancy about Christmas, and sent him to Oxford, where, on Ja- nuary 27th, he was admitted master of arts, at the recommenda- tion of Ormond, the chancellor. While he remained in Oxford, a transaction of a swindling description brought his name before a
CHARLES II.
I shall conclude this chapter with a few notices CHAP, respecting the transactions in the two kingdoms 166j of Scotland and Ireland. — I. In Scotland the chief
attention of the government was devoted to the Transae-
° tions in
difficult task of maintaining the episcopal autho- Scotland. rity, in opposition to the religious feelings of the people. That Charles disapproved of the seve- rities, which had driven the western covenanters into rebellion, cannot be doubted, and it was observed that, in proportion as the influence of Clarendon declined, more lenient measures were recommended to the Scottish council. The pu- lfifii. nishment for the refusal of the declaration was March 12- restricted to the imprisonment of the offender ; the regular troops, which had been so actively employed in the execution of the penal laws, were disbanded ; archbishop Sharp received an Aug. 10. order to attend to the spiritual concerns of his diocese ; and Rothes was deprived of his high office of royal commissioner ; though, to console his wounded feelings, he obtained in return the chancellorship for life. The earl of Tweedale Oct. io. succeeded him as head of the government ; but Lauderdale, by his office of secretary of state, possessed superior influence with the sovereign. Both of these noblemen were presbyterians by
court of justice : soon afterwards the nation was thrown into a ferment by the pretended discoveries of Titus Oates; and Ln- zancy, " by favour of the bishop of London/' was admitted, " ad " pres. reyis," vicar of Dover-court, in Essex, 18th Dec. 1678. Ibid.
336' HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
chat, principle; but they disregarded the nice distinc- 16(,; tions of the theologians, arid persuaded themselves
that by mutual concession the two parties might
be brought to coalesce. Their object, therefore, was to maintain the episcopal establishment, but at the same time to offer to its adversaries such terms as might induce them to desist from all active opposition. To the covenanters in the west it was proposed, that the government should abstain from prosecution for past offences, pro- vided they would bind themselves to keep the peace, under the penalty of forfeiting one year's rent of their respective estates. But here a theo- logical question arose. What, it was asked, did the council understand by keeping the peace? " To perform the duties of righteousness com- " manded by the law of God ? " This was an obligation incumbent on all Christians. Not to violate the laws, which had been made in opposi- tion to the covenant ? Such an engagement was unlawful and anti-christian. That the latter was the real meaning, could not be doubted : if many submitted, a greater number refused to subscribe the bonds ; and Tweedale, after a short trial, abandoned a measure, which seemed more likely to produce disturbance than tranquillity'3. Attempt About this time happened an event which re- ef sharp.0 vived the angry passions of the two parties, Among the men, who had fought for the cove-
53 Wodrov.-, 277, 8. Kirkton, 2GG, 272. Burnet, i. !U, 120. Lamout, 252.
CHAET.ES II. 3"7
nant at Bullion Green, was " a youth of much C H A P. " zeal and piety ", named James Mitchell. After 1668\ the defeat he brooded over the sufferings of his
brethren, till he had wound up his mind to the a y highest pitch of enthusiasm ; and believed that he felt a call from Heaven to avenge the blood of the martyrs on the apostate and persecuting pre- late, archbishop Sharp. It was a little after mid- day : the archbishop's carriage drove to the door, and Mitchell took his station with a loaded pistol in his hand. Sharp came from the house, fol- lowed by Honeyman, bishop of Orkney. The first had already seated himself, when the assassin discharged his pistol ; but at the very moment Honejmian raised his arm to enter the carriage, and received the ball in his wrist. To the cry that a man was killed, a voice replied, " It is only " a bishop ". Mitchell crossed the street, walked quietly away, changed his coat, and mixed again with the crowd. The council offered a tempting reward for the apprehension of the assassin ; but six years elapsed befor he was discovered M. indul-
This daring outrage did not, however, provoke |Sed° Tweedale to recede from his purpose. He still ministers.
16G9.
54 Wodrow, 292. Kirkton, 278. Burnet, i. 481. It was urged in defence of Mitchell, that he acted like Phineas, by divine impulse. Annand, dean of Edinburgh, replied, that could hot be, otherwise he would have succeeded in the attempt. To evade this argument, it was remarked, that " Israel failed against the " city of Ai, because there was an Achan in the camp, and, alas ! " there are many Achans in the camp of our Israel." Kirkton, 366, note.
VOL. XII. Z
338 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, hoped to win by conciliation, where he despaired 1669 °f Prevailing by severity. He made to the ejected
ministers an offer, called '•' the indulgence ", that
June 7. tnev might enter on their former churches, if these were vacant, or on any other at the nomi- nation of the patron, enjoy the manse and glebe without stipulation, and in addition receive the annual stipend, provided they would accept col- lation from the bishop, and attend the presbyteries and synods. The moderation of the proposal alarmed the more zealous, or more fanatic of the covenanters ; they pronounced it a snare for the consciences of the unwary : besides the consent of the patron, a call from the parish was necessary for the lawful exercise of the ministry ; and, moreover, to accept any ecclesiastical office at the invitation of the civil power, was a backsliding towards Erastianism. In defiance of this reason- ing, three-and -forty ministers accepted the offer of the government, but they soon discovered that, at the same time, they had forfeited the confi- dence of the people. They no longer preached with the fervid eloquence of men suffering perse- cution. Their exhortations to the practice of virtue and godliness appeared dull and lifeless, in comparison with the fierce invectives which they formerly poured forth against apostates and op- pressors. It was inferred that the Spirit of God had abandoned them ; that they were become as " dumb dogs that could not bark"; and their churches were deserted for the ministry of those
CHARLES II. S&9
who se fanatical language harmonized better with CHAP, the excited feelings of their hearers 5i. 166g
Tweedale hitherto had acted by the advice, and .
been supported by the influence of Lauderdale • Proce.ed-
rr J mgs m
At length that nobleman came himself to Scot- parlia- land, and held a parliament with the title of royal ~ ' „
L J Oct. 19.
commissioner. 1°. Its first act was to enable the king to appoint commissioners, authorised to treat with certain commissioners from England, respect- ing an union of the two kingdoms ; a wise and beneficial measure, which Charles had much at heart, but which he was never able to accomplish. In England, it was opposed through distrust of the royal motives ; in Scotland, through fear that it would be accompanied with the loss of national independence. 2°. It had been discovered, that the indulgence so lately granted was a violation of the laws for the establishment of episcopacy : and, to secure it from disturbance, and its authors from prosecution, the act of allegiance was con- verted into an act of unqualified supremacy, de- claring the external government of the church an inherent right of the crown, and giving the force of law to all acts, orders, and constitutions respect- ing that government, or ecclesiastical meetings, or the matters to be proposed and determined in such meetings, provided those acts, orders, and consti- tutions, were recorded and published by the lords of the privy council. 3°. When the regular army
Wodrow, 304. Kirkton, 288. Burnet, i. 488.
z 2
340 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, was disbanded, it had been deemed prudent to 1669 raise the militia of horse and foot, voted in the
parliament of 1663: and the men had been em- bodied and armed in all but the western counties, where it would have been madness to put weapons into the hands of enthusiasts, ready, at the first call of their leaders, to break into rebellion. It was now not only declared that the right to levy and command the army resided in the crown, but moreover enacted, that the forces so levied should march into any part of the king's dominions in pursuance of orders transmitted to them from the privy council. These two acts excited surprise both in Scotland and England. By the first every vestige of the independence of the church was swept away : by the second, the king was placed at the head of a standing army of twenty thou- sand men, bound to execute his orders, and to march into any part of his dominions. It might, indeed, be doubted whether these words could be so construed as to extend to England, where the Scottish parliament could claim no authority ; but the leaders of the opposition in England chose to interpret them in that sense, and to make them on that account one ground of their address for the removal of Lauderdale from the councils and the presence of the sovereign 56.
s" Wodrow, 309 ; App. No. 35. Kirkton, 301, 3. Lamont, 267. Burnet, i. 492, 4, 5.
CHARLES II. 341
Though the recent act of supremacy shocked CHAP, the religious feelings of every true son of the x ^
kirk, the government persisted in its former plan
of conciliation. Burnet, who had opposed the Act.
_ *■ * against
indulgence, because it gave jurisdiction without field-con- collation from the bishop, was compelled by threats to resign the archiepiscopal see of Glasgow ; Leighton, a prelate of more moderate principles, succeeded in his place ; and several ministers were again admitted by " indulgence " into vacant churches. Still the obstinacy of the majority re- fused every proposal ; the conventicles grew more numerous ; and the regular curates were exposed to so many insults and injuries from the zeal of their opponents, that those who obeyed, were said to suffer no less than those who transgressed, the law. The council determined to combine severity with indulgence ; and, while they observed the terms which had been granted to the more mode- rate, condemned to imprisonment the ministers who had preached at illegal assemblies, and ex- acted fines from the persons who had afforded the opportunity of committing the offence. But field- conventicles became a special object of alarm. From the stubborn and enthusiastic character of the men who frequented them, they were consi- dered as nurseries of sedition and treason ; and, in the next session of parliament, Lauderdale asked for some legal provision to abate so danger- ous a practice. It was enacted that every unau- 1670. thorised meeting for religious worship, even in a July 28'
342 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, private house, should be deemed a field conven- jg-o tide, if any of the hearers stood in the open air ;
> and that every minister, who preached or prayed
on any such occasion, during- the three following years, should incur the forfeiture of his property, and the punishment of death. The covenanters exclaimed loudly against the cruelty of the enact- ment ; though such complaint came with less grace from men, who had formerly demanded and enforced laws of still greater inhumanity against the professors of the catholic faith. The sequel, however, showed that the measure was not only inhuman, it was also impolitic. It did not put down the field-conventicles, but it changed them into conventicles of armed men57. Attempt Before the terror, excited by this act, had sub- «* prehen- sided, the commissioner, with the aid of Leighton, ■< sion ". wj10 on £jie resignation of Burnet had been trans- lated to Glasgow, made an attempt to restore tranquillity by " a comprehension" of the dissent- ing ministers. The sole condition required was, that they should attend presbyteries as they were established before the year 1638 ; and to make this the less objectionable, it was offered that the bishops should waive their claim of a negative voice, and that all who pleased, should be at liber- ty to protest against it. But many saw, or thought that they saw, even in this proposal, a conspiracy
57 Kirkton, 301. 5. Wodrow, 329 ; App. p. 130. Burnetii. 590. Salmon, Examin. 586.
Aug. 9.
CHARLES II. 3U
to Undermine the rights of the kirk. In a few chap. years a new race of ministers would succeed, less 167'0
aware of the arts of their enemies, and less ha-
bitnated to contest the authority of the bishops : those prelates would gradually resume their claims, and the presidents would ultimately become the masters of their respective presbyteries. It was therefore replied, that such assemblies could bear no resemblance to those which existed before the year 1638. They had no power of the keys, no ordination, no jurisdiction. The bishop would be bishop still, though he should abstain from the exercise of his negative voice. To assent to such terms would be an apostacy from the prin- ciples of the kirk, — " an homologation of episco- " pacy" 59.
The religious dissensions continued, and the The se- ministers and their hearers were occasionally irn- didgence. prisoned and fined for their violations of the law. 1672. In 1672, Lauderdale returned to Scotland with Ap the title of duke, and accompanied by the coun- tess of Uysart, whom he had recently married. She had long been reputed his mistress 59 ; and has been described as a proud, rapacious, and
■">'> Wodrow, 335, App. p. 132, 3. Kirkton, 296. Burnet, i. 476, 503, 513.
* In a suppressed passage in Burnet, that writer says : " I was " in great doubt whether it was fit for me to see Lauderdale's " mistress. Sir Robert Murray put an end to that. For he as- " sured me there was nothing in that commerce between them " besides a vast fondness." i. 518.
344 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, despotic woman, possessing unlimited dominion
iG?i over the mind of her husband' and making him
the obsequious minister of her passions. It was
intended that a second indulgence should be grant- ed in Scotland, to correspond with the celebrated declaration which had been issued in England. But Lauderdale previously held a short session of parliament, in which, to prevent the succession of ministers in the kirk, severe punishments were enacted against the ordainers and the ordained, and the duration of the act against field-conven- ticles was prolonged for three additional years. At last he determined to publish the instrument which for months had been expected, by many with hope, by more with distrust. It named about eighty ejected ministers ; ordered them to repair to certain churches, and gave them liberty to exercise all the duties of their office within the limits of their respective parishes, but with a se- vere injunction to abstain from all religious exer- ts, cises in any other district. The consequence was a schism in the body, which was not easily closed. About one-fourth of the ministers named in the indulgence refused to obey, and were confined by order of council in particular places : the rest accepted the churches which had been allotted to them, having previously given their testimony against the Erastianism of the measure. Its framers had reason to be satisfied. The more opulent of the covenanters attended the service of
CHARLES II. 345
the indulged ministers, and the number of con- CHAP, venticles was diminished 60. 167'3
During this protracted struggle between the
government and its religious opponents, scarcely ^l^1" a murmur of disapprobation had been heard in parlia- the Scottish parliament. It seemed as if Charles, at the restoration, had ascended a despotic throne, and the supreme council was of no other use than to record the edicts of the sovereign. The conse- quence was, that the officers of government extended and abused their authority ; every department was filled with the relatives and dependents of the commissioner ; and these made it their chief object to enrich themselves at the expense of the country. But that spirit of re- ristance, which had so obstinately and success- fully warred with the advocates of the court in the parliament of England, aroused, at length, a similar spirit in that of Scotland ; and a plan of opposition, unknown to Lauderdale, was carefully arranged, among the old cavaliers and his political enemies. When he opened the next session, he 1673. demanded with his usual confidence a plentiful Nov- l2- grant of money to aid the king in his war against the States. The young duke of Hamilton rose ;
Co Wodrow, 3.51. Kirkton, 315, 326, 334. Burnet gives him- self out as the deviser of this plan, i. 520. Lauderdale had 16,000/. allowed him for his outfit, as chief governor, with a salary of 50/. per day, while the parliament sate ; and 10/. or 15/. per day dur- ing the rest of the year. Wodrow, App. p. 1 18.
340' HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, but, instead of expressing an obsequious assent, he jg^3 called the attention of the house to the grievances
of the nation: the coin had been adulterated under
Hatton, the master of the mint, and Lauderdale's brother ; by new regulations in the customs, the price of salt, of brandy, and of tobacco, had been raised ; monopolies in all these articles were enjoyed by the friends of the minister, and the administration of justice was polluted by personal interests and animosities. Other speakers followed, and all were careful to echo the sentiments of Hamilton. The commissioner was amazed and alarmed. He endeavoured to intimidate ; he ad- journed the session for a week ; he abolished the monopolies ; but he could not dissolve the combi- nation, or satisfy the demands of his adversaries. Hamilton and Tweedale repaired to London to lay their grievances before the monarch ; Kincar- dine was despatched to oppose them ; and Charles, while he laboured to appease the discontent of one party, religiously observed his promise not to de- May 12. sert tne other. But all his efforts to conciliate May 19. were fruitless : another prorogation took place ; and, before it expired, the parliament was dis- solved 6l.
6< Burnet, ii. 19—33, 36. Wodrow, 364, 369. Kirkton, 339— 342. If the reader compare the character of Lauderdale, drawn by Burnet in the dedication of his four conferences, published at this time, with the character of the same noblemen, drawn by him in the History of his Own Times, he will form no very favourable opinion of the veracity of that writer.
CHARLES II.
347
In the enumeration of grievances, the principal, CHAP, the persecution of the covenanters, had never 167'3. been mentioned. Since the last act of supremacy.
religious subjects were avoided, as forbidden 0f conven- ground on which it was dangerous to tread. ticles- Lauderdale, however, took it into consideration, and published an act of grace, pardoning every offence against any of the conventicle acts com- mitted before the fourth of March, 1674. If by this concession he sought to conciliate the minds of the covenanters, he was disappointed ; for they attributed his lenity to weakness, and looked on pardon for the past as an encouragement to new transgressions. From that day, the cause of these religionists made constant progress. In the north, indeed, they were but few ; and in the west they might attend without impediment the service of the indulged ministers; but from the English borders to the river Tay the conventicles con- tinued to multiply. They were held in the vacant churches, in private houses, in the open air; on every sabbath, crowds assembled, for the purpose of worship, around a lofty pole, fixed in a glen, on a monntain, or in the midst of a morass ; and the minds of the people were occu- pied during the week with conversation respecting the gifts and doctrine of the preachers, the dangers which they had run, the persecutions which they had suffered, and the place and time appointed for the next conventicle. A spirit of the most ardent and obstinate fanaticism animated the great
348
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
C II A P. IV.
1607.
Ireland.
1667.
Rccal of Ormond.
mass of the population ; and hostility to episco- pacy was coupled with hostility to that govern- ment by which episcopacy was maintained62.
II. The history of Ireland during the same period furnishes but little that can interest the general reader. The English act of parliament, prohibiting the importation of Irish cattle, had reduced the agricultural classes in Ireland to the lowest distress; and Ormond, the lord-lieutenant, who was himself a principal sufferer, employed all his power and ingenuity to discover and open new sources of industry and new channels of commerce. A free trade was permitted between Ireland and all foreign countries, whether at peace or war with the king of Great Britain : the introduction of Scottish woollens was prohibited, as a measure of retaliation against the Scots, who, after the ex- ample of the English parliament, had forbidden the importation of Irish cattle into Scotland : and, to encourage the manufacture of woollen and linen cloths, five hundred Walloon families, from the neighbourhood of Canterbury, and an equal number from Flanders, were induced to settle in Ireland 63. But after the fall of Clarendon, it was
62 Wodrow, 366. Kirkton, 343. " At these great meetings " many a sovd was converted to Jesns Christ ; but far more turned " from the bishops to profess themselves presbyterians. The " paroch churches of the curates came to be like pest-houses; " few went to any of them, and none to some: so the doors were " keptlockt." Ibid.
6J Carte, ii. 342, 4.
CHAItLES II. 349
not the intention of those who succeeded in the CHAP, administration, to leave his friend Ormond at the 166'7.
head of the Irish government. His conduct was
scrutinized and censured ; charges of oppression of individuals, and mismanagement of the revenue, were brought against him ; and the duke hastened i6gs. to London to defend his character against the April 24. intrigues of his enemies. For almost a year his fate hung in suspense. The good-nature of Charles shrunk from the idea of unkindness to- wards an old and faithful servant ; his love of ease could not resist the obstinate and repeated importunities of Buckingham and his colleagues. At length a promise was wrung from the reluctant monarch ; and, after a protracted struggle, he 1669 announced to Ormond his removal, but in Ian- Feb. 14. guage the most flattering and affectionate which he could devise. Lord Robartes, a man of rigid notions, and repulsive manners, was appointed to Sep. the vacant office, which he only held long enough to earn the dislike of the Irish, and to disappoint the expectations of the cabinet. After seven ifi70. months, he was recalled, to make place for lord May. Berkeley, of Stratton, who had distinguished himself by his hostility to Clarendon, and would not, it was supposed, be unwilling to discover grounds of complaint or impeachment against Ormond 6i.
6< Carte, ii. 375, 9, 413. Pepys, iv. 101, 191, 246. "Ormond " had none that took his part but his R. II., (the duke of York,) " who thought it very scandalous that one, who had always been
350 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAT. Eight years had now elapsed since the act of l6?0 settlement, five since the act of explanation was passed ; still these measures had been but imper-
Claims of fectly executed, on account of the conflicting na-
the na- J »
tives. ture of the claims, and the deficiency of the fund for reprisals. Not only the thousands whom the law debarred from all relief, but many of those whom it took under protection, loudly complained
Nov. 28. °f injustice; and, after the arrival of the new chief governor, six peers, and forty-five gentlemen, ventured to subscribe a petition to the king, ex- plaining their wrongs, and earnestly imploring redress. Charles compassionated the sufferings of men, most of whom had devoted themselves to his service during the time of his exile ; and the ministers were ready to accede to any measure which would throw discredit on their predecessors 1671. in office. Though Ormond came forward to op-
Feb. l. p0Se tjle praver 0f the petitioners ; though Finch,
Commis- ,i , , , ,
sionofre-the attorney general, pronounced against then- view, claim ; a committee was appointed to review the ^b" *' settlement of Ireland ; and, on a representation that their powers were defective, they afterwards obtained authority to send for persons, papers, and records ; and to require information from all officers under the crown. The commissioners were, prince Rupert, the duke of Buckingham, the earls of Lauderdale and Anglesey, the lords Hollis,
" so loyal, should be prosecuted and run down by men, who had « been most of them downright rebels, or little better." James, i. 43.5.
CHARLES II. 351
and Ashley, secretary Trevor, and Sir Thomas CHAP. Chicheley. They proceeded slowly : more than a 167g
year was employed in the examination of papers
and witnesses, in comparing the arguments of the petitioners with the contrary claims of the soldiers, adventurers, and purchasers of lands in Connaught; and in hearing the complaints brought against the duke of Ormond, and his defence of his conduct. The duration of the commission, and its renewal 1673. with more extensive powers, raised the hopes of ' 17' the natives ; but their opponents sought the powerful aid of the English house of commons, which had lately compelled the king to rescind the declaration of indulgence, and had passed several resolutions expressive of their hatred to popery and its professors. The cause was warmly taken up by the popular leaders ; and an address was March 25. presented to the king, demanding the revocation of the commission, the maintenance of the act of settlement in Ireland, the banishment of the catho- lic priests from that kingdom, the expulsion of all catholic inhabitants out of Irish corporations, and the punishment of colonel Richard Talbot, who had acted as agent for the natives before the com- mission. Charles briefly replied, that on all these Commis- particulars it would be his care that no man should soiVecl.~ have reason to complain ; and, in the course of March 26. a few days, the commission was dissolved, and the prospect of relief for ever closed to the great body of the petitioners. The king, indeed, still cherish- ed the hope of mitigating their sufferings. He
IV.
1673.
352 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP, appointed a committee of the council to reconsider the subject ; but no other benefit resulted from their deliberation, than the trifling addition of 2000/. per annum to a fund which had already been provided for the purpose of furnishing pen- sions to the twenty nominees in the act of expla- nation 65.
es Carte, ii. 427, 9, 438. C. Journ. Mar. 25, 26.
NOTES.
NOTE [A], Page 93.
EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM CHARLES II. TO THE LORD CHANCELLOR.
1 NOW I am on this matter, I thinke it necessary to " give you a little good councell in it, least you may " thinke that by making a further stirr in the busi- " nesse, you may diverte me from my resolution, which " all the world shall never do ; and I wish I may be " unhappy in this world and in the world to come, if " I faile in the least degree of what I have resolved, " which is of making my lady Castlemaine of my wive's " bedchamber, and whosoever I finde use any endea- " vour to hinder this resolution of myne (excepte it be " only to myselfe), I will be his enemy to the last mo- " ment of my life. You know how true a friend I have " been to you. If you will oblige me eternally, make " this businesse as easy to me as you can, of what " opinion soever you are of; for I am resolved to go " through with this matter, let what will come of it, " which again I solemnly swear before Almighty God. " Therefore, if you desire to have the countenance of " my friendship, medle no more with this businesse, *' except it be to beat down all false and scandalous " reports, and to facilitate what I am sure my honour " is so much concerned in. And whosoever I find to " be my lady Castlemaine's enemy in this matter, I do " promise upon my word to be his enemy as long as
vol. xu. 2 A
351 NOTES.
" I live. You may shew this letter to my lord lieute- " nant (Ormond), and if you have both a minde to " oblige me, carry yourselves like friends to me in this " matter." Lansdowne MSS. 1206. 121.
NOTE [B], Page 218.
THE SECRET TREATY OF 1670.
[The original of this important treaty is in the posses- sion of Lord Clifford, to whose kindness I am in- debted for the permission of presenting it for the first time to the eyes of the public]
Charles R.
Charles par la grace de dieu Roy de la Grande- Bretagne, France et Irelande, defenseur de la foye, a tous ceux qui ces presentes lettres verront, Salut. Ayant leu et meurement considere les pouvoirs du Sieur Colbert, ambassadeur de nostre tres-cher et tres- ame frere et cousin le Roy Tres-chrestien dattes du 31 octobre 1669 par lesquels notre dit Frere luy donne autorite de conferer avec les commissaires, que nous pourrions nommer, traitter, conclurre, et signer des articles d'une plus etroitte amitie, liaison et confe- deration entre nous, et declare que nulle autre alliance ne luy peut estre plus agreable ny plus avantageuse a. ses sujets, nous qui sommes dans les mesmes disposi- tions, et qui n'avons point de desir plus ardent que de nous lier d'une amitie parfaite et indissoluble avec nostre dl Frere, y estant convies et par la proximite du sang, l'afFection et estime que nous avons pour sa personne, les avantages qui en reviendront aux peuples que dieu a sousmis a nostre obeissance, et sur tout
NOTES. 355
l'appuy et assistance, que nous nous pouvons promettre de l'amitie et du zele d'un si puissant allie dans le dessein que nous avons (avec la grace de Dieu) de nous reconcilier avec l'eglise Romaine, donner par la le repos a nostre conscience, et procurer le bien de la religion catholique, Scavoir faissons q'ayans une entiere con- fiance en la fidelite, suffisance, zele, et prudence de nostre tres-fe'al et bien-ame le my Lord Arlington, conseiller en nostre conseil prive et nostre premier secretaire d'estat ; nostre tres-feal et bien-ame le my Lord Arundel cle Warder ; nostre tres-feal et bien- ame le sieur chevalier Clifford, conseillier en nostre conseil prive, Thresorier de nostre maison, et commis- saire de nos finances ; nostre feal et bien ame le sieur chevalier Bellings, secretaire des commandmens de la Reyne nostre tres-chere espouse, nous avons les dits my Lords Arlington et Arundel, les sieurs chevaliers Clifford et Bellings commis, ordonne et depute, com- mettons, ordonnons, et deputons par ces presentes signees de nostre main, et leur avons donne et donnons plein pouvoir, autorite, commission, et mandement special, de conferer avec ledit sieur Colbert, ambas- sadeur de nostre tres-cher et tres-ame" Frere et Cousin le Roy Treschrestien, des moyens de parvenir a l'esta- blissement d'une plus estroitte amitic, liaison et con- federation entre nous, et traitter et convenir ensemble, et sur iceux conclurre, et signer tels articles et con- ventions que nos dits commissaires aviseront bon estre tant sur le fait du commerce, que sur toutes autres sortes d'affaires et d'interests, et mesme de ligues offensives et deffensives, et generallement faire, nego- tier, promettre, accorder et signer tout ce qu'ils esti- meront necessaire pour les effets cy dessus dits : Pro- mettant, foye et parolle de Roy, sous l'obligation et hypotheque de tous nos biens presens et a venir de
■2 a 2
356 NOTES.
tenir ferme et stable; et d'accomplir, sans jamais y contrevenir n'y permettre qu'il y soit contrevenu, tout ce qui par nos dits commissaires aura este stipule prornis et accorde en vertu du present pouvoir, et d'en faire expedier nos lettres de ratification en bonne forme, et les fournir dans le temps qu'il nous y auront obligez en tesmoing de quoy nous avons fait mettre aux dites presentes le seel de nostre secret. Donne a White- hall le quinziesme de decembre, L'an mil six cens soixante et neuf, et de nostre regne le vingt et uniesme.
Par commandement de sa Mate
Arlington.
Au nom de Dieu tout puissant soit notoire a tous et un chacun, que comme ainsi soit que le Serenissime et tres-puissant Prince Charles Second par la grace de dieu Roy de la Grande- Bretagne, et le Serenissime et tres-puissant Prince Louis quatorziesme par la mesme grace de dieu Roy Treschrestien auroient tousjours donne tous leurs soins et toute leur applica- tion a procurer a leurs sujets une felicite parfaite, et que leur propre experience leur auroit asses fait con- noistre que ce bonheur commun ne se peut rencontrev que dans une tres estroitte union, alliance, et confe- deration entre leurs personnes et les pays et estats qui leur sont sousmis, a quoy s'estant trouves esgallement portes, tant par la sincere amitie et affection que la proximite" du sang, celle de leurs royaumes, et beau- coup d'autres convenances ont estably entre eux, et qu'ils ont conserve cherement au plus fort des des- meles que les interests d'autruy leur ont fait avoir ensemble; que par le desir qu'ils ont de pourvoir a la seurete de leurs dits pays et estats, comme aussy au bien et a la commodite de leurs sujets dont le commerce
NOTES. 357
doit recevoir dans la suite du temps de notables avan- tages de cette bonne correspondence et liaison d'inte- rests ; les dits Seigneurs Roys pour executer ce saint et louable desir, et pour tousjours fortifier, confirmer, et entretenir la bonne amitie et intelligence qui est a present entre eux, ont commis et depute chacun de sa part, se,avoir ledit Seigneur Roy de la Grande-Bretagne le rnyLord Arlington conseillier au conseil prive de sa majeste, et son premier secretaire d'estat, le my Lord Arundel de Warder, le sieur chevalier Clifford, con- seillier au conseil prive de sa majeste, Thresorier de sa maison, et commissaire de ses finances, le sr cheva- lier Bellings, secretaire des commandemens de la Reyne de la Grande-Bretagne, et ledit seigneur Roy Tres- chretien le sieur Charles Colbert, seigr de Croissy, conseillier ordrc de sa majeste en son conseil d'estat, et son ambassadeur ordinaire vers sa majeste de la Grande-Bretagne, sufiisament autorises ainsy qu'il apparoistra par la teneur des dits pouvoirs et com- missions a eux respectivement donnes par lesdits Seigneurs Roys et inseres de mot a mot a la fin de ce present traitte en vertu des quels pouvoirs ils ont accorde au noms des susdits Seigneurs Rovs les articles qui ensuivent.
1. II estconvenu arreste etconclu qu'il y aura a. toute perpetuite bonne secure etferme paix, union, vraye con- fraternite, confederation, amitie, alliance, et bonne cor- respondence entre le dit seigneur Roy de la Grande- Bretagne, ses hoirs, et successeurs d'une part, et le dit Seigneur Roy Treschretien de l'autre, et entre tous et chacun de leurs Royaumes, estats et territoires, comrae aussy entre leurs sujets et vassaux, qu'ils ont ou posse- dent a present, ou pourront avoir, tenir, et posseder cy apres, tant par mer et autres eaux que par terre : et pour lesmoigner que cette paix doit cstre inviolable
358 NOTES.
sans que rien au nionde la puisse a jamais troubler il s'ensuit des articles d'une confiance si grande, et d'ailleurs si avantageuse aux dits Seigneurs Roys, qu'ii peine trouvera-t-on que dans aucun siecle on en ait arreste et conclu de plus importans.
2. Le Seigneur Roy de la Grande-Bretagne estant convaincu de la verite de la religion catholique, et rc'solu d'en faire sa declaration, et de se reconcilier avec l'eglise Roraaine aussy tost que le bien des affaires de son royaume luy pourra permettre, a tout sujet d'esperer et de se permettre de l'affection et de la fidelite de ses sujets qu'aucun d'eux, mesme de ceux sur qui dieu n'aura pas encore asses abondamment respandu ses graces pour les disposer par cet example si auguste a se convertir, ne manqueront jamais a. l'obeissance inviolable que tous les peuples doivent a. leurs souverains mesme de Religion contraire ; neant- moins comme il se trouve quelques fois des esprits brouillons et inquiets qui s'efforcent de troubler la tranquillite publique principalment lorsqu'ils peuvent couvrir leurs mauvais desseins du pretexte plausible de religion ; sa majeste de la Grande-Bretagne qui n'a rien plus a. coeur (apres le repos de sa conscience) que d'affermir celuy que la douceur de son gouvernment a procure a. ses sujets, a cru que le meilleur moien d'empecher qu'il ne fust altere, seroit d'estre asseure en cas de besoin de Passistance desa majeste Tres- chrestienne, laquelle voulant en cette occasion donner au Seigneur Roy de la Grande Bretagne des preuves indubitables de la sincerite de son amitie, et contribuer au bon succes d'un dessein si glorieux, si util a. sa majeste de la Grande-Bretagne, mesme a toute la reli- gion Catholique, a promis et promet de donner pour cet effet au dit Seigneur Roy de la Grande-Bretagne la somme de deux millions de livres tournoises dont
NOTES. 359
la moitie sera pay6e trois mois apres l'eschange des ratifications du present traitte en espece a. l'ordre dudit Seigneur Roy de la Grande-Bretagne a Calais, Dieppe, ou bien au Havre de Grace, ou remis par lettres de change a Londres au risques perils et frais dudit Seigneur Roy Treschrestien et l'autre moitie de la mesme maniere dans trois mois apres : et en outre ledit Seigneur Roy Treschrestien s'oblige d'assister de troupes sa majeste de la Grande-Bretagne, jusq'au nombre de six mille hommes de pied s'il est besoin, et mesme de les lever et entretenir a ses propres frais et despens, tant que ledit Seigneur Roy de la Grande- Bretagne jugera en avoir besoin pour l'execution de son dessein : et lesdites troupes seront transporters paries vaisseaux du Roy de la Grande-Bretagne en tels lieux et ports qu'il jugera le plus a. propos pour le bien de son service, et du jour de leur embarquement seront payees, ainsy qu'il est dit, par sa majeste Treschres- tienne, et obeiront aux ordres du dit Seigneur Roy de la Grande-Bretagne, et le temps de ladite declaration de Catolicite est entierment remis au choix dudit Seigneur Roy de la Grande-Bretagne.
3. Item a este convenu entre le Roy Treschrestien etsa Majeste de la Grande-Bretagne que ledit Seigneur Roy Treschrestien ne rompra ny n'enfreindra jamais la paix qu'il a fait avec l'Espagne, et ne contreviendra en chose quelconque a. ce qu'il a promis par le traitte d'Aix la Chapelle, et par consequent il sera permis au Roy de la Grande Bretagne de maintenir ledit traitte conformement aux conditions de la triple alli- ance, et des engagemens qui en dependent.
4. II est aussy convenu et accorde que s'il echeoit cy-apres au Roy Treschrestien de nouveaux tiltres et droits sur la Monarchic d'Espagne, ledit Seigneur Roy de la Grande-Bretagne assistera sa Majeste Treschres-
300 NOTES.
tienne de toutes ses forces tant par mer que par terre, pour luy faciliter ^acquisition desdits droits, le tout suivant les conditions particulieres dont lesdits Seig- neurs Roys se reservent de convenir tant pour la jonc- tion de leurs forces apres que le cas de Pescheance des- dits tiltres et droits sera arrive que pour les avantages que ledit Seigneur Roy pourra raisonnablement desirer : et lesdits Seigneurs Roys s'obligent reciproquement des a present de ne faire aucun traicte de part n'y d'autre pour raisons desdits nouveaux droits et tiltres avec aucun Prince ou Potentat quel que ce puisse estre que de concert et du consentment de Pun et de Pautre. 5. Lesdits Seigneurs Roys ayantchacun en son par- ticulier beaucoup plus de sujets qu'ils n'en auroient besoin pour justifier dans le monde la resolution qu'ils ont pris de mortifier Porgueil des estats generaux des provinces unies des pays bas, et d'abbatre la puis- sance d'une nation qui s'est si souvent noircie d'une extreme ingratitude envers ses propres fondateurs et createurs de cette republique, et laquelle mesme a Paudace de se vouloir aujourd'huy eriger en sou- ve rains arbitres et juges de tous les autres potentats, il est convenu, arreste et conclu, que leurs Majestes declareront et feront la guerre conjointement avec toutes leurs forces de terre et de mer aux dits estats generaux des provinces unies des pays bas, et qu'aucun desdit Seigneurs Roys ne pourra faire de traicte de paix, de treves, ou de suspension d'armes avec eux, sans Pavis et le consentment de Pautre, comme aussi que tout commerce entre les sujets desdits Seigneurs Roys et ceux desdits estats sera defend u, et que les navires et biens de ceux qui trafiqueront nonobstant cette defence pourront estre saisis par les sujets de Pautre Seigneur Roy, et seront reputes de juste prise ; el tous traictes precedens faits entre lesdits estats et
NOTES. 361
aucun clesdit Seigneurs Roys ou leurs predecesseurs demeureront mils, excepte celuy de la triple alliance fait pour la manutention du traicte d'Aix la Chapelle, et si apres la declaration de la guerre on prend prison- niers les sujets d'aucun desdit Seigneurs Roys qui seront enrolles au service desdits estats, ou s'y trouveront actuellement, ils seront executes a mort par la justice dudit Seigneur Roy dont les sujets les auront pris.
6. Et pour faire et conduire cette guerre aussy heureusement que lesdits Seigneurs Roys esperent de la justice de la cause commune, il est aussy convenu que sa majeste Treschrestienne se chargera de toute la despense qu'il conviendra faire pour mettre sur pied, entretenir, et faire agir les armees necessaires pour attaquer puissamment par terre les places et pays des- dits estats, ledit Seigneur Roy de la Grande-Bretagne s'obligeant seulement de faire passer dans l'armee dudit Seigneur Roy Treschrestien, et d'y entretenir tousjours a ses despens un corps de six mil homines de pied, dont le commandant sera general, et obeira a sa Majeste Treschrestienne, et a celuy qui com- mandera en chef l'armee, ou ledit corps de troupes servira comme auxiliare, lequel sera compose de six regimens de dix companies chacun, et de cent homines chaque companie : et lesdites troupes seront • trans- porters et debarquees en tels ports ou havres et en tel temps qu'il sera concerte cy-apres entre lesdits Seig- neursRoys ; ensorte neantmoins qu'elles puissentarriver aux costes de Picardie, ou tel autre lieu qui sera concerte, au plus tard un mois apres que les flottes se seront jointes aux environs de Portsmouth, ainsy qu'il sera dit cy-apres.
7. Et pour ce qui regard la guerre de mer ledit Seigneur Roy de la Grande Bretague se chargera de
362 NOTES.
ce fardeau, et armera au moins cinquante gros vais- seaux, et dix bruslots, auxquels le dit Seigneur Roy Treschrestien s'obligera de joindre une escadre de trente bons vaisseaux Francois, dont le moindre por- tera quarante pieces de canon, et un nombre de bruslots suffisant jusques a dix, mesme s'il est necessaire a proportion de se qu'il y en devra avoir en la flotte ; laquelle escadre de vaisseaux auxiliares Francois con- tinues a servir durant le temps de ladite guerre aux frais et despens de sa Majeste Treschrestienne, et en cas de perte d'hommes et de vaisseaux, ils seront remplaces le plustot qu'il se pourra par sa Majeste Treschrestienne et ladite escadre sera commanded par un vice-admiral ou lieutenant-general Francois qui obeira aux ordres de son altesse Royale Monseigneur le due de Yorke en vertu des pouvoirs que lesdits Seig- neurs Roys donneront audit Seigneur due, chacun pour les vaisseaux qui luy appartiennent ; et pourra ledit Seigneur due attaquer et combattre les vaisseaux Hollandois, et faire tout ce qu'il jugera le plus apro- pos pour le bien de la cause commune, jouyraaussy de l'honneur du pavilion, des saluts, et des toutes les autres autorites, prerogatives, et preeminences dont les admiraux ont coutume de jouir, et d'autre part aussy le dit vice-admiral ou lieutenant-general Francois aura pour sa personne la preseance dans les conseils, et pour son vaisseau et pavilion de vice-admiral celle de la marche sur le vice-admiral et vaisseau de ce nom Ano-lois. Au surplus les capitains, commandans, officiers, matelots et soldats de l'une et de l'autre nation se comporterontentre eux amicablement, suivant le concert qui sera fait cy-apres, pour empecher qu'il n'y arrive aucun incident qui puisse alterer la bonne union ; et afin que le dit Seigneur Roy de la Grande- Bretagne puisse plus facilement supporter les frais
NOTES. 363
de cette guerre, sa Majeste Treschrestienne s'oblige a payer tous les ans audit Roy tant que ladite guerre durera en la raaniere susdite la somme de trois mil- lions de livres Tournoises dont le premier payement qui sera de sept cens cinquante mille livres tournoises, se fera trois mois avant la declaration de la guerre, le second de pareille somme dans le temps de ladite declaration, et le reste montant a quinze cens mille livres tournoises six mois apres ladite declaration : et en annees suivantes le premier payement qui sera de sept cens cinquante mille livres tournoises se fera au premier de Febrier, le second de pareille somme au premier de May, et le troisieme montant a quinze cens mille livres tournoises au quinsieme d'octobre, lesquelles sommes seront payees en espece a l'ordre du Roy de la Grande-Bretagne, a Calais, Dieppe, ou Havre de Grace, ou bien remises par lettres de change a Londres aux risques, perils, et frais dudit Seigneur Roy Treschrestien. II a este aussy con- venu et arreste que ledit Seigneur Roy de la Grande- Bretagne ne sera pas oblige' de declarer cette guerre, jusqu'a. ce que l'escadre auxiliare desdits trente vais- seaux de guerre Francois et dix bruslots seront joints avec la flotte Angloise aux environs de Portsmouth : et de toutes les conquestes qui se feront sur les estats generaux sa majeste de la Grande-Bretagne se contentera des places qui s'ensuivent; sgavoir l'isle de Walkeren, l'escluse avec l'isle de Cassants, et la maniere d'ataquer et de continuer la guerre sera ad- justee par un reglement qui sera cy-apres concerte, et d'autant que la dissolution du gouvernment des estats generaux pourroit apporter quelque prejudice au Prince d'Orange neveu du Roy de la Grande Bretagne et mesme qu'il se trouve des places, villes et gouvernmens qui luy appartient dans le partage qu'on se propose de
364 NOTES.
faire du pays, il a este arreste et conclu que lesdits Seigneurs Roys feront leur possible a. ce que le dit Prince trouve ses avantages dans la continuation et fin de cette guerre : ainsy qu'il sera cy-apres stipule dans des articles a. part.
8. Item a este arreste qu'avant la declaration de cette guerre lesdits Seigneurs Roys feront tous leurs efforts conjointment ou en particulier, selon que Focca- sion le pourra requerir pour persuader aux Roys de Suede et de Denneraark ou a Fun d'eux d'entrer en cette guerre contre les estats generaux, au moins de les obliger de se tenir neutres, et l'on taschera de mesme d'attirer dans ce party les clecteurs de Cologne et de Branderbourg, la maison de Brunswick, le due de Neubourg et Fesvesque de Munster. Les dits Seig- neurs Roys feront aussy leur possible pour persuader mesme a. l'empereur et la couronne d'Espagne de ne s'opposer pas a la conqueste dudit pays.
9. II est pareillement convenu et accorde qu'apres que le dit Seigneur Roy de la Grande-Bretagne aura fait la declaration specifiee au second article de ce traicte, qu'on espere moyennant la grace de dieu devoir estre suivi d'un heureux succes, il sera entitlement au pouvoir et au choix dudit Seigneur Roy Treschres- tien de determiner le temps auquel lesdits Seigneur Roys devront faire la guerre avec leurs forces unies contre les estats generaux : sa majeste de la Grande- Bretagne promettant d'en faire aussy sa declaration conjointment dans le temps que sa majeste Tres- chrestienne jugera estre le plus propre pour cet effect, ledit Seigneur Roy de la Grande-Bretagne estant asseure que sa majeste Treschrestienne nommant ledit temps aura esgard aux interests des deux couronnes? qui apres la conclusion de ce traicte seront communs a tous deux et inseparables.
NOTES. 365
10- Si dans aucun traicte precedent fait par Fun ou Vautre desdits Seigneurs Roys avec quelque Prince ou estat que ce soit, il se trouve des clauses contraires a, celles qui sont specifiees dans cette ligue, lesdites clauses seront nulles, et celles qui sont contenues dans ce present traicte demeureront dans leur force et vigeur.
Et pour d'autant plus unir les esprits et interests des sujets desdits Seigneurs Roys, il a este convenu que le traicte de commerce qui se fait a present, s'achevra au plutot qu'il se pourra.
Lesquels points et articles cy dessus enonces ensem- ble, et tout le contenu en chacun d'iceux ont este traictes accordes, passes, et stipules entre le myLord Arlington, le myLord Arundel de Warder, le sieur che- valier Clifford, et le sieur chevalier Bellings com- missaires de sa majeste de la Grande-Bretagne, et le sieur Colbert, ambassadeur de sa majeste Treschres- tienne, aux noms desdit Seigneurs Roys, et en vertu de leurs pouvoirs dont les copies sont inserees au bas du present traicte. lis ont promis et promettent sous l'oblio-ation de tous et chacuns des biens et estats presens et a venir desdits Seigneurs Roys qu'ils seront par leurs majestes inviolablement observes et accom- plis, et de s'en bailler et delivrer reciproquement dans un mois du jour et datte des presentes, et plustost, si faire se peut, les lettres de ratification desdits Seigneurs Roys en la meilleure forme que faire se pourra : et d'autant qu'il est absolument necessaire pour le bon succes de ce qui est stipule par le present traicte, de le tenir fort secret, jusq'a ce qu'il soit temps de le mettre a execution, lcsdits sieurs commissaires et ambassa- deur sont demeures d'accord, qu'il suffira pour la validite du dit traicte que les ratifications desdits Seigneurs Roys soient siguees dc leurs propres mains,
366 NOTES.
et cachetees du seau de leur secret, que lesdits Seig- neurs Roys declareront dans les dites lettres de rati- fication avoir pour cet effect la mesme force que si leur grand seau y estoit appose, ce que mesme chacun d'eux s'obligera de faire aussy tost qu'il le pourra, et qu'il en sera requis. En foy de quoy les dites sieurs commis- saires et ambassadeur ont signe le present traicte et a iceluy fait apposer le cachet de leurs amies. A Douvres ce vingt et deuxiesme jour du mois de May Fan de grace mil six cens soixante et dix.
© Arlington. COLBERT. 0
0 T. Arundell.
0 T. Clifford.
© R. Bellings.
There follow three additional secret articles signed at Dover the same day. By the first, if Charles could not spare six thousand men, Louis was to be content with four : — by the second, if the duke of York were to retire from the command of the fleet, the English admiral was to enjoy all the command and powers which the duke ought to possess : — and, by the third it was agreed, that the stipulation in favour of the prince of Orange should not prevent the other powers from making war conjointly at the time stipulated by the 9th article.
In another paper is a declaration that, if in the treaty or the power of the negociators, il se trouve quelque chose dans les tiltres et qualites des Roys nos maistres, qui soit contraire a la pluralite des traittes qui out ete faits entre l'Angleterre et la
NOTES 367
France, tant sous le regne du feu Roy d'Angleterre Charles premier, que sous celuy du Roy regnant a present, nous le reformerons avant l'eschange des ratifications du dittraitte, et sans retardment d'icelle.
NOTE [C], Page 219-
On the death of Henrietta, duchess of Orleans, Louis wrote the following Letter of condolence to Charles : —
Versailles, le 30 juin 1670.
Monsieur mon frere, — La tendre amitie que j'avois pour ma sceur vous e'toit assez connue pour n'avoir pas de peine a comprendre l'etat ou m'a reduit sa mort. Dans cet accablement de douleur je puis dire que la part que je prends a la votre, pour laperte d'une personne qui vous £toit si chere aussi bien qu'a moi, est encore un surcroit a l'exces de mon affliction : le seul soulagement dont je suis capable, est la confiance qui me reste, que cet accident ne changera rien a nos affections, et que vous me conserverez les votres aussi entities, que je vous conserverai les miennes. Je me remets du surplus au sieur Colbert, mon ambassadeur.
NOTE [D], Page 280.
The letters patent by which Louis XIV. grants the domain of Aubigni to Mademoiselle de Querouaille, and after her to one of the illegitimate sons of Charles II. , to be named by that prince.
Louis, par la grace de dieu, roi de France et de Navarre, a tous presens et a venir, salut. La tene
868 NOTES.
d'Aubigni-sur-Niere, dans notre province de Berri, ayant ete donnee des l'annee 1422, par le roi Charles VII, Tun de nos predecesseurs a Jean Stuart, comrae une marque des grands et considerables services qu'il avoit rendus dans la guerre a. ce roi et sa couronne, et cette donation ayant ete accompagnee de condition que ladite terre d'Aubigni passeroit de male en male a. tous les descendans dudit Jean Stuart, avec reversion a notre couronne, lorsque la branche masculine qui seroit venue de lui seroit eteinte, ce cas porte par lesdites lettres de donation est arrive l'annee derni^re, par la mort de notre cousin le due de Richemont, dernier de la ligne mascu- line dudit Jean Stuart. Mais parceque cette terre ayant ete, durant tant d'annees, dans une maison qui avoit l'honneur d'appartenir de si pres a notre tres-cher et tres aime frere le roi de la Grande-Bretagne, ledit Roi nous auroit fait temoigner, qu'il seroit bien aise qu'a cette consideration nous voulussions bien la faire passer a une personne qu'il affectionneroit, et rentier apres elle clans une maison qui fut encore unie par le sang a. la sienne ; qu'a ce sujet il nous auroit fait requerir que nous voulussions bien accorder nos lettres de do- nation de ladite terre d'Aubigni-sur-Niere a la dame .... de Kerouel, duchesse de Portsmouth, pour passer apres sa mort a tel des enfans naturels de notre frere le roi de la Grande-Bretagne qu'il voudra nommer, sous les memes clauses et conditions que la meme terre fut premierement donnee par le Roi Charles VII en 1422 au susdit Jean Stuart, et que ladite terre etant passee a tel fils naturel dudit Roi de la Grande-Bretagne qu'il aura voulu nommer, elle demeure audit fils na- turel, et a ses descendans de male en male, avec droit de reversion a notre couronne, au defaut d'enfans males et par l'extinction de la ligne masculine, qui seroit sortie de lui. Comme nous embrassons avec plaisir
NOTES. 369
les occasions qui se presentent de donner a notre dit frere le roi de la Grande-Bretagne, des marques de notre amitie et de l'extreme consideration que nous avons pour ce qu'il desire, et que nous avons aussi bien agreable qu'une terre qui etoit denieuree durant tant d'annees dans une maison si illustre, retourne en quelque sort a. son origine en passant un jour entre les mains d'un filsnaturel de notre dit frere, nous avons bien voulu disposer de ladite terre d'Aubigni en la maniere que nous avons ete requis par notre susdit frere de roi de la Grande-Bretagne.
A ces causes, savoir faisons que de notre grace speciale, pleine puissance et autorite royale, nous avons a. ladite dame . . . .de Kerouel, duchesse de Ports- mouth, et apres elle a celui des fils naturels de notredit frere le roi de la Grande-Bretagne qu'il nom- mera, et aux descendans males en ligne directe dudit fils naturel, donne, cede, transporte, et delaisse, don- nons, cedons, transportons et delaissons par ces pre- sentes signees de notre main, le fonds et propriety de la terre d'Aubigni, avec tons et un chacun ses droits, appartenances et dependances, pour en jouir et user par ladite duchesse, et apres son deces celui des his naturels dudit roi de la Grande-Bretagne qu'il nommera et les descendans males en droite ligne dudit his na- turel, comme de leur pro pre chose et loyal acquet, tout ainsi que nous ferions, sans aucune chose en retener el i r a nous et a nos successeurs rois, que
les foi et hommage, ressort et -ouverainete, a con- dition toutefois que ladite terre d'Aubigni avec ses apparti nan< • el di pendances, retournera a notre domaine au defaut des nudes descendans en droite ligne du his naturel qui aura ete nomme par le susdit roi de la Grande-Bretagne.
donnons en mandemeut :'• nos aines et feaux
L. XII.
370 NOTES.
p-ens tenant notre cour de Parlement et chambre de nos comptes a Paris, que ces presentes lettres de don ils les aient a enregistrer, et du contenu en icelles faire jouir et user pleinement, paisiblement et a toujours ladite dame .... de Kerouel, duchesse de Portsmouth, et apres elle le fils naturel que ledit roi de la Grande- Bretagne nommera, et les descendans males en droite ligne dudit fils naturel, cessant et faisant cesser tous troubles et empechemens a. ce contraires.
Car tel est notre plaisir : et afin que ce soit chose ferme et stable a toujours, nous avons fait mettre notre sceau a cesdites presentes, sauf en autre chose notre droit et l'autrui en toutes. Donne a Saint-Germain-en- Laye, au mois de Ddcembre l'an de grace 1673, et de notre regne le trent-unieme.
[This note and the preceding are extracts from Les (Euvres de Louis XIV.]
end ( > F VOL. XII.
C. Baldwin, Printer, New Bridge Street, London.
NOTES. 457
Coinage of tin j£2,000
Wine licences 10,000
Forest of Dean 4,000
Fines on alienations 20,000
j£1, 200,000
[From the original, which, as well as the originals of the two former notes, is in the collection of Thomas Lloyd, Esq.]
NOTE [D], Page 370.
PRINCIPLES OF THE LEVELLERS.
The following statement of the principles, maintained by the levellers, is extracted from one of their pub- lications, which appeared soon after the death of Cromwell ; entitled, " The Leveller ; or, The Principles and Maxims concerning Government and Religion, which are asserted by those that are commonly called Levellers; 1659."
PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT.
1°. The government of England ought to be by laws and not by men : that is, the laws ought to judge of all offences and offenders, and all punishments and penalties to be inflicted upon criminals ; nor ought the pleasure of his highness and his council to make whom they please offenders, and punish and imprison whom they please, and during pleasure.
2°. All laws, levies of monies, war and peace ought to be made by the people's deputies in parliament, to be chosen by them successively at certain periods. Therefore there should be no negative of a monarch, because he will frequently by that means consult his
VOL. XI. 2 H
458 NOTES.
own interest or that of his family to the prejudice of the people. But it would be well, if the deputies of the people were divided into two bodies, one of which should propose the laws, and the other adopt or reject them.
3°. All persons without a single exception should be subject to the law.
4° The people ought to be formed into such a military posture by and under the parliament, that they may be able to compel every man to obey the law, and defend the country from foreigners. A mercenary (standing) army is dangerous to liberty, and therefore should not be admitted.
PRINCIPLES OF RELIGION.
1°. The assent of the understanding cannot be com- pelled. Therefore no man can compel another to be of the true religion.
2°. Worship follows from the doctrines admitted by the understanding. No man therefore can bind another to adopt any particular form of worship.
3°. Works of righteousness and mercy are part of the worship of God, and so far fall under the civil magis- trate, that he ought to restrain men from irreligion, that is, injustice, faith-breaking, oppression, and all other evil works that are plainly evil.
4°. Nothing is more destructive to true religion than quarrels about religion, and the use of punishments to compel one man to believe as another.
END or vol xi.
C Baldwin, Printer, New Bridge Street, London.
7>A
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